Note: I first published this post in 2014. I was in the thick of homeschooling three kids full time, and shortcuts such as these are always helpful! Life hack 101!

As a mom, I’m always looking for cooking shortcuts, so when my sister shared this idea for shortcut mashed potatoes, I knew I had to give it a try.

Mashed potatoes are a favorite at my house (for all but my youngest child, and I have no idea what happened there. Seriously, who doesn’t like mashed potatoes?) 🙂 While I enjoy eating light and fluffy mashed potatoes as much as anybody, the whole process leaves me all in. Wash the potatoes, peel the potatoes, dice the potatoes, boil the potatoes, mash the potatoes. Very labor intensive!

Of course, there’s always boxed, or instant, potatoes, but I’m quite certain that nobody at my house would eat them, so that would be a complete waste of time! (My mom used to use the boxed potatoes in a pinch to feed a crowd until my husband and brother-in-law joined the family. They let us know in private that the only mashed potatoes worth eating were the real thing. No instant anything here!)

Now, thanks to these shortcut mashed potatoes that my sister shared with me, I can skip some steps but still end up with light and fluffy mashed potatoes come dinnertime. This shortcut mashed potatoes technique is particularly helpful if you already have something baking in the oven, since you’re basically converting baked potatoes into mashed potatoes.

Here’s what you do.

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. (If you’re baking something at a higher temperature, as I do with my rotisserie-style roasted chicken, you can still make these shortcut mashed potatoes, just in half the time.)

2. While the oven is heating up, wash the potatoes thoroughly and pierce several times with a fork.

3. Place the potatoes in the oven and bake for 50 – 60 minutes, less if your oven is set at a higher temperature.

4. When the potatoes have baked, remove them from the oven and let them sit on the counter for a couple of minutes to cool.

5. Peel the potatoes with a paring knife, place in a large mixing bowl, and mash as usual, adding butter, milk, salt and pepper as desired. (NOTE: The potatoes will still be very HOT, so use caution. You may need to blow on your fingers a few times!) 🙂

The result is a big bowl of fluffy mashed potatoes, and you never had to dice or boil, saving you time on cleanup, too!