The Best Mashed Potatoes Ever

With a claim like this, I have to be serious. Melissa Brannan, formerly a test cook at Williams Sonoma and now a badass independent chef back home in Louisiana, Melissa made a version of these mashed potatoes for our test kitchen team years ago and we all flipped out. To this day, they’re the only mashed potatoes I make for Thanksgiving. I did take the liberty of lightening them up just a little—forgive me for using half-and-half instead of heavy cream, Melissa—and I also swapped out a few of the herbs and spices she recommends. (I have something against bay leaves and I don’t know what it is, but it didn’t make the cut in my version.) I don’t mind mashing my potatoes with a hand-held masher, but nothing beats a ricer for lump-free potatoes. I’ve had my ricer for 25 years and I use it once a year, but it’s worth it.

Serves 6-8 as a side.