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Ready or not, here it comes! Thanksgiving recipe number 2 is happening today! Instant pot garlic mashed potatoes!!!! SO GOOD!
If you don’t have an instant pot/pressure cooker, I have a stove stop version in the recipe notes. Don’t worry, I’ve got you! We’ll get more into the details of the process later.
First, let’s discuss how delicious these mashed potatoes are! These mashed potatoes are not your typical no-texture-no-flavor-possibly-runny mashed potatoes. They have texture, we leave some of the potato skins on (LOVE), they are loaded with sauteed garlic, butter, milk, cream cheese, salt and pepper, and a hint of herb-y goodness! They are thick and creamy, starchy, and perfectly salted with a hint of black pepper.
These garlic mashed potatoes are the potatoes you serve when you want to get away with not serving gravy. Because, frankly, they are so flavorful you don’t even need gravy. They are the mashed potatoes you serve for a Holiday meal, a date night, a dinner party night, or steak night. They are the ultimate potatoes that can pretty much go with anything!
Before we go on, let me just say that I am obsessed with a good homemade turkey gravy. My mom makes the BEST gravy from scratch, and it is literally one of my favorite foods on the planet. Thanks mom! It’s a family recipe that my Grandma made and both my Mom and Aunt continue to make. Hopefully one day I will share it.
So, if you do enjoy gravy (from scratch, or otherwise) then go for it. These garlic mashed potatoes would still be great with some gravy drizzled on top, a little garlic added to that flavor profile wouldn’t be a bad thing. All I’m saying is that if you want some good mashed potatoes that don’t NEED gravy because you’re not a gravy fan, or you want to skip it, then these garlic mashed potatoes are perfect for you.
You have the option: party with gravy, or party without gravy. Thanks garlic mashed potatoes!
I used a combo of russet potatoes and golden potatoes (AKA yukon gold potatoes), for the perfect balance of starchy (thank you russet potatoes) and butter-y creamy (thank you golden potatoes). I decided to use the Instant pot because it cooks the potatoes quite a bit faster than boiling them on the stove top, we all need a little short cut in the kitchen when preparing a Thanksgiving meal. Not to mention, if you are making your potatoes on the day of the event, it frees up that precious stove top space you may need to make other things. Well, except for sauteing the garlic in butter and heating the milk, but that only takes 5 minutes – rather than 30+ minutes the potatoes would take to boil on the stove top.
Boiling your potatoes in an Instant pot = 20 minutes! I timed it! Also, the IP allows you to multi task easier, no need to stand over the pot of boiling water and adjust and re-adjust the temperature to maintain a boil. Thanks Instant Pot!
That being said, as I mentioned before, I have left directions for boiling the potatoes on the stove top in the notes of the recipe card below. Just in case you don’t have an electric pressure cooker. This is also ideal if you want to double, or triple the recipe, since you have a maximum of liquids you can add to a pressure cooker. Unless, you have a jumbo electric pressure cooker, then you’re good.
After testing this recipe 3 or 4 times….I dunno I lost count…I now have a lot of mashed potatoes stashed away in my freezer – I found a few tricks that helped make the ultimate mashed potatoes. I learned from Ali at Gimme Some Oven to place the mashed potatoes back into the pot, after you drain them, for 1 minute on the saute setting, to cook off any water or steam still in the potatoes. This allows us to add even more butter and milk, the yummy stuff, without having a soupy mashed potato.
I also learned that by cutting my potatoes, instead of boiling them whole allows the potatoes to evenly cook. If you think about it a potato is thinner on the ends and thicker in the middle, so it doesn’t boil evenly, chopping them solves that problem. Also, they cook faster when chopped – bonus! Thanks Ali, for the great mashed potato tips!
Personally we love to leave some of the skins on the potatoes for texture. I peel the russet potatoes because they have a tougher skin, and leave on the golden potato skins on. The result is a nice tender bites of skin every few fork fulls. Of course, you always have the option to peel all the skins for a smoother mashed potato texture.
Onto the garlic. On the stove top, we saute minced garlic in butter so that when added to the potatoes no one gets a large raw piece of garlic. Instead, it’s a nice subtle garlic taste in each bite. I mean, how do you not want that?
In with the sauteed garlic and butter goes some milk. Any type of cow’s milk will do, I have used both 2% and whole milk and both resulted in a delicious mashed potato. We also add more butter, salt, and pepper. This, I have found is the ideal way to add all your flavorings to your mashed potatoes. By heating up the butter and milk on the stove top you aren’t cooling down the hot mashed potatoes with cold milk, and the salt and pepper get evenly distributed.
Did I mention that these garlic mashed potatoes have a hint of herb-y flavor to them? It’s optional, but why would you want to skip that? All you do is add few sprigs of rosemary, sage, and a thyme bundle to the milk. Let it simmer for a few minutes, then cover, remove from the heat, and allow it to steep. Remove the herbs just before adding the warm milk/butter/garlic mixture to the potatoes.
A hint of herbs, a note of all things Fall and Thanksgiving dances across your taste buds. An easy way to make these mashed potatoes even more special.
Once the potatoes are cooked you simply drain them, do the quick saute thing to remove any excess water, mash, add the warm milk and garlic and butter, and you’re good!
Oh yes, there is cream cheese in these potatoes too. Just a little bit. Enough to add a hint of tang and cheesy richness. It’s the holidays after all!
I tested a recipe without the cream cheese because I ran out and I really missed it. So don’t leave it out, okay?
Very important thing to note: you can make these garlic mashed potatoes a few days ahead of time, they re-heat beautifully. I have left some re-heating options in the notes of the recipe card below, because I know you want to master this Thanksgiving feast thing.
So go ahead, make these mashed potatoes on Tuesday night, and quickly re-heat them in the microwave (or oven, or Instant Pot) just before serving them on Thanksgiving Thursday!
I hope you enjoy these garlic mashed potatoes as much as we did. They would be a great addition to your Thanksgiving table, with or without, gravy. However, they’re not just for Thanksgiving. I would love to have these garlic mashed potatoes for Christmas, Easter, a dinner party, a special date-night-in, steak night, Sunday night dinner. Really, anytime you want some creamy, garlicky, herb-y, starchy side dish these garlic mashed potatoes would totally satisfy.
Happy mashed potato-ing!
Here are some more Thanksgiving sides to consider adding to your menu:
- favorite cranberry apple pear sauce ( a family recipe)
- roasted butternut squash and brussels sprouts with pomegranate
- green bean casserole from scratch
- wild rice mushroom stuffing with bacon
- brussels sprouts and bacon with orange tahini sauce
- roasted acorn squash with cinnamon tahini sauce
- crispy brussels sprouts with basil cashew sauce
I can picture it all now. A beautiful spread of super tasty sides with a big juicy Turkey!!!
Not Thanksgiving? You just want an excuse to eat garlic mashed potatoes? Here are some main dishes to serve them with:
- maple dijon marinated pork chops with apples and cabbage
- pork chops with apples and gouda
- one pan maple chicken with brussels sprouts and bacon
- sheet pan chicken and asparagus with lemon tahini sauce
- sheet pan Italian sausage and peppers
Annnnddd I will be making these recipes to serve along side my freezer stash of mashed potatoes that’s leftover from all the recipe testing.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to leave a comment down below along with a star rating. It helps my recipes rank higher in google, and I love hearing from you! Thanks friends!
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Instant Pot Garlic Mashed Potatoes
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 to 8 1x
- Category: Sides, Holiday, easy
- Method: Pressure cooker, Boil
- Cuisine: gluten free, vegetarian
Description
Flavorful, creamy, slightly herby, garlic mashed potatoes are made easy by using the Instant Pot. The perfect side dish to serve at any holiday, party, or even steak night.
Ingredients
Instant pot potatoes
- 1.5 pounds russet potatoes (about 2 large potatoes)
- 1 pound yukon gold potatoes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- about 4 cups filtered water
Flavorings
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, divided
- 4 to 5 large garlic cloves, minced
- 3/4 cup milk (can use any type of milk you liked, I have used but 2% and whole milk)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- Optional: fresh herbs, such as: thyme, rosemary, and/or sage (see notes)
- 2 to 3 tablespoons cream cheese, room temperature
Options For garnish
- fresh cracked black pepper
- chopped parsley or chives
- pats of room temperature butter
Instructions
- Prep the potatoes: Wash and scrub all of your potatoes. I like to leave the skin on the yukon gold potatoes, the skins are nice and tender and adds a nice texture – I peel the russet potatoes. However, depending on what you like you can leave on all skins or peel all the potatoes, just depends on what you like. Chop the potatoes into 2 inch chunks. This is better than leaving the potatoes whole so that they cook evening since some parts of the potatoes are different sized than others.
- Cook the potatoes: (see notes for stove top directions). Place all of the chopped potatoes in the instant pot along with the salt, and mostly cover them with water (about 4 cups). Secure the instant pot lid making sure the nozzle is set to “sealing”. Select “high pressure” setting and set the instant pot timer for 4 minutes. (it takes about 16 minutes for the IP to come up to pressure).
- Saute the garlic/make warm the milk and butter mixture: While the potatoes are being brought to pressure prepare the flavors for the potatoes. First, if using thyme use kitchen twine to tie it into a little herb bundle for easy removal, the rest of the herbs are fine. Heat a small sauce pot over medium low heat, add 1 tablespoon of the butter. Once melted add the garlic and saute for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the milk and remaining 3 tablespoons of butter, along with the salt and pepper – turn the heat up to high so the butter melts. Add the herbs, leaving them whole on their stems, along with the thyme bundle. Allow the milk mixture to simmer for 2 minutes, making sure the herbs are mostly submerged – don’t allow it to come to a boil. Remove from the heat, pop a lid on the sauce pot and allow the herbs to steep while the potatoes continue to cook. Just before the potatoes are done cooking use tongs to remove all of the herbs, and discard – keep in mind we want all that yummy garlic to go into the potatoes.
- Drain potatoes: Once the potatoes are done cooking force release the pressure, by carefully moving the nozzle to “venting”. Allow the steam to release, it takes a minute – have a hot pad next to the IP, a colander in the sink, hot pads, and a potato masher at the ready. Once the steam has released remove the lid, carefully remove the IP insert and drain the potatoes. Return the potatoes to the insert and set the IP to “saute”. Place the insert with the potatoes back into the hot IP, allow the water to cook off, giving the potatoes one quick stir (about 1 minute) – quickly remove the IP insert and place it on your hot pad. Add the cream cheese and use your potato masher to begin mashing. Gradually add all of the milk mixture, stirring a few times so everything is well mixed – be careful not to over mix otherwise the potatoes get gummy. Taste the potatoes and adjust any seasonings at this time.
- Serve Potatoes: (see notes for making potatoes in advance/re-heating). Transfer the potatoes to a serving dish and top with any of the garnishes, as desired. Serve with room temp butter for guests to add to their potatoes as desired. Serve hot.
Notes
Herbs: The herbs are very subtle, as more of a hint or background of herb-y flavor in the potatoes. You can either use one or all of the herbs I suggest (you can’t overdue it), or you can omit them completely. If you are serving gravy with your potatoes you probably won’t taste the herbs at all. Just make sure to use fresh herbs, dried really won’t do much.
Stove top directions: Keep in mind that the cooking time will increase for this method. Follow all of the same prepping directions as the directions above. Place the potatoes in a large stock pot along with the 1 teaspoon of salt and enough water to just covered. Bring to a boil and allow the potatoes to boil for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they are fork tender (this is an estimate of time, so keep your eye on them). Drain the potatoes and follow the remaining directions as stated above – including cooking the remaining water out of the potatoes, just place the pot with potatoes in it on a low heat for 1 minute, (this allows us to add more of the milk and butter, the yummy stuff).
Tips to prep/make potatoes in advance:
Store raw, cut potatoes: You can prep your potatoes in advance and store them in the fridge, covered with water for up to 8 hours.
To re-heat them, you have a few options:
You can make these potatoes in advance. Allow them to cool completely before transferring and storing in an air tight container in the fridge.
- Microwave: Place the potatoes in a microwave safe dish, cover with plastic wrap and poke a few holes in the plastic wrap. Microwave on medium powder, until hot, stirring every few minutes.
- Instant Pot: Transfer the cold potatoes to your IP or presser cooker. Hit the “keep warm” setting, cover and allow it to warm for about 1 hour or until the potatoes are hot. Feel free to add a little more milk and butter if the potatoes happen to dry out.
- Oven: Transfer the to potatoes to a 9×9 baking dish. Heat in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, or until hot. The top will brown a little and become slightly crunchy, if you don’t want this to happen cover with foil. If you have an electric oven you may need to keep a better eye on your potatoes so the top doesn’t burn.
Cooking tips for mashed potatoes are from Gimme Some Oven.
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