Mashed potato or mashed potatoes, colloquially known as mash, is a dish made by mashing boiled or steamed potatoes, usually with added milk, butter, salt and pepper. It is generally served as a side dish to meat or vegetables. Roughly mashed potatoes are sometimes called smashed potatoes. Dehydrated instant mashed potatoes and frozen mashed potatoes are available. Mashed potatoes are an ingredient in other dishes, such as dumplings and gnocchi.
A serving of mashed potatoes in a bowl with two whole potatoes
Industrial cooking of mashed potatoes in a steam-jacketed combi kettle
A plate of sausage and mashed potatoes, with cabbage and onion gravy, commonly known as "bangers and mash"
Close-up view of mashed potatoes with butter and chives
The potato is a starchy root vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are tubers of the plant Solanum tuberosum, a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae.
Potato
Morphology of the potato plant; tubers are forming from stolons.
A variety of S. tuberosum tuberosum, the Chilean potato
Potatoes of different colors