Creamy mashed Yukon gold potatoes with goat cheese, sage, and here’s the best part—BROWN BUTTER! So incredibly good. Brown butter makes those potatoes taste like heaven.
Guest author Garrett and I made these mashed potatoes the other day. So good! ~Elise
The story of my first Thanksgiving away from home is one I tell with pride. Sure, we all have epic disasters in the kitchen and Thanksgiving horror stories to tell, but mine is epic.
The dinner was a wreck: the cornbread burned, the turkey was frozen inside, the green bean casserole was served as a soup, the bacon for the stuffing caught fire, I forgot to add sugar to the cranberry sauce, and my roommate exploded a pie in an aluminum pie plate in the microwave.
In total we set off the fire alarm three times. Picking over the wreckage we were somehow able to glean enough food for an actual meal but the experience had jarred for us all.
Still, one dish came out perfectly—the mashed potatoes. Not regular mashed potatoes, but loaded with salty goat cheese and mellow bits of sage mashed potaotes. Dreamy and creamy, they were the biggest (and only) hit of the night.
Many years later and I’ve tinkered the recipe with Elise. We took out the cream in lieu of more goat cheese and added browned butter to the mix. The result is the smoothest potatoes you’ve ever had with a nutty, earthy flavor. It’s a dish that can save any Thanksgiving dinner.
Mashed Potatoes with Brown Butter, Goat Cheese, and Sage Recipe
- Prep time: 10 minutes
- Cook time: 30 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds yukon gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage
- 4 ounces goat cheese
- 3 Tbsp milk
- Pepper
Method
1 Boil the potatoes: Place the potatoes and salt in a pot and fill the pot with cold water until the potatoes are covered.
Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until a fork easily pierces the potatoes.
Drain the water from the potatoes.
2 Brown the butter: Place the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. (Use a stainless steel saucepan so you can see the butter browning.) Let the butter melt and continue to watch it as it cooks. The butter will foam for a bit and then calm down.
After a few minutes, flecks of brown will appear at the bottom of the pan. When you see this, and the melted butter takes on a nutty aroma, take it off the heat. (See How to Brown Butter.)
3 Add sage and pour over potatoes: Add the chopped sage to the butter (it may cause some foaming). Pour over the potatoes.
4 Add the goat cheese and milk and mash the potatoes with a potato masher until smooth and all ingredients are well incorporated. Salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.
