Mashed potatoes are truly the ultimate comfort food.
Nothing makes you feel quite so satisfied as hot, rich, mashed potatoes with a couple of patties of real butter melting down from the well you make on top of your mound of potato.
Or how about some rich, brown gravy with meatballs or mouth-watering turkey gravy and a thick, succulent slice of breast meat?
When was the last time you saw mashed potatoes on a diet? As long as you know the calorie count of mashed potatoes and you stay within the daily calorie count that you have established for yourself, I see no reason why we should omit mashed potatoes from our weight loss program.
You can make mashed potatoes rich or you can make them very, very rich. It’s your choice. Here’s the Idaho Potato Commission Traditional Mashed Potato recipe with my suggested variations and the resulting calorie counts.
Traditional Mashed Potatoes Recipe
| Ingredients | Calories | Calories per 1 cup serving |
| 2-1/2 lbs. potatoes (about 5 cups) | 755 | |
| 2 Tbsp. real butter | 200 | |
| 1/2 tsp. salt | 0 | |
| 1/4 tsp. black pepper | 0 | |
| Total ingredients minus a milk product: | 955 | 191 |
| PLUS | ||
| 3/4 c. skim milk, hot |
68 | 205 |
|
OR |
||
| 3/4 c. 1% milk, hot |
83 | 208 |
| OR | ||
| 3/4 c. 2% milk, hot |
91 | 209 |
| OR | ||
| 3/4 c. whole milk, hot |
113 | 214 |
| OR | ||
| 3/4 c. Half and Half, hot |
240 | 239 |
| OR | ||
| 3/4 c. heavy cream, hot |
618 | 315 |
| OPTIONAL ADDITIONS (Add calories to the above selected ingredients) | ||
| 1/2 c. sour cream | 248 | 50 |
| 2 oz. grated cheddar cheese | 220 | 44 |
| 2 Tbsp. fresh chopped parsley | 2 | <1 |
| 4 oz. softened cream cheese | 400 |
40 |
| 2 additional Tbsp. of real butter | 200 | 40 |
| 2 cloves baked, mashed garlic | 8 | <2 |
|
Directions 1. Peel potatoes and cut into 1-inch chunks. 2. Place potatoes in large pot and add enough water to cover potatoes. Cook 13 to 15 minutes or until very tender. Drain potatoes in colander. 3. Return cooked potatoes to pot and stir over medium heat, about 1 minute, until excess water has evaporated. 4. With potato masher, mash in hot milk, butter, salt and pepper. Beat with wooden spoon until potatoes are smooth and creamy. Stir in any optional add-ins, if desired. |
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The standard serving size for mashed potatoes is 1/2 cup. Divide the 1 cup serving size calories in half if you are only planning to eat a 1/2 cup serving.
Also, if you don’t wish to make mashed potatoes from scratch, try Bob Evans Original Mashed Potatoes (in the refrigerated foods aisle of your local market).
A one cup serving of Bob Evans potatoes is 300 calories; the 1/2 c. serving is 150. Generally a 1/2 cup serving size is adequate, that is unless you are having the Minnesota Public School Special: Hamburger Gravy on Mashed Potatoes, when a 1 cup serving is more appropriate.