Buttery Garlic Mashed Potatoes Recipe (No Gravy or Cream Needed)

A mound of garlic mashed potatoes, garnished with herbs

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4.09 from 62 votes

Here's a recipe for making delicious garlic mashed potatoes sweet and mellow with none of that raw garlic harshness. Most mashed potato recipes call for cream, half-and-half, or milk. This recipe is so good and creamy you don't need any cream in the mix or gravy on the table.

Course:

Dinner

Lunch

Side Dish

Vegetable

Cuisine:

American

Makes:

About 2 pounds (907.2 g)

Servings: 6

Takes:

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 20

Total Time: 35

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

▢ 2 pounds Russet Burbank or Yukon Gold potatoes (after peeling)
▢ 4 cloves garlic medium
▢ ¼ pound unsalted butter or margarine cut into ½ inch chunks
▢ ½ teaspoon Morton Coarse Kosher Salt
▢ ¼ teaspoon fresh finely ground black pepper fresher is better

Optional

▢ 1 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs your favorites

Notes:

About the potatoes. There are many different potatoes to choose from (read my article The Science of Potatoes). Russets are a great all round tater, fine for for mashing, and Yukon Golds have an especially nice buttery flavor. Select large potatoes because they are easier to peel. Each potato has a slightly different texture and flavor, so experiment until you find your fave. If you clean the skins thoroughly with a brush or scrubby sponge, you can leave them on for more texture, flavor, and nutrition.

About the garlic. If you have roasted, grilled, or smoked garlic on hand, you can skip boiling the garlic, but frankly, I like the boiled version better. Think about that statement from a guy who is pretty well-known as a barbecue cook. Click here to see how to roast garlic.

About the butter. If you use salted butter, cut back a pinch of salt in the mashing step. Yes, I know that's a lot of butter, but we don't eat mashed potatoes every day now, do we? You can substitute olive oil for some of the butter.

About the herbs. Fresh herbs are great in mashed potatoes. Try chives or one of the Simon & Garfunkel herbs: parsley, sage, rosemary, or thyme. Oregano and basil are also great. My favorite is fresh rosemary. That's thyme in the picture above. Click here to learn more about herbs and substitutions.

About the salt. Remember, kosher salt is half the concentration of table salt so if you use table salt, use half as much. Click here to read more about salt and how it works.

Optional for cheeseheads. Add 3 ounces grated cheddar cheese or boursin cheese spread.

Optional for carnivores. Add 3 strips crispy bacon crumbled into bits or toss some leftover rib meat or pulled pork in the mix!

Optional for lactivores. Cut back a bit on the butter and add up to 1/4 cup of cream, half and half, or milk.

Optional for smoke lovers. Par boil the potatoes and then put them in a smoker for 30 to 60 minutes. Don't overdo it.

Metric conversion:

These recipes were created in US Customary measurements and the conversion to metric is being done by calculations. They should be accurate, but it is possible there could be an error. If you find one, please let us know in the comments at the bottom of the page

Method

Cook. We want to begin by de-fanging the garlic of its sulfury pungence and convert it to sweetness by cooking it. Chef Lucas recommends you peel the garlic cloves, remove the woody root, and cut them in half. Bring a non-reactive saucepan with a quart (946.4 ml) of water to a boil and add a pinch of salt and the garlic. Boil the garlic for about 15 minutes. You need lots of water to remove all the pungence of the garlic. While the garlic boils, cut the butter into 1/2 inch (12.7 mm) chunks.
While the garlic is cooking, get another pot of water boiling. Don't use the garlic water for the potatoes! Make sure you have enough water to submerge the potatoes about an inch below the surface. Add two pinches of salt. Wash the potatoes and cut them into thumb-sized chunks. Try to get the chunks about the same size so they all finish cooking about the same time. When the water is boiling, add the potatoes and boil them until a fork pierces them with only a little resistance, about 15 minutes, depending on how large the chunks are. Don't overcook the potatoes so that the exterior is mushy and they fall apart when you pierce them. Chef Lucas warns that "overcooked potatoes tend to soak up water and can become runny."
Drain the garlic, drop it into the serving bowl, and add the chunks of butter, three pinches of salt, black pepper, and herbs. Mash everything into a paste with a fork.
Drain the potatoes thoroughly and keep them in the hot pot to dry them out a bit more. I like mine with some chunks, more smashed than mashed, so I just dump them into the bowl and use an old-fashioned wire masher. If you like yours smooth, use a potato ricer (it looks like a giant garlic press). Squeeze them through the holes into the bowl and mix with a large spoon. Don't use a mixer or you run the risk of making glue.
Serve. Before serving, taste and add more salt and pepper if you wish.
Optional. Here's where you can add cheese, meat, or cream. I recommend you do the recipe as is the first time, and then riff on it the second time if you wish.
Holding mashed potatoes. Getting all the parts of a meal ready at once is the trickiest part of cooking, so if the rest of the meal isn't ready when the spuds are, you can keep them warm in a slow cooker or heat them in the microwave for 2 to 3 minutes just before serving.

Nutrition per Serving