Next time you want to wow someone with a great side dish, make these Caramelized Onion Mashed Potatoes. Creamy mashed potatoes loaded with flavorful caramelized onions and topped with butter, cheese, and bacon before serving. They’re sure to be a hit.

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When I made these potatoes for the first time, I had my mom over for dinner on her 80th birthday. I made a delicious BBQ pork tenderloin and these fabulous potatoes. We loved them so much, we’ve made them often since then.

My blogging buddy Shelby from The Life and Loves of Grumpy’s Honeybunch, posted this recipe. She found it in Light & Tasty magazine from November 2006, and I couldn’t wait to give them a try. I like that you can use low-fat sour cream and lighten up the potatoes a bit, but they’re still loaded with flavor.

Also included in this post is a Recipe Round-Up. I’ve joined a fun group of bloggers to put together a roundup of recipes on the first day of every month. This month we’re sharing Simply Delicious Holiday Side Dishes.

Making Caramelized Onion Mashed Potatoes

The first step is to caramelize the onions. Just a little oil to the pan, and a little salt on the onions to draw out the moisture and release their natural sugar and make them flavorful, sweet and delicious!

Caramelizing onions takes some time. You’ll start cooking the onions over medium-high heat until the onions are completely wilted. Then reduce the heat slightly so the onions caramelize slowly. Don’t stir the onions too frequently, you want them to brown before stirring them, but do keep an eye on them because you don’t want them to burn.

My All-Clad non-stick skillet does an amazing job of caramelizing the onions, but if your onions start to stick to the pan or brown too quickly, you can add a little more oil, or water and reduce the heat.

When the onions are almost caramelized, it’s time to cook the potatoes. The potatoes are boiled with garlic to give them even more flavor.

Tip: An easy way to peel garlic is to use a silicone garlic peeling tube. You put a clove inside and roll it on the counter for a few seconds and the papery skin magically comes off inside the tube.

Next, you’ll mash the potatoes. My husband likes to use a potato ricer so that the mashed potatoes are super smooth, but a good old fashioned potato masher works well too.

Add in the sour cream, milk, and pepper until your potatoes are as creamy as you like. Then stir in the golden-brown caramelized onions and spread the potatoes into a pretty serving dish.

Then you’ll top the potatoes with just a little bit of butter, cheese, and bacon. I like to use a long, shallow casserole dish so that you get a little bit of the topping in every serving.

To speed up the process of making the potatoes a little bit, I often cook the potatoes in the pressure cooker. If you’re making these potatoes on a busy day, you can caramelize the onions a day or two before and refrigerate them until it’s time to make the potatoes.

These potatoes are so flavorful, they don’t need gravy and everyone seems to love them. I hope you’ll give them a try soon!

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