Boos I don’t believe in basic mashed taters and you shouldn’t either. That’s why I’m sharing my garlic mashed potatoes recipe with y’all. And they are the best. I stand by that claim. I fold soft potatoes with roasted garlic, butter, and a creamy liquid until they are straight up silk! I don’t use a ricer or anything else super extra. You can make these old school style and impress everybody.
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How to Make Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Step 1: Roast Up That Garlic
- Get that oven preheated to 400 F.
- Next we need to remove the top of the garlic head so that all those gorgeous cloves are showing. That’s where all that flavor is. Add the garlic to a large piece of foil, drizzle it up with some olive oil then wrap it up.
- Add the wrapped garlic to a baking sheet and let it roast for about an hour until its totally tender.
Step 2: Boil The Potatoes
- Add the water to a large pot along with some salt to flavor up the potatoes. Bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add those potatoes in and let them cook until they are completely tender, about 20 or so minutes.
- Drain the potatoes then rinse them super well in warm water so we can get rid of that extra starch.
PRO TIP: To test if your potatoes are good to go, use a knife or fork to pierce them. If they easily pierce, you are ready to mash those babies. If not, let them boil a bit longer.
Step 3: Create Your Garlic Goodness and Mash Em Up!
- Add your half and half, roasted garlic and butter to a medium pot over medium heat. As soon as the butter melts down and the liquid is warm, mash in that garlic.
- Next, you want to add that garlicky goodness to your potatoes in increments letting it really absorb while you mash along the way.
- Finally season it all up with that good garlic powder, salt and pepper (make sure you taste as you go along) and chives and serve it on up!
PRO TIP: Don’t add your liquid all at once. It is best to add in increments so you can create the texture and consistency you like. Remember, you can always add more but you can’t remove it. If you add too much, those potatoes are gonna be super soupy y’all.
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Garlic Mashed Potatoes
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 garlic head
- 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
- 1 tbsp minced chives or parsley optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Use a sharp knife to remove the top of the 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 butter 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 chives or parsley and serve it up.
Video
Notes
- Fridge: Make sure your potatoes have cooled down completely then add to an airtight container and pop in the fridge. They will last for 3-4 days.
- Freezer: These freeze pretty good y’all. Either portion them in individual servings in freezer-safe bags or containers or add them as one batch to a large container. Remove as much air as you can then toss in the freezer. They last up to 2 months.
- Reheating: Add the potatoes to a pot over low heat and stir occasionally until they are warmed up. If they seem a little dry, add some some milk or butter pats to bring back that creamy goodness and consistency you get down with. I don’t recommend using the microwave since they will dry out and not maintain the smooth texture.
Nutrition
Recipe Tips
- Boil your potatoes in large pieces: Bigger chunks take a bit longer to cook but they will make your potatoes less watery
- Don’t allow your potatoes to cool after boiling: Adding in your fats and mashing while your potatoes are hot creates a creamier taste and texture.
- Taste your potatoes along the way: These 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 tasting as you go. Season, stir, taste and repeat y’all.
- Don’t add your liquid all at once: Your potatoes can’t soak up all that liquid in one go and if you try to force them to, you will end up wet and soupy.
Ingredient Notes
- Potatoes: Sub in russet potatoes if yukon ain’t around.
- Half and Half: Whole milk also works and so does heavy cream but you might need to thin it out some.
- Unsalted Butter: You can use salted butter. Just leave the salt out.
Serving Suggestions
- Bacon Bits: The salty, smoky and savory crunch of some candied bacon on top of these taters is textural bliss.
- Gravy It Up: Serve up mashed potatoes old school style by adding some brown gravy, sawmill gravy or even some turkey gravy or chicken gravy.
- Sop It Ideas: Recipes with incredible juices and sauces are so bomb to serve with mashed potatoes. I love this garlic mashed potato recipe served with neck bones, chicken fried steak or chicken fried chicken (that gravy don’t play!), smothered pork chops or a Mississippi Pot Roast. That’s good eatin y’all.
- Classic American Comfort Meal: Ain’t nothing like my best meatloaf recipe or some classic fried chicken on a bed of these creamy garlic mashed potatoes with some Southern green beans on the side.
Recipe Help
I personally love Yukon Gold potatoes in this recipe. They have such a bomb texture and buttery flavor. But if they aren’t around, grab russets.
Make sure ya add more liquid or butter. Just throw in a tablespoon at a time, mix it up and see where you are at. Keep adding until you reach the consistency you like.
Yep for sure boos! Pop em in the fridge according to the storage instructions above and then heat them on the stovetop when you are ready to serve them.
You gotta get those potatoes blended a bit better y’all. If the potato masher isn’t doing it for ya, use a hand mixer to get them smoother. Just don’t go to town or they will turn soupy.
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Excellent! I made these last night for New Year’s
Eve dinner! I love garlic, and have been searching for a good authentic garlic flavor mashed potato! Thank you, they were delicious!!!
Fantastic! I love these potatoes too!
Hello,
I am making these today to eat with our meal tomorrow. Do you have a suggestion for how to reheat them? Should it be on the stove or can it be in the oven?
I would reheat by adding to a pot and adding a bit of milk or cream to keep them most. You can warm over low heat and just stir until heated but don’t over stir them. You can add them into a slow cooker too on warm.
I followed this recipe, very closely. I weighed the potatoes and was diligent in completing the steps. I tasted the potatoes just before serving to see if they needed more salt and pepper, and the garlic taste was completely overpowering. They were inedible. I frantically started peeling and dicing the rest of the 5 lb bag of potatoes to dilute the garlic taste. The extra potatoes helped, but they were still way too garlicky. I don’t know what happened since I followed the recipe so closely. It was a bit disheartening and disappointing to have to throw them away.
So sorry to hear that Amanda! If it had a strong, spicy garlic flavor then your garlic may have been on the older side. If you remove the sprout in the center of the garlic it does tame the flavor quite a bit! Garlic should be the main flavor here though and it should come through pronounced.
THESE POTATOES RIGHT HERE!!!!! My kids and I were eating them by themselves. I made them twice. The first time I added sourcream, cream cheese, and feta. The second time I was out of feta, but still added the other two cheeses, and both times AMAZING!!!
Will be making these delicious looking potatoes for Christmas dinner, Cannot wait!
My family raved about these potatoes. Had them with braised short ribs in red wine. Your recipe is fantastic.
What method or tool do you find is best when mashing the potatoes? Thx!
I love my hand mixer
I like to add a hint of horseradish. Even though I even got my hand almost cut of when I suggested it at my Sister’s big Thanksgiving Dinner, so I will just keeping adding it at my own house.
Your grandmother is a national treasure and I’ll fight anyone who says otherwise.
These are delicious! I’ve made them for Thanksgiving and today for Christmas. So, so good. The first bite is sublime.