18 Thanksgiving Sides Starring Potatoes

The secret to perfect mashed potatoes? Knowing when to stop. Mash potatoes with softened butter and warm milk until they’re creamy but still have some chunks remaining. Thin-skinned potatoes, cut into pieces, cook quickly and are easiest to mash.

Recipe: Creamy Chunky Mashed Potatoes

Leeks can be hard to clean, but they’re worth the effort for their sweet, subtle yet unmistakable flavor. Cooked until very tender, they blend beautifully with mashed potatoes.

Recipe: Mashed Potatoes with Melted Leeks

These bright green potatoes add a bolt of color to the Thanksgiving table. Although luxuriously creamy, they have a nice tang to balance the richness.

Recipe: Mashed Potatoes with Herbed Greek Yogurt

Roasted cauliflower adds a nutty flavor and tender-chewy texture to creamy mashed potatoes.

Recipe: Roasted Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

Rich, brown butter infused with the flavor of hazelnuts makes a decadent, but easy addition to mashed potatoes.

Recipe: Browned Butter and Hazelnut Mashed Potatoes

Noisette, “hazelnut” in French, here refers to tiny potato balls that are are crisped until brown. Then they’re piled on a bed of rich potato purée. Despite the vast amount of butter, the purée doesn’t taste greasy. That said, you can still make luscious potatoes with half the butter.

Recipe: Potatoes Noisette on Potato Purée

The tricks to achieving very creamy mashed potatoes are to not overcook them and to whip them just until smooth (if you overwhip, they’ll get gluey). Serve some of the butter on the side, so guests can determine their level of richness.

Recipe: Whipped Potatoes with Three-Onion Butter

Los Angeles chef Shigefumi Tachibe wakes up mashed potatoes with wasabi and soy sauce for an untraditional but delicious version of a Thanksgiving favorite.

Recipe: Wasabi Mashed Potatoes

You’ll love these rich and creamy potatoes. Bright green chives add a hint of garlicky goodness.

Recipe: Mascarpone Chive Mashed Potatoes

We’ve used two low-calorie tricks in here: broth instead of whipping cream, and neufchâtel cheese for rich creaminess with one-fourth the fat of butter.

Recipe: Green Onion Mashed Potatoes

Save potato and parsnip peels for a wispy, crisp topping. The salty strips pair well with the sweetness of parsnips.

Recipe: Mashed Potatoes and Parsnips with Crisp Root Vegetable Strips

Mashed potatoes are even better blended with celery root, which has a gentle but penetrating flavor. Don’t be deterred by the root’s hairy exterior; just trim it off with a knife. This recipe is adapted from one in Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (1997), by Deborah Madison.

Recipe: Celery Root and Potato Mash

Once you try bacon cream, you may want to put it on everything. It takes potatoes to an unprecedented level of deliciousness.

Recipe: Makah Ozette Potatoes with Bacon Cream

Sweet, tangy dill and butter cling to tender, crisp potatoes. We love these potatoes with turkey but they’re perfect alongside a burger too.

Recipe: Grilled Fingerlings with Dill

This dish has Southern roots but omits the usual candied syrup.

Recipe: Mashed Sweet Potatoes

This is a decadent yet savory way to serve sweet potatoes. If you’re expecting vegetarians, make a couple of potatoes without the bacon. One potato can be enough for at least four people, depending on its size.

Recipe: Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes with Bacon and Goat Cheese

Virgin coconut oil is unrefined and cold-pressed, like extra-virgin olive oil, and isn’t hydrogenated. It has a clean, slightly nutty taste that’s delicious in this dish. Deborah Madison, who adapted this recipe from one in a new revision of her book Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (1997), likes to use a mix of sweet potatoes, but it’s fine to go with just one kind. Paler sweet potatoes tend to be drier, so if you use them, add more oil.

Recipe: Coconut Pan-Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Sesame Seeds

Aromatic rosemary-scented potatoes are perfect with grilled turkey. Make use of the hot grill while the turkey rests before craving.

Recipe: Grilled Rosemary Sweet Potatoes