A Mashed Potato Bar Will Make You A Holiday Hosting Hero

There's an odd paradox when it comes to the holiday season. The holidays are rooted in tradition — with several staple dishes that must land on the serving table each year — yet many of those dishes are contested. For Thanksgiving, many hate cranberry sauce, though it seems to sit innocently in the corner of the dinner spread. Some are considering switching out turkey, the centerpiece of the entire holiday, for an altogether different meat. Mashed potatoes, however, will never go out of style. Perhaps the least polarizing holiday season dish, this side is oftentimes the most anticipated option in a holiday feast.

Because mashed potatoes are so beloved, feasters have specific ways they like to eat them. Some like skin-in mashed potatoes, some like them extra garlic-y, and some like them with extra dairy. To please all of your holiday party guests this year, prepare a mashed potato bar, an ensemble of different types of mashed potatoes and toppings. This way, you can please the purists, who can grab a scoop of their favorite mashed potato iteration and ladle over a bit of gravy, while catering to the creatives who prefer a more dynamic taste and textural experience.

Make sure to prepare various kinds of spuds by utilizing our techniques to yield different mashed potato textures, such as light and airy or thick and dense. You can expand the options even further by making batches of mashed potatoes with other potato varieties like sweet potatoes or purple potatoes. These offbeat mashed potato types introduce different flavors and colors to the bar.

For your mashed potato toppings, set up containers with small amounts of the rest of the offerings from the spread. One of the greatest features of holiday feasts is that many of the flavors from each component meld well together, so guests may like topping their mashed potatoes with a bit of shredded meat like Thanksgiving turkey or Christmas ham, which can be paired with sweet potato pie or chopped-up crispy Brussels sprouts or broccoli. If your spread includes mashed sweet potatoes, be sure to offer toppings that better complement their flavor, such as candied walnuts or roasted pecans.

Other eaters may want to entirely do away with classic holiday season dishes, so other ingredients that complement the starchy flavor and puréed texture of mashed potatoes are good options to include in the spread. Meats like diced bacon, ground beef, and spicy Italian sausage can add a succulent, savory dimension to the mashed potatoes. To lighten up the heavy texture and taste, offer chives or scallions, introducing a freshness to the dish.

Preparing a holiday meal for the whole family is usually a multiple-day-long affair, but setting up a mashed potato bar isn't as labor-intensive as it may sound. Disposable chafing dish sets will keep the food warm as guests serve themselves, and they make for an easy cleanup. Once all of the food is ready, guide your guests down the bar by tagging each option with food labels.