Most people make mashed potatoes the same way every single time. Butter, milk, salt, done. There’s nothing wrong with that, but what if swapping out just a couple of ingredients could take them to a completely different level? One recipe from chef José Andrés has been making waves online because it skips the butter entirely. Instead, it uses Manchego cheese and olive oil. It sounds unusual, but multiple taste tests have crowned it a winner over some seriously stiff competition.
Why this recipe beat out dozens of others
When you think of famous chefs making mashed potatoes, you probably picture mountains of butter. Anthony Bourdain’s version uses six whole sticks of it. Julia Child throws in 30 cloves of garlic and a béchamel sauce. Gordon Ramsay loads his up with an entire bunch of green onions. With so many big names and bold moves, it’s hard to imagine a recipe with olive oil and cheese winning the day. But that’s exactly what happened when testers sat down and compared them all side by side.
In a recent showdown, José Andrés’ mashed potatoes came out on top against recipes from Julia Child, Anthony Bourdain, Marcus Samuelsson, and more. The testers loved the nutty richness from the Manchego and the fruity finish from the olive oil. It wasn’t just a little bit better either — it was called the “clear winner.” The best part is that the recipe doesn’t require any fancy tools or tricky techniques. It’s about as simple as a regular mash, just with smarter ingredients.
Manchego cheese makes all the difference
Manchego is a Spanish cheese made from sheep’s milk. It has a nutty, slightly tangy taste that gets stronger as it ages. For this recipe, young Manchego works best — the kind that’s been aged about three to six months. It melts smoothly into hot potatoes without clumping or getting stringy. If you’ve only ever added cheddar or Parmesan to mashed potatoes, Manchego is going to feel like a whole new world. It brings richness without being heavy or greasy.
The trick is to cut the cheese into very small dice before stirring it in. You add it slowly to the hot mashed potatoes so it melts evenly throughout. This creates a silky, smooth base that doesn’t need butter at all. Most grocery stores carry Manchego in the specialty cheese section. Look for labels that say “young” or “semi-curado.” If the store is out, a mild Pecorino can work in a pinch, but it won’t have quite the same mellow nuttiness that makes this recipe stand out from the crowd.
Olive oil instead of butter actually works
Swapping butter for olive oil sounds like a weird move, especially for something as traditional as mashed potatoes. But olive oil adds a fruity, almost peppery quality that pairs really well with the Manchego. It keeps the potatoes feeling lighter too. Instead of that heavy, stick-to-your-ribs weight that comes with a lot of butter, the olive oil makes every bite smooth and almost airy. It’s one of those things that sounds strange until you actually try it.
The olive oil gets emulsified right into the potatoes at the end, kind of like making a simple vinaigrette. Then an extra tablespoon gets drizzled on top for serving. If you’re someone who already loves olive oil on bread or pasta, go ahead and pour a little more generously. A good-quality extra virgin olive oil is worth the splurge here since you can really taste it in the final dish. This one swap is what gives the whole recipe its Spanish-inspired character.
The roasted garlic step is worth the extra time
A lot of mashed potato recipes call for garlic, but most of them just boil it with the potatoes or mince it raw. This recipe does something smarter. Whole garlic cloves get wrapped in a foil pouch with a drizzle of olive oil and roasted in the oven until they’re completely soft. Once they cool down a bit, you squeeze the cloves out of their skins and mash them into a paste with a fork. It takes about 30 minutes, but it’s mostly hands-off.
Why does roasting matter so much? Raw garlic has a sharp bite that can overpower everything else. One tester noted that in Marcus Samuelsson’s recipe, simmered garlic still tasted pretty raw and aggressive. Roasting takes all that sharpness away and leaves behind a sweet, mellow garlic that blends right into the potatoes. It’s the kind of thing you won’t notice as a separate ingredient — it just makes the whole bowl taste better. That little foil packet is doing a lot of quiet work.
Shaking the pot is a simple game-changer
Here’s a step that most people skip, and it makes a huge difference. After draining the boiled potatoes, you put them back in the hot pot and shake them over medium heat for about a minute. This evaporates the extra water clinging to the potatoes. Waterlogged potatoes lead to a soggy, thin mash that no amount of cheese or butter can fix. That quick shake dries them out just enough to create a fluffy base that soaks up all the good stuff you add next.
It’s one of those tiny details that separates a great batch of mashed potatoes from an okay one. Professional cooks do this all the time, but it rarely shows up in home recipes. You’ll actually see little wisps of steam coming off the potatoes as the moisture escapes. Once they look dry and a bit crumbly on the surface, they’re ready for the cream. This is especially important when using russet potatoes, which absorb a lot of water during boiling.
Mash by hand and skip the stand mixer
It might seem easier to throw everything in a stand mixer and let it rip, but that’s one of the fastest ways to ruin mashed potatoes. Overmixing breaks down the starch in the potatoes, turning them gluey and pasty. One tester found that Julia Child’s recipe, which involves a lot of vigorous mixing with béchamel, ended up with exactly that problem. The Pioneer Woman’s version also turned out dense and gluey, partly because of too much cream cheese and too much mixing.
A regular potato masher, a fork, or a potato ricer is all you need. José Andrés’ recipe calls for mashing by hand with warm heavy cream until smooth. The Manchego gets folded in gently after that. Less mixing means lighter, fluffier potatoes. A ricer gives the smoothest results without any risk of overworking. If you don’t own one, a regular masher works perfectly — just stop as soon as the lumps are gone. A few small lumps are always better than a gummy paste.
What other famous chefs got wrong
Not every big-name recipe lives up to the hype. Gordon Ramsay’s mashed potatoes use an entire bunch of raw green onions, and testers found the sharp bite and crunchy bits overwhelming. Oprah’s recipe calls for more than a cup of horseradish, which sounds bold but ended up being exhausting after a few bites. Even the Pioneer Woman’s cream cheese version, which sounded rich and promising, turned out bland and cafeteria-like according to one taste test.
The lesson from all these tests is that more isn’t always better. Six sticks of butter doesn’t automatically mean amazing potatoes. A whole bottle of horseradish doesn’t make them interesting — it makes them hard to eat. The recipes that scored highest were the ones with balanced, well-thought-out ingredients. Tyler Florence’s method of boiling potatoes directly in heavy cream also scored really well in a separate test, proving that sometimes the unconventional approaches are the ones worth trying.
Russet potatoes are the right choice here
This recipe specifically calls for baking potatoes, which means russets. They have a high starch content that creates that fluffy, cloud-like mash everyone loves. Yukon Golds are great for other recipes because they’re naturally creamy, but russets absorb the olive oil and Manchego better. They also dry out more easily during the shaking step, which is important for getting the right consistency. Grab a five-pound bag of russets — they’re cheap and available everywhere.
Peel them and cut them into even chunks before boiling. Even pieces cook at the same rate, so you won’t end up with some that are mushy and others that are still hard in the middle. Start them in cold, salted water and bring everything to a boil together. This helps them cook evenly from the outside in. Test with a fork — when it slides in with no resistance, they’re done. Drain them well and get ready for that all-important pot shake.
This works for weeknights and holidays
One of the biggest selling points of this recipe is how flexible it is. It takes about an hour from start to finish, and most of that is just waiting for potatoes to boil and garlic to roast. You can easily make this on a Tuesday night with chicken or fish. But it also looks and tastes fancy enough to serve next to a holiday roast. A few people who tested it said the potatoes were so good they could anchor a whole meal with just a green salad on the side.
The recipe also holds up well if you need to make it a little ahead of time. Keep it warm in the pot with the lid on, and give it a stir before serving. Add a splash of warm cream if it thickens up too much. Unlike butter-heavy versions that can solidify and get stiff as they cool, the olive oil helps keep things smooth even at lower temperatures. That makes it a really practical choice when you’re juggling multiple dishes during a big dinner.
Sometimes the best upgrades are the simplest ones. Swapping butter for olive oil, adding Manchego instead of cheddar, and roasting garlic instead of boiling it — none of these changes are hard. They just require a small shift in what you reach for at the grocery store. Whether it’s a random weeknight or the biggest dinner of the year, this recipe proves that mashed potatoes don’t have to be boring to be comforting. Give it one try, and the old way might feel like it’s missing something.
José Andrés’ Mashed Potatoes with Manchego and Olive Oil
Course: Side DishCuisine: Spanish6
servings15
minutes35
minutes380
kcalThe mashed potato recipe that beat out Julia Child, Anthony Bourdain, and more in a head-to-head taste test — and it doesn’t even use butter.
Ingredients
3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
1 head of garlic, cloves separated and unpeeled
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided, plus more for serving
¾ cup heavy cream, warmed
4 ounces young Manchego cheese, finely diced (aged 3-6 months)
Kosher salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place the unpeeled garlic cloves on a sheet of aluminum foil and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Wrap the foil into a sealed pouch and roast for about 30 minutes, until the cloves are completely soft and golden.
- While the garlic roasts, place the potato chunks in a large pot and cover with cold water by about 1 inch. Add a generous amount of kosher salt to the water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a steady simmer and cook for about 20 minutes, until a fork slides through the potatoes with no resistance.
- Drain the potatoes well in a colander, then return them to the hot pot. Place the pot over medium-low heat and shake the potatoes for about 1 minute to evaporate excess moisture. You should see steam rising off the potatoes as they dry out.
- Remove the roasted garlic from the foil and let it cool slightly. Squeeze each clove out of its papery skin into a small bowl. Mash the garlic with a fork until it forms a smooth paste. Set aside.
- Mash the dried potatoes by hand using a potato masher or fork. Pour in the warmed heavy cream and the roasted garlic paste, and continue mashing until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Do not use a stand mixer or electric beaters, as this will make the potatoes gummy.
- Add the finely diced Manchego cheese a little at a time, gently stirring after each addition until the cheese melts completely into the hot potatoes. The residual heat will melt the cheese smoothly as long as you add it gradually.
- Drizzle in the remaining 4 tablespoons of olive oil while stirring steadily to emulsify it into the potatoes. The mixture should look silky and smooth. Season generously with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
- Transfer the mashed potatoes to a serving bowl and drizzle an additional tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil over the top. Serve immediately while hot. For extra richness, add even more olive oil to taste.
Notes
- Use young Manchego aged 3-6 months for the best melting. Older Manchego won’t melt as smoothly and can make the potatoes grainy.
- Warm the heavy cream in a small saucepan or microwave before adding it to the potatoes. Cold cream will cool the potatoes and prevent the cheese from melting properly.
- A good-quality extra virgin olive oil matters here since it’s a primary ingredient. Look for one that tastes fruity and slightly peppery.
- Leftovers reheat well in a covered pot over low heat. Add a splash of warm cream and a drizzle of olive oil to restore the creamy consistency.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can I use a different cheese if I can’t find Manchego?
A: A mild Pecorino Romano or young Gouda can work as substitutes, though the taste will be slightly different. The key is to pick a semi-firm cheese that melts well and isn’t too sharp. Avoid aged or hard cheeses like Parmesan, which won’t melt smoothly into the potatoes.
Q: Can I use Yukon Gold potatoes instead of russets?
A: Russets are recommended because their high starch content creates a fluffier result that absorbs the olive oil and cheese better. Yukon Golds will give you a creamier, denser mash, which works but produces a different feel. If using Yukon Golds, you may need slightly less cream.
Q: Why can’t I use a stand mixer or hand mixer?
A: Electric mixers work the starch in potatoes very quickly, which makes them gluey and pasty instead of light and fluffy. Hand mashing or using a potato ricer gives you control over the process and lets you stop as soon as the lumps are gone. A few small lumps are always better than overworked potatoes.
Q: Can I make these ahead of time for a holiday dinner?
A: Yes, these potatoes hold up well for about an hour in a covered pot over very low heat. Give them a good stir before serving and add a splash of warm cream if they’ve thickened. The olive oil helps them stay smooth longer than butter-based recipes, which tend to stiffen as they cool down.
