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Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes Recipe

These Garlic Mashed Potatoes are creamy, buttery, garlicky, and ready in just 30 minutes. Perfect to whip up for a weeknight dinner and to serve at all your holiday meals.

creamy garlic mashed potatoes image with text overlay

There’s nothing better than fluffy mashed potatoes unless they’re these Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes. Growing up, my Dad would add cheese to our mashed potatoes and I thought that was just about the best thing ever – until I had them with garlic.

I don’t make this creamy garlic mashed potatoes recipe nearly enough but I sure do order them when we eat at our favorite restaurant. I might have mentioned before our family is a potato-lovin’ gang and it’s so true. Our favorite way to prepare potatoes is by smashing them and baking them in the oven until they are crisp. These garlic mashed potatoes are now a strong second!

easy garlic mashed potatoes in bowl
Serve the best mashed potatoes on your Thanksgiving table!

Holiday Side Dish Week

It’s #HolidaySideDishes Week and that means new recipes from me and PLENTY of ideas and inspiration from several of my foodie friends. Look for those delicious recipes at the end of each post this week. Many thanks to Heather from Hezzi D’s Recipe Box for hosting again! I’ll be posting again on Friday with another recipe, Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Parmesan.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

The mashed potatoes are so creamy and rich and infused with a delicious garlic flavor and ready in about 30 minutes. Potatoes go with nearly every entree you can make for dinner, like this Slow Cooker Spiral Ham or these Slow Cooker Beef Short Ribs. We love serving these garlic mashed potatoes with this slow cooker Mississippi Pot Roast. Drizzle the delicious beef gravy over these potatoes for that extra yummy goodness.

ready to serve creamy garlic mashed potatoes

Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes

These potatoes are packed with so much flavor from the five simple ingredients and the time to get them on the table is just about 30 minutes. If you’re roasting a turkey or ham, garlic mashed potatoes are perfect to make while the entree rests once it’s cooked.

Of course, you can control the garlic if the 3 or 4 cloves are too much, try using just 2 cloves to get that subtle yet delicious flavor in the potatoes. Garlic lovers will love that you can add more garlic. If you want to kick it up another notch, you can learn how to roast garlic in olive oil and add that to your mashed potatoes.

You can even make these mashed potatoes in the slow cooker and once the potatoes are cooked, you can add the rest of the ingredients. I’ll give you directions for the Instant Pot in the recipe card.

What Potatoes Are the Best for Mashed Potatoes?

Russet and Yukon potatoes are the best for creamy mashed potatoes, my favorite is Russet potatoes. They make the fluffiest, smoothest mashed potatoes with less chance of becoming gummy or turning into “potato paste” which can occur from over-mashing or mixing. Sometimes I keep the peels on a few of the potatoes to give the mashed potatoes a bit more flavor and texture. Try it sometime! You can also use red potatoes, but keep in mind to not over beat them as they will turn gummy.

Why do you start Potatoes in Cold Water?

Starting the potatoes in cold water before boiling them helps them cook more evenly. If you put the potatoes in hot water, the outsides start to cook immediately while the insides remain hard.

potatoes in pot of water

What do you Serve Mashed Potatoes With?

We love to serve mashed potatoes with meatloaf, oven pot roast, slow cooker Italian chicken, and this spiral ham. Of course, this mashed potato recipe makes an appearance at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, too. Leftovers are great to make Mashed Potato Puffs. They’re delicious to serve as an appetizer or a side dish. My Dad would make mashed potato pancakes with the leftovers. The Au Jui gravy from these Crock Pot French Dip Sandwiches is delicious served over these mashed potatoes. Potato recipes in general are the perfect side dish!

Equipment

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Ingredients

  • 3 pounds Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes
  • 1 ½ cup heavy whipping cream
  • ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
  • 3-4 whole garlic cloves, minced
  • ¾ teaspoon salt, DIVIDED
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper (or to taste)
ingredients for creamy garlic mashed potatoes

Step by Step Directions to Make Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Step 1

Place stock pot with COLD water on the stove. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt to the water and bring the water to a boil.

Step 2

Peel and chop your potatoes, keeping them equal in size for even cooking. I’ve always been taught to rinse the chopped potatoes with cold water until the water runs clear to remove some of the starchiness.

peel and chop potaotes on cutting board

Step 3

When the water is boiling, add the potatoes and let them boil for about 15 minutes, or until fork tender. Do not overcook as this will result in mushy potatoes that have too much water in them. Turn off the heat and drain when cooked and place the pot back on the burner to allow the heat from the burner to remove a bit more of the water in the potatoes.

cooked potato cubes ready to mash in pot

Step 4

While the potatoes are cooking: in a small saucepan, add the butter, 1/4 teaspoon salt, heavy cream, minced garlic, and pepper. Mix and cook over low heat until the butter is melted and the mixture is warm – not hot. Keep warm until ready to use.

small pan with butter garlic cream and seasoning for potatoes

Step 5

Slowly add the heated cream mixture to the potatoes and beat with an electric handheld mixer or potato masher. If your large pot isn’t one you can use a mixer in, use a large bowl to mash the potatoes. Add a little at a time to the cream mixture until you reach your desired consistency. Serve warm!

Tips, Tricks, and FAQs

  • Substitute the heavy whipping cream with whole milk, lowfat milk, or half and half. Sour cream can be used too.
  • Use as much garlic as you like or use roasted garlic.
  • Garlic powder can replace the fresh garlic if you don’t have any cloves.
  • Try adding a few slices of American white cheese or some Parmesan cheese to the mashed potatoes.
  • Lumpy potatoes are okay! If you prefer smooth, beat the potatoes more but be sure to not over beat or your mashed potatoes will be gummy.
  • You can also use a potato ricer to mash potatoes.
creamy garlic mashed potatoes ready to serve
pat of butter in the creamy garlic mashed potatoes bowl

Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes

These Garlic Mashed Potatoes are creamy, buttery, garlicky, and ready in just 30 minutes. Perfect to whip up for a weeknight dinner and to serve at all your holiday meals.
5 from 4 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dinner, Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: garlic mashed potatoes, mashed potatoes, potatoes
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 8 servings

Equipment

  • large pot
  • small saucepan
  • potato peeler
  • Electric hand mixer

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds Russet or Yukon Gold Potatoes
  • cups heavy whipping cream
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • 3 – 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • ¾ teaspoon salt, DIVIDED
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper (or to taste)

Instructions

  • Place stock pot with COLD water on the stove. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt to the water and bring the water to a boil.
  • Peel and chop your potatoes, keeping them equal in size for even cooking. I’ve always been taught to rinse the chopped potatoes with cold water until the water runs clear to remove some of the starchiness.
  • When the water is boiling, add the potatoes and let them boil for about 15 minutes, or until fork tender. Do not overcook as this will result in mushy potatoes that have too much water in them. Turn off the heat and drain when cooked and place the pot back on the burner to allow the heat from the burner to remove a bit more of the water in the potatoes.
  • While the potatoes are cooking: in a small saucepan, add the butter, 1/4 teaspoon salt, heavy cream, minced garlic, and pepper. Mix and cook over low heat until the butter is melted and the mixture is warm – not hot. Keep warm until ready to use.
  • Slowly add the heated cream mixture to the potatoes and beat with an electric handheld mixer or potato masher. If your large pot isn’t one you can use a mixer in, use a large bowl to mash the potatoes. Add a little at a time to the cream mixture until you reach your desired consistency. Serve warm!

Notes

To make in the Instant Pot:
Place the metal rack in the bottom of your pressure cooker. 
Add 1 cup water, then place whole potatoes (not cut like the stove top recipe) on a metal rack.
Cover, and set vent to SEAL position, then set to PRESSURE COOK or MANUAL for 8 minutes. 
Once cook time is up, quick release by turning knob to the VENT position.
Once the float valve has dropped, remove the lid, drain the pot, and transfer potatoes to a large bowl. Continue with recipe with adding the warmed cream mixture and mashing the potatoes as in the recipe card.  
 

Nutritional Disclaimer

“Blogghetti” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.

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5 from 4 votes (3 ratings without comment)

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12 Comments

    1. Oh yea…both additions are so good together!

  1. They look so creamy and delicious and with that flavor profile how can you go wrong!

    1. Thank you! I learned from my dad to start all root vegetables in cold water…makes sense!

  2. Mashed potatoes are my favorite side dish and these garlic ones sound amazing!

    1. Mine too! I can eat mashed potatoes every day anot tire of them.

  3. Love mashed potatoes, love garlic. So Yum!

  4. 5 stars
    I’m a sucker for creamy mashed potatoes. I’ve never heated the milk and butter together though. I’ll have to try that! These look lick the beater delicious!

  5. I can’t wait to try this. This looks SO TASTY! Nothing can beat this side dish.