Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes with Crispy Sage

The potatoes everyone goes back for. Browning the butter is the whole trick.

⏱ 45 min · easy · 🍽 serves 4

Ingredients

• 3 lb Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
• 20 fresh sage leaves
• 1 cup whole milk, warmed
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 tsp kosher salt, plus more for the water
• Black pepper

Steps

1. Cover the potatoes with cold salted water by an inch. Bring to a boil, then simmer 18-20 minutes until a knife slides through with no resistance.
2. While they cook, melt the butter in a light-colored skillet over medium heat. It will foam, then quiet down, then smell nutty and turn amber with brown flecks. That is 5-7 minutes and the moment you are waiting for.
3. Drop the sage leaves into the hot butter for 20 seconds until crisp. Lift them out onto a paper towel and salt them.
4. Drain the potatoes and let them steam dry in the pot for 2 minutes. This is what keeps them from going gluey.
5. Rice or mash them, then fold in three quarters of the brown butter, the warm milk and the sour cream. Season hard with salt.
6. Spoon into a serving dish, pour the last of the brown butter over the top and crumble the sage leaves on.