There aren’t many meals that aren’t instantly improved by a good helping of mashed potato. The creamier and more buttery, the better—it’s the perfect comfort food, especially as we approach the colder months.

While there are very few ingredients involved, making the perfect mashed potatoes isn’t always the easiest. If you aren’t careful, they can end up stodgy, lumpy, or tasteless, which is never ideal. But top chef Thom Bateman has revealed how to make them the smoothest ever—and surprisingly, you don’t need to boil the spuds at all.

Many of us will think nothing of peeling and chopping our spuds when preparing mash, before boiling them until tender and mashing them up afterwards.

However, Thom recommends baking the potatoes instead and keeping the skin on, which will give your dish a whole lot more flavour.

Other key ingredients include cold butter, milk, and, of course, Maris Piper potatoes, which are the best for mashing. He called his recipe ‘the best ever’ thanks to its simplicity, and here’s everything you need to make it at home.

Creamy mashed potatoes

Ingredients (serves four)

• 1kg Maris piper potato
• 160g-180g cold salted butter cubed
• 150ml milk
• Salt
• White pepper

Method

Preheat your oven to 180C. Cover a baking tray with salt and place your potatoes on top. Give them a prick all over with a knife, and bake in the oven for around one hour until they are ‘lovely and tender’.

When they’re done, put the cold butter into a pan. Press the potatoes through a sieve so that the skins are left behind, or you can use a ricer.

Work the mixture together gently so that the butter melts, gradually adding splashes of milk until you have a lovely smooth consistency. Season to taste with salt and white pepper, and enjoy.