How Texas Roadhouse Makes Its Mashed Potatoes So Creamy

Texas Roadhouse is a chain of Texas-themed steakhouses founded in Clarksville, Indiana, in 1993 by Kent Taylor. Besides steaks, the chain is famous for its fall-off-the-bone BBQ ribs and house-made rolls, served with cinnamon honey butter. Texas Roadhouse prides itself on making everything from scratch at each location, and diners can order their choice of side dishes with most entrees — and one of the best offerings at Texas Roadhouse is its mashed potatoes. One Redditor commented that the creamy spuds are their "favorite" because "they're soft and fluffy and they have the ... skins in them. They remind me a lot of the homemade mashed potatoes I ate growing up."

Luckily, a Texas Roadhouse managing partner in Bossier City, Louisiana, shared the now not-so-secret recipe for the creamy mashed potatoes. He started with what appeared to be russet potatoes, which are a good variety for this recipe because they are starchy and make for a fluffier mash. Partially peeling the potatoes gives the finished dish some added flavor and textural interest without making it feel like you just mashed up baked spuds. It's also a good compromise if you're feeding both skin-on and skinless fans.

Cutting the tubers into uniform pieces before boiling reduces cooking time and also makes them easier to mash. Keeping a close eye on the clock and boiling the potatoes just until they are fork-tender can prevent them from falling apart and absorbing too much water, which can lead to a soupy dish. Putting the cooked potatoes back into a hot pan helps evaporate any excess moisture while also helping the butter melt evenly. It's a pretty solid recipe for creamy mashed potatoes.

The base recipe is delicious on its own, but if you want to elevate the flavor even further, there are a few easy upgrades you can try. One Redditor who identified themselves as a former Texas Roadhouse employee suggested using half-and-half instead of milk, along with a chicken base, which infuses the potatoes with a subtle savoriness. The additional fat in the half-and-half will also give a creamier mouthfeel, but you can use any type of milk or combination of milks. Just make sure to heat whatever dairy you're using, which makes it easier to fully incorporate into the potatoes and prevents the mixture from seizing up. If you really want to experiment, there are other tasty ingredients you can add to mashed potatoes, but keep in mind that simplicity is key when trying to recreate Texas Roadhouse's popular side dish.

Regardless of which route you go, be careful not to overmix your mashed potatoes, and definitely don't try to speed things up by blitzing them in a food processor. When cooked, the starch in potatoes combines with water and forms a sort of gel. Some of these hydrated starch molecules burst during mixing, which can help hold the mash together. However, when you mix too vigorously or for too long, too many of these molecules burst, making your mashed potatoes feel more like wallpaper paste. Adding enough fat, like butter, to your boiled potatoes before mashing can help prevent this from happening, but it's best to stop mixing once you reach your desired consistency.