Roasted Corn Mashed Potatoes

Roasted Corn Mashed Potatoes! I get it, this one’s divisive. When it comes to mixing your corn and your mashed potatoes, the debate has gone on for decades.

It’s good, I promise. This is corn and mashed potatoes for grown-ups. Of course creamy and buttery, or why bother? The nutty notes from that roasted fresh sweet corn and the roasted garlic will elevate your old standby to something special. These potatoes are a great side dish option, perfect with everything from a roast chicken to meatloaf.

Ingredient Notes

• Potatoes – The type of potatoes you choose is a matter of preference. Russet potatoes are drier and starchier, and make a more fluffy mashed potato than other types. If you like your mashed potatoes to feel lighter, these are the potatoes for you. I want my mashed potatoes to be really creamy, so I typically go with a yellow potato, like a Yukon Gold. White potatoes are also excellent for creamy mashed potatoes. It’s a matter of choice, so use what you like.
• Corn – It is easiest to roast corn while it’s still on the cob, and then cut it off once it is cooked. If fresh corn isn’t in season, you can certainly skillet roast frozen corn until it gets brown and begins to caramelize. This works best on the stove top, and not in the oven. Thaw frozen corn first, and drain any excess water out before placing the corn in the skillet. Water will steam the corn and prevent in from browning until it is all evaporated out of the pan, so your cooking time will be longer. If you use frozen corn, make sure you keep an eye on it as it browns! Corn has a ton of naturally occurring sugar, and will go from caramelized to burnt a lot quicker than you might think.
• Dairy – This recipe lists butter, milk, and sour cream as the dairy components, and makes rich, creamy mashed potatoes. BUT. Everybody likes their mashed potatoes their way. If you don’t like sour cream, don’t use it. Increase the butter and milk to make up the difference. If you like cream cheese, throw some in! And, of course, the butter quantity is a guideline. There’s no hard and fast rule on butter in mashed potatoes, and I don’t judge. As long as no one’s watching you put it all in there, all they’ll know is how delicious it is!

Making Roasted Corn Mashed Potatoes

• Roasting Corn – Husk your corn before roasting, and make sure you get rid of all of that stringy silk. Corn silk is not delicious. Coating the corn with olive oil before roasting will help the salt and pepper stick and will toast the corn kernels while they roast, making them brown and toasty. Roast your ears of corn for about 45 minutes, turning them over halfway through.
• Roasted Garlic – Tip: cutting the bottom off of the head of garlic, instead of the top, will make it much easier to squeeze the cloves out after roasting. Wrap the head of garlic in foil, give it a little olive oil drizzle, and close up the foil. Put it on the baking sheet with the corn and it will all roast together.
• Boil Potatoes – I always start potatoes in cold water. I know that there are different methods, but this has always been what worked best for me. Dropping pieces of potato into hot, or worse, boiling water cooks the outside of the potato very quickly, and reduces the amount of starch that can come out during cooking. This leads to gummy mashed potatoes, which are also not delicious. The cooking time for the potatoes is a guideline, how long it takes for the potatoes to be cooked depends on how large or small you cut the potatoes. They are done when the point of a knife will insert easily into the center of a piece of potato.
• Mashing Potatoes – There are a number of ways to mash potatoes, and everyone has their favorite. A traditional potato masher gets the job done, and it’s a classic for a reason. It’s easy to use, cheap, and you can throw the whole thing in the dishwasher when you’re done with it. For me, it leaves my potatoes a bit lumpier than I like them. On the other end of the spectrum is a hand mixer or stand mixer. These will mash your potatoes, no question. But, it’s very easy to end up with a consistency pretty close to wallpaper paste (remember that stuff? No? Google it. And now I feel old!). All of that agitation in a mixer tears open the cell walls in the cooked potato and pours out starch. A food processor will do exactly what a mixer will do, but about 10 time worse. In the middle ground you’ll get a food mill, which does a great job, but is hard to clean and will quickly tire out your shoulder when you’re cooking for a crowd, or a potato ricer. The potato ricer is my go-to for perfectly smooth, but not pasty, mashed potatoes. It pushes the cooked potato through small holes that make sure you never have any lumps, but doesn’t tear up the cell walls the way a mixer or food processor does because the potato only passes through one time. They’re great tools, and inexpensive to boot. If you don’t have a potato ricer, you can find one here.
• Adding Dairy – I find that dairy mixes into mashed potato best when it’s added after you’ve finished mashing, and when it’s warm. It’s so much easier to stir the milk and butter into already mashed potatoes than it is to add the dairy first, and then mash the whole operation together. Warming the milk and butter before adding it in also melts the butter and allows the dish to combine better. It also keeps the cold milk and butter from cooling your potatoes. I’m not a big fan of cold mashed potatoes. Don’t heat the sour cream, just add that in as-is.

Roasted Corn Mashed Potatoes

Course: Christmas, Fall, Potatoes, Side Dishes, Thanksgiving, Winter

Servings

4-6

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

45

minutes

Roasted Corn Mashed Potatoes are a delicious and comforting side dish, perfect with everything from roast chicken to meatloaf.

Ingredients

• 3 ears of corn

• 1 head of garlic

• 2-3 tbsp olive oil, divided

• Salt and pepper, to taste

• 3.5-4 lbs potatoes

• 4 tbsp butter

• 1/2 cup milk or cream

• 1/2 cup sour cream

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350F.
• Husk corn, place on baking sheet, coat with olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.
• Cut the bottom off of the head of garlic, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Wrap in foil and put on the baking sheet with the corn.
• Roast for 45 minutes, turning corn halfway.
• Wash, peel and cut the potatoes, place in pot with cold salted water. Bring to a boil, and cook until tender, 15-20 minutes.
• Drain potatoes, let them release steam for about 5 minutes before mashing.
• Remove the corn and garlic from the oven and let cool slightly. Cut corn kernels off of the cobs.
• Add the roasted garlic to the potatoes and mash.
• Stir in roasted corn, butter, milk and sour cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

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