A fancy side dish the whole family will love? For me, it's chunky mashed potatoes, made with green onions and bacon, sautéed in butter beforehand! An easy recipe that turns an ordinary lunch into a classy affair.
This is one of the classic recipes, originating from the Czech Republic. Czechs call it by a beautiful name "Šťouchané brambory". I warmly recommend this Czech-style comfort food, and if you are a potato lover, give this great recipe a try.
MY TIP: Be sure to check these potato dumplings, another treasure of Czech cuisine!
➜ Ingredients
To make the chunky mashed potatoes recipe, you will need:
- Potatoes; best potatoes are any multi-purpose variety with a medium starch content, for example, Yukon golds in the USA
- Bacon; sliced or whole
- Unsalted butter; optionally lard or sunflower oil
- Spring onions; feel free to substitute them for regular yellow kitchen onions, young leeks, or shallots
- Whole milk; or heavy cream for more flavor. Ideally, milk should be lukewarm, not cold. If you have just taken the milk out of the fridge, warm it in a pot on the stove or briefly put it in a microwave. Another option is sour cream, which gives the potatoes a slightly sour taste.
- Salt and ground black pepper; to season
✅ You’ll find the exact amount of ingredients below in the recipe card, which you can also print out.
➜ Instructions with photos
STEP 1: Peel the potatoes and cut them into equal pieces. Place potatoes in a large pot of salted water and boil them until soft. You should reach accurate soft tenderness after about 18-20 minutes of simmering.
STEP 2: While the potatoes are cooking, clean the spring onions and cut off the root. Chop finely. Dice the bacon. Heat the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and sauté the onions and bacon in it while stirring. After five minutes everything is ready!
STEP 3: Drain the cooked potatoes. Add milk or cream to the pot and mash them with a potato masher.
STEP 4: Add the fried onion and bacon to the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper and mix to combine.
STEP 5: Serve the mashed potatoes warm in a serving bowl as a side dish. For a better presentation, garnish the potatoes with chopped fresh herbs such as chives or green parsley.
➜ What goes well with mashed potatoes?
Chunky mashed potatoes are a versatile side dish that goes nicely with many main dishes. Our favorite way is to serve them with all kinds of fried, braised, roasted, or breaded meat. They are a perfect choice for sausages, but also for vegetable dishes.
Serve mashed potatoes with:
➜ What is the best way to mash potatoes?
Use a hand masher to crush the cooked potatoes, not an electric mixer. Using a hand masher makes it easy to get a nice texture of potatoes just the way you like.
Remember: Coarsely mashed potatoes are not fluffy or creamy but contain small chunks of soft potatoes.
➜ Cook’s tip
- Do you like to experiment? Add other flavoring ingredients to the mashed potatoes based on your taste preferences. A common choice is pressed garlic cloves, a more pronounced cheese (such as Parmesan cheese) but also fried mushrooms or cabbage.
More potato recipes:
- Czech potato salad (bramborový salát)
- Bramboraky potato pancakes (a real Czech thing with plenty of garlic and dried marjoram)
- Parsley potatoes (a basic recipe)
- French potato gratin (Czech francouzke brambory)
Tried this recipe?
Leave a review down in the comments! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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Chunky Mashed Potatoes Recipe
Tap or hover to scale
Ingredients
- 2 pounds potatoes medium-starch potatoes, such as Yukon golds
- 2 spring onions
- 3 ounces bacon sliced or whole
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup whole milk or Half-and-Half for better flavor
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Peel 2 pounds potatoes and cut them into equal pieces. Place potatoes in a large pot of salted water and boil them until soft. You should reach accurate soft tenderness after about 18-20 minutes of simmering.
- While the potatoes are cooking, clean the 2 spring onions and cut off the root. Chop finely. Dice 3 ounces bacon. Heat 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and sauté the onions and bacon in it while stirring. It takes 5 minutes.
- Drain the cooked potatoes. Add 1/3 cup whole milk to the pot and mash them with a potato masher.
- Add the fried onion and bacon to the potatoes. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper and mix to combine.
- Serve the mashed potatoes warm in a serving bowl as a side dish. For a better presentation, garnish the potatoes with chopped fresh herbs such as chives or green parsley.
Notes
- The basic recipe makes 4 servings.
- Feel free to substitute spring onions for regular yellow kitchen onions, young leeks, or shallots.
- The best way to mash potatoes: Use a hand masher to crush the cooked potatoes, not an electric mixer. Using a hand masher makes it easy to get a nice texture of potatoes just the way you like.
- Do you like to experiment? Add other flavoring ingredients to the mashed potatoes based on your taste preferences. A common choice is pressed garlic cloves, a more pronounced cheese (such as Parmesan cheese) but also fried mushrooms or cabbage.
Nutritional estimate pro serving
TIP: Serve štouchané brambory with Czech breaded fried cheese, famous Smažený sýr!
John Stapleton
These are very tasty, I made them for my Czech Girlfriend and she loved them!