Wash your potatoes. You can peel them first if you want.

Chop the potatoes into large chunks.

Put the potatoes into a saucepan — use a 4-quart saucepan if you’re doing a good-sized batch so there’s plenty of room for water.

Next, fill the pot up with water and add about a teaspoon of sea salt.

Boil the potatoes on medium-high heat until soft. You can tell if you stick a fork or a knife into them and it goes in easily. It should take 15 – 20 minutes of boiling for them to be done.

Drain the potatoes, then mash the potatoes. I use a hand masher to do this. You can also use a hand mixer, if you prefer.

Add the butter to the potatoes and let it melt.

Add the butter to the potatoes and let it melt.