I want to talk about the mashed potato recipe that keeps showing up everywhere — on TikTok, in group chats, at holiday tables where somebody brings a dish and everyone else spends the rest of the night trying to get the recipe. It’s Boursin mashed potatoes. And honestly, once you try them, you’ll understand why people won’t shut up about them.

The idea is dead simple. You make mashed potatoes the way you normally would, then you stir in an entire package of Boursin cheese — that soft, herby, garlicky cheese that comes in the little round box. It melts right into the hot potatoes and turns a regular side dish into something that tastes like it came from a restaurant where you need a reservation. Except it took you 30 minutes and you’re standing in your kitchen wearing slippers.

Why Boursin Cheese Makes Such a Difference

If you’ve never picked up Boursin before, it’s a French-style gournay cheese — soft and spreadable, kind of like cream cheese’s more interesting cousin. The garlic and fine herbs flavor is the one you want here, and it comes in a 5.2-ounce package you can find at pretty much any grocery store. Walmart, Kroger, Target, Trader Joe’s — it’s everywhere, usually near the specialty cheeses or sometimes by the deli.

What makes it so good in mashed potatoes is that it brings three things at once: creaminess, garlic flavor, and herbs. Normally you’d have to add butter, then mince garlic, then chop fresh herbs, then hope you got the ratios right. With Boursin, all of that is already balanced for you. It melts beautifully into hot potatoes, and every bite has that rich, savory, slightly herbaceous thing going on. It’s one ingredient doing the work of four or five.

The Best Potato to Use

You’ve got two good choices: Yukon Gold or Russet. Both work, but they give you different results, and which one you pick depends on what kind of mashed potato person you are.

Yukon Golds are naturally buttery and hold moisture well. They give you a creamier, denser mash that almost has a golden color to it. Russets are starchier and fluffier — they soak up butter and cream like a sponge and give you that lighter, more whipped texture. I personally lean Yukon Gold for this recipe because the Boursin is already doing a lot of the flavor heavy lifting, and the natural creaminess of Yukons plays well with it. But Russets are great too, especially if you like your mashed potatoes a little more on the fluffy, cloud-like side.

Either way, you’ll need about 3 pounds. That’s roughly 6 medium-sized potatoes, give or take.

The Technique That Actually Matters

Here’s where most people mess up mashed potatoes, Boursin or not: they don’t get the texture right before adding anything else. If your base mash is lumpy or gluey, no amount of fancy cheese is going to save it.

The single best tool for this job is a potato ricer. It looks like a giant garlic press, and it pushes the cooked potatoes through tiny holes so you get an incredibly smooth result with zero effort. No lumps. No weird gluey spots. Just silk. If you don’t own one, a food mill on the finest setting works just as well. Both of these options break down the potato without overworking the starch, which is what causes that paste-like texture nobody wants.

What you want to avoid is a stand mixer or electric hand mixer. I know it’s tempting — just throw the potatoes in the KitchenAid and let it rip, right? Don’t. The beaters rupture too many starch cells and you end up with wallpaper paste. A ricer or food mill, or even a good old-fashioned hand masher with some patience, will always give you better results.

One more thing: rinse your potatoes before AND after boiling. This washes away excess surface starch that can make the final product gummy. And boil them in heavily salted water — it should taste like the ocean. This seasons the potatoes from the inside out, which is something you can’t fix after the fact. If you want to go even further, try boiling them in chicken stock instead of plain water. A San Antonio home cook named Jourdyn Parks went viral for this trick, and testing confirmed the stock-boiled potatoes had a noticeably richer flavor and creamier texture than water-boiled ones.

Dry Your Potatoes (Seriously, Don’t Skip This)

After you drain your boiled potatoes, put them back in the hot pot over low heat for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. You’ll see steam rising off them. That’s moisture leaving. This step is non-negotiable if you want creamy potatoes that aren’t watery. Even Martha Stewart insists on drying out cooked potatoes before adding anything else.

Once they’re dry, push them through your ricer or food mill back into the pot. Now you’re ready for the good stuff.

Building the Flavor

Start with 4 tablespoons of butter, diced into small pieces so it melts quickly and evenly. Stir it in until it’s fully combined. Then crumble in the entire 5.2-ounce package of Boursin garlic and fine herbs cheese. It’ll start to soften and melt almost immediately in the hot potatoes. Stir it through until you can’t see any distinct chunks of cheese anymore.

Now add your liquid. Heavy cream gives you the richest result — start with about half a cup and add more a splash at a time until you hit the consistency you like. If you prefer things lighter, whole milk works fine. Just make sure whatever liquid you use is warm. Cold milk or cream will cool down your potatoes and make the butter seize up, which gives you a grainy texture instead of a smooth one.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. Go easy on the salt at first — the Boursin already has some in it, so taste as you go.

Variations Worth Trying

The garlic and fine herbs Boursin is the classic move here, but it’s not the only flavor they make. Shallot and chive is fantastic if you want something a little more subtle. Cracked black pepper adds a nice bite. There’s even a fig and balsamic variety that I wouldn’t personally put in mashed potatoes, but I’m not going to tell you how to live your life.

For garnish, keep it simple: a sprinkle of chopped fresh chives, flat-leaf parsley, or thinly sliced green onions. Crispy fried shallots are a killer topping if you want some crunch. And crumbling a little extra Boursin on top right before serving looks great and adds another hit of flavor.

If you’re feeling ambitious, you could combine approaches. Some cooks use the crushed potato chip trick that went viral on TikTok — crumbling salt and vinegar or sour cream and onion chips on top of your Boursin mash for a salty, crunchy contrast. It sounds weird. It works.

How to Make Them Ahead of Time

This is a huge part of why people love this recipe for holidays and dinner parties. You can make Boursin mashed potatoes up to a full day in advance. Just prepare them completely, transfer to a baking dish, cover tightly with foil, and refrigerate.

When you’re ready to serve, warm them in the oven at 350°F for about 25 to 30 minutes, covered. Or put them in a slow cooker on the warm setting and let them come back to temperature gently. Either way, give them a good stir and add a splash of warm milk or an extra pat of butter before serving — reheated mashed potatoes always tighten up a bit and need a little loosening.

Leftovers keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can also freeze them for up to 6 months, though the texture won’t be quite as perfect after thawing. Still good, just not as silky as fresh.

What About the Competition?

There are a lot of famous mashed potato recipes floating around. Martha Stewart swears by a full block of cream cheese. Joel Robuchon — the French chef named Chef of the Century — uses a full pound of butter for every 2 pounds of potatoes. Critics have literally described eating Robuchon’s potatoes as an emotional experience. Tyler Florence won a head-to-head taste test against recipes from Gordon Ramsay, Ina Garten, Oprah, and others by boiling his potatoes directly in heavy cream with garlic, thyme, and bay leaves.

All of those recipes are great. But they either require serious technique, an absurd amount of butter, or ingredients most people don’t keep around. Boursin mashed potatoes hit that sweet spot of being genuinely impressive while being genuinely easy. Five ingredients. Thirty minutes. No special skills. That’s the whole pitch, and it’s why this recipe keeps spreading.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I use a different flavor of Boursin instead of garlic and fine herbs?
A: Absolutely. Shallot and chive works beautifully, and cracked black pepper gives a nice kick. The garlic and fine herbs variety is the most popular for mashed potatoes because it adds the most well-rounded flavor, but any savory Boursin flavor will work. Just avoid the sweeter varieties like fig and balsamic unless you’re specifically going for something unconventional.

Q: Can I use a hand mixer instead of a potato ricer?
A: You can, but proceed with caution. Electric mixers overwork the starch in potatoes very quickly, which leads to a gluey, paste-like consistency. If you must use one, mix on the lowest speed for the shortest time possible. A potato ricer, food mill, or manual masher will always give you better texture.

Q: Do I need to peel the potatoes?
A: For the smoothest result, yes. If you’re using a potato ricer, you can actually boil the potatoes with the skins on and the ricer will catch the skins as you press. This saves time and keeps more flavor in the potato during boiling. If you’re mashing by hand, peel them after boiling when they’re still warm — the skins slip off easily.

Q: How do I keep these warm for a buffet or holiday dinner?
A: Transfer the finished mashed potatoes to a slow cooker set on warm or low. Lay a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the potatoes (under the lid) to prevent them from drying out. Stir occasionally and add a splash of warm milk if they start to thicken. They’ll hold well for 2 to 3 hours this way.