The Mashed Potato Portion Tip To Abide By For Thanksgiving

While everyone has their favorite Thanksgiving dishes, there are always a few that battle for the top place. Whether there's no way your celebration could be complete without cornbread stuffing, mac and cheese, or even cranberry sauce — we'll have to argue that potatoes always deserve their seat at the table. Partial to mashed potatoes, they add the perfect creamy element to any Thanksgiving dish and are the ideal vessel for consuming extra gravy. In fact, Kitchn shared that 67% of their readers agreed that you should mash Thanksgiving potatoes.

Given this, they should always be included in your menu. Hosting any holiday can become overwhelming, especially Thanksgiving, since everything from planning the menu to knowing how much food to make requires a lot of thought. When it comes to mashed potatoes, it becomes even more difficult when the tubers come in plenty of sizes and varieties. Luckily, there is a little tip to follow to help with getting the right amount of mashed potatoes per guest.

Go with one potato per guest

According to Bon Appétit, Yukon Gold potatoes are the way to go when it comes to mashed potatoes. With its rich texture, naturally buttery flavor, and the perfect level of starch, this variety is bound to produce creamy, delicious dishes. With this being said, all potatoes, including the Yukon Gold type, can vary greatly in size. Thankfully though, the slight variation in dimension tends to even out when you are buying a bunch to mash together.

To make your shopping less stressful, Food Network recommends that you assume one large Yukon Gold tuber per guest. With this, one potato should produce about ¾ cup of mashed deliciousness, the recommended amount per guest. This certainly makes things easier! So, next time you have this fan-favorite dish on your menu, there is no need to fret over the amount of potatoes to buy — simply count the number of guests!