2013 – Gluten Free Living

Spinach Artichoke Mashed Potatoes is one of the BEST mashed potato recipes you will ever taste! No kidding. Mashed potatoes are mixed with cream cheese, sour cream, and butter, then seasoned with salt, pepper, dill weed and roasted garlic. After that,  spinach and artichokes are stirred into the potatoes making for a rather spectacular explosion of flavors. On top of this, the potatoes  are quite healthy, too. Not so shabby!  This wonderful side dish is not difficult to whip up either. I served these super-duper tasty potatoes as a side dish with Paula Deen’s Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf a couple of weeks ago when we had company over for dinner. Not only did they rave over the meatloaf, but everyone enjoyed these potatoes too–even the kids. Seriously. The kids ate mashed potatoes with spinach and artichokes in them–gobbled them up in fact! Can you believe it? I had two servings. Gulp! Yeah, I really did.

I love these potatoes and have ever since I first sampled them at a huge potluck our church in Cedar Hill had probably about eight years ago. There were 500+ people there with all kinds of  homemade casseroles, meats, desserts, breads, salads–you name it, there was food there for an army. I was fortunate enough to obtain a sample of these potatoes and liked them so much I had to hunt down the person who brought them. To my surprise it was someone in our Sunday school class who was very glad to oblige me with the recipe. When Brooke gave me the recipe she told me that the original recipe only had spinach in it, but she liked artichokes so she always added them. I’ve made this recipe with mushrooms, and onions too, although, I like this version the best.

Back in 2006 I went through my whole recipe collection and put everything on computer. Originally, I was trying to do this for my children (and their spouses).  But there was a gal at church who was practically in tears over not being able to cook well, while her husband could whip up anything without a recipe. I told her I would put together a cookbook for her of tried and true recipes that weren’t too difficult so she would have some guidance in getting started. I tried to go through my recipes and make them more easy to understand for the novice cook. My cookbook first started out with about 100 pages (front and back–2-4 recipes per page) that I gave to Rhonda. As it happened, the day I brought her a printed version of my cookbook in a sturdy 3-ring binder with all the pages protected by sheet protectors, Rhonda’s best friend, Brooke, was sitting right next to her in church. Brooke piped up, “I want a cookbook, too!” So, I made a cookbook for Brooke, too, and that’s how I got started giving away my cookbooks, though mostly as wedding gifts or to young married families that didn’t have a lot of homemade recipes to start from. Brooke’s Spinach Artichoke Mashed Potatoes recipe was included.

If you’re looking for a different way to make mashed potatoes, then I urge you to give this recipe a try sometime. The original recipe from Brooke notes that you should purchase artichokes that are not marinated, although I’ve tried this recipe both ways and thought it turned out well either way. Just saying. Spinach Artichoke Mashed Potatoes is such a good recipe you will find yourself making it often for company or even just for your own family because it tastes so delicious. I’m ready for another bowl right now. Bring it on!

The additions of spinach, artichokes, garlic and dill weed make this a very memorable casserole. The savory flavors are fantastic.

Spinach Artichoke Mashed Potatoes are a delectable side dish.

Here’s a serving of Spinach Artichoke Mashed Potatoes. You can see some of the artichoke layers on the top of the mashed potatoes.

Here’s a close up so you can see the texture of the mashed potatoes after they’re baked in the oven.

Here’s what I did.

Cook spinach in the microwave about 5 minutes. Remove spinach from container and allow to cool a few minutes in a drainer. Press out as much water as you possibly can. I actually had to pick the spinach up in my hands and squeeze out the excess water because I couldn’t get it all out any other way. You don’t want soupy mashed potatoes, so squeeze, squeeze, SQUEEZE!!!

Here are the ingredients I used for this casserole.

Boil potatoes and drain. Place boiled potatoes in a large mixing bowl. Mash potatoes with a potato masher.

Add softened butter, cream cheese and sour cream.

Whip ingredients with an electric mixer until smooth.

Add spinach, drained artichokes, roasted minced garlic, salt, pepper and dill weed.

Stir ingredients with a wooden spoon to combine. You will have to stir awhile to get all the spinach out of clumps and stirred as evenly as possible into the mashed potatoes. Spray a 9×13″ glass baking dish with cooking spray. Pile mashed potatoes into baking dish.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

Serve as a side dish for almost any kind of meat.

Here’s another close up so you can see the texture of the mashed potatoes.

Granted, I LOVE mashed potatoes, but this casserole really works. 

When the kids rave about a dish you know it’s good!

Here’s the recipe.

SPINACH ARTICHOKE MASHED POTATOES

(Recipe from Brooke Sills, when we attended Hillcrest Baptist Church, Cedar Hill, TX)

Spinach Artichoke Mashed Potatoes

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

50 mins

 

This lovely casserole is made with mashed potatoes, cream cheese, sour cream, and butter, then seasoned with salt, pepper, dill weed, roasted garlic. Spinach and artichokes are added to the mixture before baking. Absolutely wonderful concoction.

Author: Teresa Ambra adapted from Brooke Sills, when we attended Hillcrest Baptist Church, Cedar Hill, TX

Recipe type: Veggies/Casserole

Cuisine: American

Serves: 12

Ingredients

• 10-12 medium to large sized potatoes, peeled, cooked, and well drained
• 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. dill weed
• ¼ tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. roasted minced garlic
• 10-oz. pkg. frozen spinach, cooked, cooled, and well-drained
• 14-oz. can unmarinated artichoke hearts, drained and quartered

Instructions

1. Spray a 9×13” casserole dish with cooking spray.
2. Preheat oven to 375°.
3. Whip potatoes, cream cheese, sour cream, and butter until smooth.
4. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
5. Spoon into the prepared casserole dish and bake at 375° for 20 minutes.
6. NOTE: I have used marinated artichokes and they work fine, as well.
7. NOTE: I have also prepared this recipe up to the point of baking and refrigerated it several hours before baking. Bake at 375° until heated through – about an hour or so.

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Spinach Artichoke Mashed Potatoes are mouthwatering.

I paired the potatoes with Paula Deen’s Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf. Both dishes were yummy! Every forkful of these potatoes is succulent and amazing.

It wasn’t long before most of this dish was cleaned out! I had a couple of small pieces for lunch the subsequent two days, but most of it was long gone!