Mashed russet potatoes mixed with a purée of parsley and green onions.
Here’s something fun to add to your table on St. Patrick’s Day—green mashed potatoes, why not? The Irish have a long tradition of mixing greens into their mashed potatoes.
In this recipe we purée raw parsley and green onions, which when mixed into the potatoes turn the mash a vibrant green. Perfect for a festive meal.
You could also experiment with baby spinach, mint, or other greens. In fact, I added some fresh mint to one of the mashes I made and served it with lamb, it was lovely. Enjoy!
Green Mashed Potatoes Recipe
- Prep time: 10 minutes
- Cook time: 40 minutes
- Yield: Serves 5 to 6
Save time by prepping the parsley and green onions while the potatoes are cooking.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds russet potatoes (about 3 large or 5 medium sized potatoes), peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks
- Salt
- 3 sprigs of thyme (or a couple teaspoons dried thyme in a small boquet garni bag or tied up with cheesecloth
- 1 bunch of fresh parsley, leaves chopped (about 1 cup)
- 3 green onions (scallions), white and green parts chopped (about 1/2 cup)
- 1/2 cup milk, divided
- 1/4 cup cream
- 3 Tbsp butter (more to taste)
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Method
1 Boil the potatoes: Place the peeled and cut potatoes and the thyme in a medium (2 quart) saucepan and cover with cold water. Add two teaspoons of salt to the water.
Bring to a boil and reduce heat to maintain a low simmer. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until the potatoes are easily pierced with a fork.
2 Purée parsley and green onions with milk: While the potatoes are cooking, chop up the parsley and the green onions. Place the chopped green onions and parsley in a food processor. Add a teaspoon of salt and the 1/4 cup of the milk. Pulse until smooth.
3 Drain potatoes, heat milk, cream, butter: When the potatoes are done, drain them in a colander and place them in a large bowl. Discard the thyme sprigs. Return the still hot, empty pot to the stove and add the remaining milk, cream, and butter. Heat on low heat until the butter is melted.
4 Mash the potatoes: While the milk is heating, mash the cooked potatoes with a potato masher or use a potato ricer. (Do not over mix or the potatoes will turn gluey.)
5 Stir mashed potatoes into heated milk and cream, stir in parsley purée: Return the mashed potatoes to the pot with the milk mixture and stir to combine. Turn off the heat. Stir in the parsley green onion purée. Add freshly ground black pepper, another teaspoon of salt, or more or less to taste.
Recipe adapted from a recipe for green mashed potatoes in The Country Cooking of Ireland, by Coleman Andrews, who in turn got his recipe from Ballyknocken House in Ashford, County Wicklow.
The Ballyknocken recipe uses olive oil instead of butter, and chives instead of green onions. I prefer butter in this recipe, I think it works better with the potatoes than olive oil.
