This buttermilk potato bread recipe is a great way to use leftover mashed potatoes. It’s flavorful, moist, and fluffy on the inside with a golden-brown crust – perfect for sandwiches or toast!
I used to buy our bread at the store. But one day I ran out of bread, and I thought that it couldn’t possibly be that difficult to make. So, I attempted my first batch of homemade bread using an easy bread recipe like this one and while it was good, I wasn’t sure I wanted to keep making my own.
My second batch of homemade bread was this Potato Buttermilk Bread recipe. One slice and I was hooked! It was SO delicious and suddenly I didn’t mind the little bit of work that it took to make.
However, what SOLD me on never buying store-bought bread again was this:
Unbleached enriched wheat flour, buttermilk, sugar, yeast, soybean oil, salt, water, wheat gluten, calcium propionate, monoglycerides, calcium sulfate, citric acid, soy lecithin, calcium carbonate, datem.
In a single store-bought loaf of bread, there are more ingredients listed that I DON’T know than I DO know.
Since then, baking bread has been part of my regular routine. I‘ve made my No-Knead Overnight Artisan Bread, 90-Minute Man Bread, Oatmeal Bread, No-Yeast Bread, and even my Whole Wheat Einkorn Sourdough Bread…All of which I know you’ll love in addition to this amazing recipe for Buttermilk Potato Bread!
POTATO BUTTERMILK BREAD
Not only is this potato buttermilk bread recipe delicious, it’s also:
- Made of simple, easy-to-find ingredients
- Perfect for toast or sandwiches
- The most flavorful white bread ever
- Plus, it has a nice firm crust! YUM!
POTATO BREAD INGREDIENTS
- Russet Potatoes, peel removed and cut into large chunks (or use leftover mashed potatoes – see recipe tips below)
- Unsalted butter
- Buttermilk
- Eggs
- Sugar
- Salt
- Active dry yeast
- Bread flour (or all-purpose flour)
- Additional egg for egg wash
Psst! If you’re going to add salt, I highly recommend Ava Jane’s Kitchen. You may think all salt is created equal, but unfortunately, 90% of the salt produced around the world contains microplastics (gross, right?). Ava Jane’s Kitchen is an exception. Their salt is 100% microplastic-free, and it’s SO GOOD! Plus, you can get a free 8oz. bag of sea salt (just pay shipping and handling!)
If you’re interested in milling your own grains or making your own flour, I highly recommend Mockmill. For my full review, check out this post.
INSTRUCTIONS HOW TO MAKE POTATO BREAD
Step 1: In a large saucepan, boil the potatoes until fork tender. Drain and either mash the potatoes in a large bowl with a potato ricer or potato masher or add the hot potatoes to a stand mixer and mix well with the butter. Alternatively, use 1 cup of leftover mashed potatoes. *
Step 2: Add buttermilk, 2 beaten eggs, sugar, salt, and yeast and mix well.
Step 3: Gradually stir in the bread flour in the bowl of a stand mixer until the dough is moist but not sticky. Knead with a dough hook on low to medium speed. Transfer to an oiled bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise at room temperature until it is doubled in volume.
Step 4: When the dough has doubled in size, grease two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans. Punch the dough down, and divide it in half. On a lightly floured surface, form into two loaves. Place them seam-side down in the pans. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise again at room temperature until almost doubled in size.
Step 5: Preheat oven to 375F. Brush the top of the loaves with the single beaten egg and bake the loaves until they are golden brown, about 40-45 minutes. Allow to cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before serving.
*Note: Yeast wants a warm environment. If you’re making fresh hot potatoes for this recipe, add the ingredients in the order listed (the butter, buttermilk, and eggs will help cool the hot potatoes, so they do not kill the yeast). If you are using leftover mashed potatoes, warm the potatoes or the buttermilk first so that your mixture will be warm enough to activate the yeast.
POTATO BREAD RECIPE TIPS
If you have leftover mashed potatoes, you can use them for potato bread. This recipe calls for 2 potatoes, so the equivalent would be about 1 cup of mashed potatoes.
You can also freeze leftover mashed potatoes for future potato bread. Just thaw in the refrigerator before mixing up your bread dough.
To freeze buttermilk potato bread, wrap the bread loaves individually in plastic wrap and place them in freezer bags, or slice before freezing to easily pull out the amount of bread that you need.
TO SERVE POTATO BUTTERMILK BREAD
Cool the potato buttermilk bread for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Then dig in! Here are a few of my favorite ways to serve potato bread:
- Perfect for piling high with sliced turkey
- It also has the perfect spongy texture for spreading jam, butter, or nut butter because of all of the little nooks and crannies in it!
- Toast a thick slice, slather it with butter, and serve with The Best Scrambled Eggs for a yummy, easy breakfast.
BUTTERMILK POTATO BREAD FAQS
Can I use leftover mashed potatoes for homemade potato bread?
Yes, if you have leftover mashed potatoes, you can use them for potato bread. This recipe calls for 2 potatoes, so the equivalent would be about 1 cup of mashed potatoes.
Is potato bread gluten free?
As written, this potato bread recipe is not gluten-free, but you could try substituting the bread flour (or all-purpose) with gluten-free all-purpose flour.
What does homemade buttermilk potato bread taste like?
The flavor is so good that Mr. Crumbs asked me to make this instead of ever buying bread, which I think speaks mouthfuls. And it doesn’t taste like potatoes – they’re just there for the texture. This bread is light and spongy! Plus, the buttermilk makes it so moist and fluffy.
Hands down, this homemade bread is a winner. It’s just melt-in-your-mouth delicious!!
Why is potato bread yellow?
The mashed potatoes give potato bread its delightful yellowish hue!
MORE HOMEMADE BREAD RECIPES
- 90-Minute Man Bread
- No-Knead Overnight Artisan Bread
- Oatmeal Bread
- No-Yeast Bread
- Whole Wheat Einkorn Sourdough Bread
- Slow Cooker Bread
- Homemade Pita Bread
Fight Inflation Workshop!
Sign up for my FREE Fight Inflation Workshop and learn simple strategies to save money, even with rising food costs!Potato Buttermilk Bread
This buttermilk potato bread recipe is a great way to use leftover mashed potatoes. It’s flavorful, moist, and fluffy on the inside with a golden-brown crust – perfect for sandwiches or toast!
- Prep Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 2 loaves 1x
- Category: Breads
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 potatoes, peeled and quartered
- 8 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4 tsp active dry yeast
- 2 cups buttermilk, room temperature
- 2 large eggs, slightly beaten
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 6 to 6 ½ cups of bread flour (or all-purpose flour)
- 1 egg, slightly beaten
Instructions
- Have all ingredients ready at room temperature. Bring a small to medium pot of water to a boil. Boil potatoes until done. Add hot potatoes and butter to a stand mixer and stir well.
- Add 4 tsp yeast + 2 cups buttermilk + 2 beaten eggs + 2 Tbsp sugar + 1 ½ tsp salt and mix well.
- Gradually stir in bread flour until the dough is moist but not sticky. Using the dough hook, knead on low to medium speed until the dough is smooth and elastic. Transfer to an oiled bowl and turn it over to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise at room temperature until it’s doubled in volume, 1 to 1 ½ hours. (If your kitchen is too cold, you can preheat the oven to the lowest setting, then turn it off and place the dough inside.)
- When the dough has doubled in size, lightly grease two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans. Punch the dough down, divide it in half, and form into two loaves, placing them seam-side down in the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise again at room temperature until almost doubled in size, about 1 to 1 ½ hours. (If you don’t have loaf pans, you can free-form an artisan loaf on a cookie sheet).
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Brush the top of the loaves with the single beaten egg and bake the loaves until they are golden brown and the bottoms sound hollow when thumped, about 40-45 minutes. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.
- Bread can be wrapped individually in freezer bags and stored for future enjoyment!
Notes
- If you have leftover mashed potatoes, you can use them for potato bread. This recipe calls for 2 potatoes, so the equivalent would be about 1 cup of mashed potatoes.
- You can also freeze leftover mashed potatoes for future potato bread. Just thaw in the refrigerator before mixing up your bread dough.
- To freeze buttermilk potato bread, wrap the bread loaves individually in plastic wrap and place them in freezer bags, or slice before freezing to easily pull out the amount of bread that you need.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 331
I want to make this bread abd have no taters just instant what is the amount I use for the two loaves, I see this is an old thread not sure if i will get a response
This was delicious. I used 7.5 cups of flower, 3 tablespoons of sugar and 2 tsp. white vinegar and 2 tsp. Real Lemon lemon juice to give it that sour taste that I like. I only had very large potatoes so I cut the ends of them to make them more like medium potatoes and that was just right. 45 minutes was just right and got the internal temp to 200 degrees. I didn’t care for the darkness of the crust created by the egg wash so in my second batch, I just basted with a little milk and oil whisked together and I liked that better. Loaves were so nice that they almost looked commercially baked. Thank you so much.
I read through the entire post with all comments and didn’t see you mention whether a whole grain flour could be used. I was thinking along the lines of freshly ground whole wheat or einkorn, perhaps sifted. Have you tried it? I’m desperately trying to avoid all white bread for health issues but this has got my mouth watering!