I will admit this is a bit of a strange recipe, but please stay with me on this one.
Quite a few years ago I saw a recipe for cowboy potatoes. The recipe was basically potatoes cooked with vegetables and then mashed. The recipe caught my attention because at the time a couple of my children were in the I don’t like vegetables stage. However, they were in the I love mashed potato stage.
Now, I do not usually cater to the food dislikes of my kids. In general they are expected to eat what is served, but I was willing to try this idea if it would help them enjoy vegetables. I changed the recipe and used vegetables that we liked. I also added extra cheese and milk to give it a better consistency.
And guess what? My kids loved it, and they had no idea that these potatoes were full of vegetables. Not only did my kids love the potatoes, my husband and I enjoyed them. These potatoes have become a family favorite.
We eat these potatoes just like this. Personally, I would not serve these with gravy on top. These are more of a potato that I serve as a side dish to steak or chicken. We also like these leftover for lunch the next day.
So, how many of you think this is a strange recipe and that I am crazy for serving potatoes with vegetables mixed in? 
Cowboy Mashed Potatoes
- 2 to 3 pounds of potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 12 ounces baby carrots
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and cut into several pieces (these will mash up well once cooked)
- 1 (10 ounce) package frozen white corn
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup milk (more if needed for desired consistency)
- 3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
Place potatoes, carrots, and garlic cloves in a large pot. Cover with water, and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook 15 to 20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Add corn the last 5 minutes or so of cooking. The corn just needs to cook for a few minutes. Drain water from pot.
Add butter and milk and mash the mixture with a potato masher (I use my mixer) until butter is melted and potatoes have reached desired consistency. Mix in cheese and the salt and pepper to taste. Serve and enjoy!
This post linked to Mouthwatering Mondays.
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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
These are DELISH! Love it!!!
Rachel (A Southern Fairytale)´s last blog ..Butterflies and Orchids
This doesn’t sound a bit strange to me…especially since I just made mashed potatoes with kale for my family! But now it’s got me thinking about what other veggies would be good in mashed potatoes…carrots do sound good!
Not at all strange or crazy!! I don’t have little ones (just grandbabies coming up) but I have to sneak veggies in on my husband all the time, otherwise he’d never get a nutritional veggie in him, because he is a Meat & Tater Man and is absolutely convinced that a potato IS a vegetable. I actually saw a similar recipe on another blog just now – except she was calling her recipe “diva” potatoes – same concept though.
Have you ever looked at the cookbook Deceptively Delicious or The Sneaky Chef? I have DD and have actually have used those methods to “sneak” veggie purees into food and my husband never knew! Is that wrong? If it is, I don’t care!!
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Nope – not crazy at all. I can totally see my kids liking this. I think my husband and I would, as well. I am always looking for ways to sneak veggies in, so thanks for sharing.
Tara Rison´s last blog ..S is for St. Patrick’s Day: Printable Activities for Preschoolers
Mashed potatoes are just about my favorite food ever. I don’t mash mine up with extra vegetables. However, I like to make different versions of “bowls” like they serve at KFC. I layer leftover mashed potatoes with ham or chicken, cheese and corn. Just today I had some leftover mashed potatoes topped with some leftover cooked mushrooms for lunch. Yummy stuff! I might have to try adding in some carrots. And I agree – no gravy for me.
This looks delicious!! Can you use just regular frozen yellow corn? I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen white corn up here. My first son loves any and all vegetables, but my baby is all ready exhibiting some picky tendancies – so hopefully he’ll end up liking veggies, but just in case, I think this will need to end up in our menu!!
I’m always looking for new vegetable recipes, instead of just serving the standard peas, corn, carrots, asparagus. Thanks for sharing!!
@Wendy, Yes, you can use regular frozen corn. It would work fine. I like the white corn for this because it is smaller, but I use whatever I have for this.
@Lynn, Lynn – these are excellent!! Such a comfort food
I just made these today for lunch, with WW Calzones and cucumbers. Yummy!! I will definitely make them the next time we have steak, as you suggested. Both of my boys loved them. Thanks again for sharing great recipes!
My mother used to use a very similar concept with us as kids. She noticed how we would always mix the veggies into the potatos so she made up her own crazy everything in it recipes for mashed potatos. Our absolute favorite thing to do with the leftovers was potato pancakes with veggies and cheese right in them!
Wow, those sound very good. I’m thinking cauliflour might be a nice vegetable to use since my kids won’t be able to see it. Hmm… I made mashed potatoes last night, so I’ll have to wait a week or so to try this. Thanks for the idea!
Oh boy…those look delicious and based on the recipe sound amazing. I am an absolute fanatic of mashed potatoes, or potatoes anything really. I am goo goo ga ga for them and love trying out all sorts of recipes. I will def be trying this out soon! Thanks.
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We’ve been looking for ways to eat healthy without giving up good ol’ Southern food
I feel guilty for how often we eat mashed potatoes. This will make me feel a lot better-I can’t wait to try it!
I also love cooking parsnips, turnips, carrots, and potatoes all together, then mashing with lovely sweet butter
Sounds good and considering that veggies almost always get mixed in with the potatoes why not do it right off the bat!
This may negate any health benefits, but this recipe sounds like a good candidate for using the leftovers to make fried mashed potatoes!
I always make extra mashed potatoes to fry up like fritters or crab cakes – just add an egg, crushed cornflakes or crackers – whatever as a binder and fry ‘em up!
Sounds great – I usually add cauliflower to ours and we love it. Many times we just mash up cauliflower and add cheese, milk and butter – delicious