How Many Potatoes Do You Need To Make A Cup Of Mashed Potatoes?

Potatoes can be delicious in just about any form. They can be sliced lengthwise and cooked in oil for classic French fries, baked as they are with a little butter for an easy baked potato, or boiled, then paired with creamy ingredients for perfectly whipped mashed potatoes. But if you're trying to measure how many potatoes you'll need as you prep that last dish, you might want to know: How many potatoes does it take for one cup of the mashed version? Spoiler alert: you'll need about two, assuming you're using standard-sized white potatoes (most likely Russet potatoes).

Potatoes vary in size, but generally speaking, two is the magic number for regular-sized white potatoes. You can use every last bit of the potato here, with the exception of the skin (though you can save that for easy fried potato skins), and when paired with other ingredients that smooth the potatoes out, it's easier to pack them into one cup. But if you're in doubt, it wouldn't hurt to buy a third potato just in case the ones at your grocery store run slightly small.

Mashed potatoes are simple to make, but you do need a little bit of time since the potatoes need to cook. The easiest method here is boiling the potatoes, because that will make them nice and soft, so they'll mash with ease. But other ingredients add volume to the final dish, too. You should plan to add around two tablespoons of butter per potato, plus enough whole milk (or, for an even richer version, use cream) to get that creamy consistency. If you want to make your mashed potatoes taste even better, add a tablespoon of cream cheese for every two potatoes used.

You can use other types of potatoes, but keep in mind the number you need will vary depending on the potatoes' size and variety, so you'll have to do the math accordingly depending on what potato type you're using.