How to Fix Gluey Mashed Potatoes

Step 1

Use a mix of russet and Yukon Gold potatoes when making a new batch. Select a combination of waxy and starchy potatoes to give your dish a good consistency and taste. While waxy potatoes are known for their flavor, you don’t want them to be the only potato in your recipe, seeing as they don’t mash as well. Use about 1 pound (0.45 kg) of potatoes per 2 pounds (0.91 kg) of gluey mashed potatoes.More often than not, gluey mashed potatoes are caused by a large amount of waxy potatoes being overworked and mashed in the cooking process.

Step 2

Cook the potatoes in simmering water to make them soft. Rinse, scrub, and peel your potatoes, then place them in a pot. Pour around 2 cups (470 mL) of cold water over the potatoes before turning the stovetop onto high heat. To prevent any parts of the potato from undercooking or overcooking, make sure that all parts cook evenly and simultaneously. Avoid getting the water to boiling level—instead, let it rest at a high simmer.While it might seem like a time-saver to heat your water ahead of time, you might end up making your potatoes have an inconsistent texture.

Step 3

Mash the potatoes by hand to prevent them from becoming gummy. Use a potato masher to prepare your potatoes gently but effectively. If you use a food processor, you’ll end up releasing too much starch into the potatoes, which makes them extra gluey and gummy. Instead, try and mash the potatoes by hand using slow, methodical movements to break the potatoes down.Did you know? Boiling the potatoes makes their starch cells larger. While you want to break up these cells to create a nice consistency in your potatoes, you don’t want to rupture these starch cells too much, as this makes the mashed potatoes gluey.

Step 4

Add cream and butter to the potatoes after they’re at room temperature. Let 1 tablespoon (15 mL) of butter and 0.5 cups (120 mL) cream or milk sit outside of the refrigerator before mixing them into the mashed potatoes. If you add the ingredients while they’re still cold, they’ll lower the temperature of the potatoes, which makes it more difficult for the dairy products to get absorbed. Instead, wait 15-30 minutes so these ingredients can be room temperature before you mix them into the dish.You can also warm up the butter and cream on the stovetop before adding them into the mashed potatoes.

Step 5

Mix the new mashed potatoes into the gluey batch to even out the texture. Stir the new and fluffy mashed potatoes into the pre-existing batch. Use a spatula to combine both batches, stirring them together with slow, careful movements. Make sure that you’ve thoroughly mixed the potatoes together before serving them.If you stir the potatoes too much, they might end up becoming gluey again.If you don’t want to be overloaded with mashed potatoes, try mixing gluey and fluffy mashed potatoes together at a 2:1 ratio.If you don’t mind having extra potatoes and want to remove any trace of a gluey consistency, try mixing the 2 batches at a 1:1 ratio. Experiment until you find a consistency that you like!