Pancetta Blue Cheese Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes

Name: Pancetta Blue Cheese Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 10
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 4-5 large baking potatoes – peeled; 2 teaspoons salt; 1 cup warm buttermilk; 1/2 cup warm milk; 1/4 cup melted butter; 3 oz softened cream cheese; 1 teaspoon salt; 3 oz pancetta cooked and crumbled; 4 oz crumbled blue cheese

November 13, 2013 by Tanya Schroeder · 40 Comments · Last updated: December 18, 2021

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Buttermilk mashed potatoes are luxuriously creamy on their own.

Cheesy, creamy, salty, and delicious is the best way to describe pancetta blue cheese buttermilk mashed potatoes!

You’re going to love this homemade mashed potatoes with buttermilk recipe. When the pancetta and blue cheese are added, they’re transformed into a decadent side dish! Perfect for holiday feasts and fancy dinner parties, but also comforting and classic enough to serve any night of the week.

Pancetta and Blue Cheese Mashed Potatoes

These really could be a meal on their own. The potatoes are so creamy! The buttermilk and cream cheese do wonders for getting this texture nice and smooth. Adding in the other variables like blue cheese and pancetta are what make these classic homestyle mashed potatoes feel high-class and fancy.

Ingredients

Baking potatoes
Salt
Warm buttermilk
Warm milk
Melted butter
Softened cream cheese
Cooked and crumbled pancetta
Crumbled blue cheese

For the exact amounts needed, please see the recipe card below.

How to Make Pancetta Blue Cheese Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes

In a skillet, cook your pancetta until it’s nice and crispy. Drain the grease and set it aside.
Wash and peel your potatoes. Cut into 2-inch sized pieces and place them into a large dutch oven with enough water to cover the potatoes. add some salt to the water.
Bring the water to a boil over medium heat and continue to boil for about 20 minutes.
Drain the water from the pan completely and return the potatoes to the dutch oven.
Cook on the stovetop over medium heat for 5 minutes to help absorb the excess liquid in the pot. You want your potatoes to be nice and dry.
Mash the potatoes with a potato masher until you have reached your desired consistency.
Mix in the cream cheese, buttermilk, milk, butter, and salt.
Right before serving, add in the blue cheese and crispy cooked pancetta.
Serve warm and enjoy!

Recipe Tips

If desired you can omit the blue cheese entirely from this recipe. Even without the cheese, this recipe will still be very flavorful and delicious.
If you can’t find pancetta or don’t wish to use it, you can choose to use bacon instead. I would opt for a thin-sliced, non-flavored variety (so not Maplewood smoked, etc)
Even if you leave out the blue cheese and pancetta and make this dish plain with the remaining ingredients these buttermilk mashed potatoes still taste fantastic!

FAQs

What are baking potatoes?

Baking potatoes is another term given to russet potatoes because they are perfect for cooking in a variety of ways. they have thick skins and when cooked the insides become light and fluffy. A russet potato can become anything from mashed potatoes to french fries, broiled, and more and still turn out fabulously every time thanks to the low moisture content and high starch content inside them.

You could also choose to use either golden yellow potatoes or red skin potatoes for this recipe and still have it turn out tasty.

Why add salt to boiling potatoes?

this is the fun part of science- the part that works in your favor. Adding salt to boiling potatoes helps to season the potatoes as they cook. Not only that, but it also helps to remove excess starch as the potatoes cook, allowing it to result in an even creamier texture for mashed potatoes, which sounds great because that’s what we want from this recipe.

How long are mashed potato leftovers good for?

Your leftover mashed potatoes can be kept stored in an airtight container in the fridge for about 3-5 days Reheat with some pads of butter on top to help rehydrate the potatoes as they warm up and cook and enjoy the leftovers throughout the week. you can also store your potatoes in an airtight container in the freezer for up to three months. Just thaw for several hours in the fridge before reheating slowly to bring them back up to temperature.

If you’re looking for some more delicious mashed potato recipes then you can’t go wrong with my simple Crockpot Mashed Potatoes Recipe, it’s low maintenance and always a crowd-pleaser. For a fancier recipe, check out my Cheesy Mashed Potatoes with Gruyere and Caramelized Onions, it’s s good you’ll want to lick the pot clean.

Yield: 10 servings