These Garlic Mashed Potatoes are smooth and silky, creamy, deliciously buttery and beyond garlicky! You can serve these at every holiday and Sunday supper dinner along with other potato recipes like my Smothered Potatoes and Mashed Sweet Potatoes. They are so versatile and perfect. Serve as is or with my easy Gravy! This Garlic Mashed Potatoes recipe goes well with my Chicken Fried Steak, Mississippi Pot Roast, Smothered Pork Chops and Fried Chicken.
Perfect Garlic Mashed Potatoes Recipe!
If there’s one dish I am sure that almost every one of my reader’s has had in their lifetime it’s Mashed Potatoes. Your childhoods must have been riddled with Roasted Rosemary Chicken, fried pork chops and Sweet Rolls served with piping hot mashed potatoes or Scalloped potatoes, just like mine. Whether it was a weeknight dinner or a holiday gathering I could always count on there being a bowl of creamy potatoes studded with chunks of salty butter. Even now mashed potatoes are a staple in my household that stay in heavy dinner rotation. Can’t go wrong with a classic, can you?
Mashed Potatoes are a simple food. But if you’ve ever made a simple food before then you know they can be anything but. Because you’re working with such few ingredients it’s crucial that they be of high-quality and that you follow a reliable technique. So, not only am I gonna give you the best recipe for mashed potatoes but I’m also gonna give you a few of my best tricks.
Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes with Garlic Powder AND Roasted Garlic
This recipe is a bit different than your average because its got a special ingredient: Roasted Garlic. This key ingredient adds a delicate, nutty flavor without steering too far away from the simplicity that makes mashed potatoes so great.
I also add a hint of garlic powder to the mashed potatoes as well. My decision to add garlic powder was to add a granulated ingredient that would make sure the garlic flavor was infused in every single bite of the potatoes. By adding the powder, you can stir in and make sure that if some spots don’t get all of the roasted garlic, you will have a hint of garlic mixed in.
How to Make Garlic Mashed Potatoes
For the mashed potatoes, I believe in using the following ingredients:
- Yukon Gold Potatoes
- Butter
- Half and Half
- Salt and Pepper
I use a lot of butter for my mashed potatoes. I like the butter to start at room temperature to ensure that it truly melts right into the potatoes making them creamy and smooth.
Unsalted and salted butters can become a preference here. The salted will allow you to do less seasoning of the potatoes in the end but I do love using unsalted here because I can control the salt content here, and unsalted tastes much fresher.
Half and half is also a creamier option for a liquid versus milk. Half and Half is a combination of whole milk and heavy cream so it is the perfect thickness, not too thin or too thick with all heavy cream and you also get that nice amount of richness and butteriness from the heavy cream.
What is Best Potato for Mashed Potatoes: Can I Make Garlic Mashed Red Potatoes?
For this recipe, I selected Yukon Gold potatoes. They have such an incredible texture and buttery flavor almost. I adore them in mashed potatoes. However you can also use Russets for this recipe as well.
Both of these potatoes result in the very best and fluffiest mashed potatoes you will ever taste. They become smoother and mash quicker than other potatoes like red potatoes. These are just naturally creamier in mashed potatoes.
Homemade Garlic Mashed Potatoes Do’s and Don’ts
Do boil your potatoes in large pieces
Small pieces means more opportunity for water to get into your potatoes which means more liquid and a lot less flavor. Bigger chunks might take a bit longer to cook but it’s completely worth it.
Don’t allow your potatoes to cool after boiling
Start getting busy with your potatoes as soon as they are fresh out of the pot! Adding in your fats and mashing while your potatoes are hot creates a creamier taste and texture. Who doesn’t want that?
Do taste your potatoes along the way
Mashed potatoes tend to need a lot of salt because of all the starch and fat being used. It’s very easy to under or over season your potatoes if you aren’t proactive about tasting as you go. Season, stir, taste and repeat.
Don’t add your liquid all at once
Your potatoes aren’t capable of soaking in all the liquid in one go and if you try to force them to you will end up with wet mashed potatoes. Yuck. Add your liquid in small increments and thank me later.
Now that I’ve passed down all my secrets you’re ready to get in the kitchen and give those tired ole mashed potatoes a facelift.
Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 head of garlic
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 4 quarts water
- 2 lbs yukon gold potatoes peeled, diced and rinsed in cold water
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup half and half warm
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- Kosher salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Remove top of garlic head so that all cloves are showing. Add garlic to a large piece of foil. Drizzle with olive oil then completely wrap it up.
- Add garlic to a baking sheet and bake for about 50-60 minutes or until garlic is completely tender.
- Next add water to a very large pot along with some salt to taste for potatoes and bring to a boil. Once water is boiling, add potatoes and cook for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are completely tender when pierced with a knife or fork. Drain potatoes then rinse potatoes in warm water to remove starch.
- Add half in half, roasted garlic and butter to a medium sized pot over medium heat. Once butter has melted and liquid is warmed through, mash garlic in the liquid.
- Add garlic liquid to potatoes in increments of 1/3 cup and mix and mash along the way until the potatoes reach the consistency you prefer. DO NOT DUMP ALL LIQUID INTO POTATOES AT ONCE.
- Finally season with garlic powder, salt and pepper and serve.
Notes
Your potatoes aren’t capable of soaking in all the liquid in one go and if you try to force them to you will end up with wet mashed potatoes. Yuck. Add your liquid in small increments and thank me later. Do taste your potatoes along the way
Mashed potatoes tend to need a lot of salt because of all the starch and fat being used. It’s very easy to under or over season your potatoes if you aren’t proactive about tasting as you go. Season, stir, taste and repeat.
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Might I suggest, for the benefit of those greenhorn chefs reading this recipe, you instruct that the garlic cloves be popped out of their skin before adding to the half and half and butter. Some may find this obvious, but better to be safe (and informed), then sorry!
I agree with Nancy! Also, I roast my garlic and I find that gives a great depth of taste & flavour!
Thank you. That was the only question I had!
Probably the best way to make mashed potatoes EVER!
Yum!! Just in time for the holidays, thanks for sharing!!
Want to reach out and lick the screen..those mashed potatoes look super tempting.
This was truly amazing! Loved the tips at the end to make sure it turns out perfect every single time.