Best potato masher: Easy-to-use tools for creamy potatoes every time

A robust potato masher is a kitchen essential. Sure, you can mash potatoes with a fork, but to achieve lump-free creamy mash, perfect as a side dish, shepherd’s pie topping or making potato pancakes, you’ll need the right tool for the job.

Much like the garlic crusher, the jury’s still out on the ideal design for potato mashers, with ricers available alongside more traditional tools that need elbow grease to get the job done, and even electric models. One thing is certain though – the best mashers should take the effort out of pounding your potatoes, and help you to get your mash exactly how you like it. We’ve selected the best potato mashers you can buy for your budget – as well as the features you should look for when choosing one. Below, you’ll find our buying guide to help you find the best potato masher, or you can scroll on for our top picks.

Best potato masher: At a glance

• Best electric potato masher: Masha
• Best affordable potato masher: Brabantia Tasty+
• Best potato masher for frequent use: Zyliss Quick Masher

How to choose the best potato masher for you

What do I need to consider when buying a potato masher?

Potato mashers need to be both durable and easy to clean. Durability is important so you don’t need to worry about it breaking or bending out of shape as you mash, while ease of cleaning is a must as dried mashed potato can be tricky to shift. Ideally, choose a masher that’s dishwasher-safe, with removable parts or places for potatoes to get stuck.

It’s also important to choose a design that you find easy to use – some will have a handle that’s gripped horizontally rather than vertically, while others look more like a flattened spoon than a completely flat mashing plate.

Most mashers are affordable, with basic versions costing as little as £2. Choose well-known brands or design-led models and you may need to budget more like £7-£15, while electric versions cost around £45.

Can I use a potato masher for other foods?

Definitely – in fact, by using it for other foods, you’ll help your tool earn its place in the kitchen. Even the most basic masher can be used to make tasty veggie mash from roasted or boiled root vegetables, such as butternut squash, carrots, beetroot, swede, parsnip and celeriac, while an electric masher can make hummus, guacamole and baby food.

How we test potato mashers

All of the mashers we test are used on freshly boiled and drained chunks of potato that are cooked for 10 minutes until tender. These are mashed without the addition of butter, until the potato begins to form a mass. Mashing without the addition of butter and milk ensures we can assess how efficient the masher is without help.

Each masher is assessed for comfort – how easy it is to hold and grip, how sturdy it feels when put under pressure – as well as how easy it is to remove any mash residue at the end of use. Dishwasher-safe designs are always noted, as were those that were easy to clean by hand straight after mashing. Any mashers that have too many crevices where food residue could become trapped are marked down. It’s also important for mashers to be easy to store – small enough to fit in a drawer is ideal but otherwise, we look for hanging loops and hooks. Value for money is also a consideration, as is a masher that is adept at handling other kitchen tasks.

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The best potato mashers you can buy in 2023

1. Brabantia Tasty+ Potato Masher Plus Spoon: The best two-in-one potato masher

Price: £8 | Buy now from Amazon

Perfect for smashing avocados as well as mashing potatoes, Brabantia’s Tasty+ masher is sure to be a well-used kitchen tool. Equipped with slots rather than holes, it’s ergonomically designed making it comfy to use and even has a pan rest hook at the back, so you don’t have to put it down on the worktop. However, it’s the two-in-one concept that sets it apart – doubling up as a serving spoon once your mash is ready.

We had to use moderate force for effective mashing and while the result wasn’t completely smooth, there weren’t many lumps left behind. We liked that we could use it in a non-stick pan, and that its rounded edges made it easy to get into the edges of a pan. The fact that it’s also heat-safe to 220ºC, dishwasher-safe and has a five-year guarantee just serves to sweeten the deal.

Key specs – Size: 11 x 6.5 x 26.3cm (WDH); Material: Nylon; Type: Manual; Dishwasher safe: Yes

2. Masha Electric Potato Masher: The best potato masher for multi-generational households

Price: £46 | Buy now from Lakeland

Great for those with less grip strength, arthritis or less time to use a manual masher, the Masha is effortless to use. It works by employing wide blades to crush and push potato through holes in the sides, offering lump-free mash in 20 seconds – although in testing, we found that it was even faster than that. So fast, in fact, that it’s easy to overmash and create the slight gluey texture that happens when starch grains are ruptured. This makes it great for multi-gen households and busy families – although it’s best to have a dishwasher on hand, as cleaning the removable cone’s multiple holes by hand can be a chore.

It’s no one-trick pony, either. The mashing blades can be switched for an aerator blade, which can whisk ingredients and batters to make fluffy sponge cakes, meringues and Yorkshire puddings and double cream. It’s quite weighty, but works so quickly that you shouldn’t be holding it for long. This might be pricier than all the others in our round-up but if you love to cook, Masha is a fantastic buy.

Key specs – Size: 8.8 x 9.1 x 31cm (WDH); Material: Plastic; Type: Electric; Dishwasher-safe: Yes

Buy now from Lakeland

3. Zyliss Quick Potato Masher: The best potato masher for heavy duty use

Price: £16 | Buy now from Amazon

For some, mashed potato isn’t mashed unless it’s completely pulverised. If your current masher feels flimsy, you need this robust design from Zyliss. It features large, square holes instead of round and a wide, oval mashing plate, so you can cover a large area at once. It also allows you to get right to the edges of a pan. More importantly, though, it feels incredibly sturdy – so it’s no surprise that the manufacturers have added on a five-year guarantee.

In testing, we found that you do need to put in some effort to get the lumps out, but that the handle was really comfy to grip. We also liked that the larger holes were easy to clean by hand or in the dishwasher and that it had a handy hanging loop.

Key specs – Size: 9.7 x 7.5 x 26cm (WDH); Material: ABS plastic, stainless steel; Type: Manual; Dishwasher-safe: Yes

4. Tala Potato Masher: The best potato masher for comfort

Price: £10 | Buy now from Amazon

If you dislike gripping a vertical masher, this horizontal model is a great alternative. It has a soft-grip handle and being able to push down requires less force, although if you’ve lots of mashing to do, it can still make your hand ache. In testing, we found that only a few smaller lumps remained in our finished mash, with even slightly firmer pieces of potato yielding. Afterwards, it was fairly easy to clean by hand and it’s dishwasher-safe too.

It can feel a bit odd to hold if you’re used to an upright masher. It’s also quite deep, so may not fit in your kitchen drawer – a hanging loop would be an improvement. Design aside, it’s a good masher at a fairly affordable price.

Key specs – Size: 11.5 x 7.3 x 18cm (WDH); Material: TPR (thermoplastic rubber) handle, stainless steel masher; Type: Manual; Dishwasher-safe: Yes

5. Spudnik Rotation Potato Masher: The best potato masher for limited wrist and arm mobility

Price: £13 | Buy now from Amazon

You could be forgiven for wondering exactly what the Spudnik does in the kitchen because at first glance it’s not obvious. However, its functional flower shape makes it ideal for mashing potatoes – with an easy clean up afterwards. The secret lies in that instead of pounding the potato, Spudnik is rotated around the pan or bowl, making it ideal for those who experience fatigue or struggle to grip traditional kitchen tools. Each arm has small bumps along the bottom that basically do the work for you.

We found that it still needed a little pressure at first to work through the potato, but not nearly as much as a conventional masher. It took more time to mash than some of the other tools we tested and sometimes small pieces became stuck between the arms – so it’s best to make sure the potato is thoroughly cooked. The results were good, though, and only the odd lump evaded the arms. It’s also effortless to clean and there’s a five-year guarantee.

Key specs – Size: 13.5 x 13.5 x 19cm (WDH); Material: Plastic; Type: Manual; Dishwasher safe: Yes

6. Judge ‎TC174 Potato Masher: The best ricer-style masher

Price: £21 | Buy now from Horwood

Billed as a potato masher but one that’s more akin to a potato ricer, Judge’s masher has some thoughtful design features. There’s coarse and fine stainless-steel masher plates, you can choose between mash textures, as well as grooves so you can hook it onto a bowl or pan as you squeeze. It can even be used for juicing, making it a great double-duty kitchen tool.

There are a couple of downsides. It’s quite big to store, takes a while to get through a pan of potatoes and can be messy to clean up after mashing – although it does completely split apart to make washing a lot easier. Those things aside though, we found it took minimal effort to make beautifully consistent mash, without a hint of stickiness.

Key specs – Size: 10 x 33 x 11cm (WDH); Material: Plastic and stainless steel; Type: Manual; Dishwasher safe: Yes (top rack)

7. Oxo Good Grips Smooth Potato Masher: The best speedy potato masher

Price: £12 | Buy now from Amazon

For fast mashed potatoes, turn to this handy horizontal tool. It’s quick and easy to use – we mashed our pan of potato thoroughly in less than a minute, in part due to its stainless-steel plate with a fine grid of lozenge-shaped holes. The non-slip handle was comfortable to hold throughout too, so less chance of hand fatigue. Cleaning up was easy both by hand and in the dishwasher but we did find that the plate was prone to clogging, so you might need a washing-up brush on hand.

Like the Tala model on this list, the downside is that it might take up quite a lot of room in a kitchen drawer. But otherwise, it’s a reliable, sturdy tool that gets the job done.

Key specs – Size: 10.1 x 7.6 x 15.2cm (WDH); Material: Polypropylene copolymer (PP) and elastomer, stainless steel; Type: Manual; Dishwasher safe: Yes