Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Today I’m bringing you my Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes recipe. It’s the same one from my Braised Short Ribs and Mashed Potatoes IGTV video and I’ve been meaning to get it up since I posted that!

These go with pretty much everything. The recipe isn’t any more complicated than the mashed potatoes in my Copycat KFC Famous Bowl recipe, but there are a few more ingredients – namely a whole helluva lot of garlic!

Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes Ingredients

Feel free to jump to the full recipe, but here are useful notes about the ingredients you will need to make this Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes recipe:

• Russet potatoes, Yukon gold potatoes: I’ve made a lot of mashed potatoes and I strongly feel this combination makes for the smoothest, most delicious Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes. I always use slightly more russet than gold for the extra starch. Yellow potatoes work fine if you can’t find any labled yukon gold.
• Heavy cream: My liquid of choice. It’s got the heft and flavor to really bring the riced potatoes together.
• Salted butter: Unsalted is fine, too.
• Sour cream: For a bit of tang to balance out the weight of all the starch and butter, plus another hit of creaminess for the final texture.
• Garlic: We’re going to use a lot of it to infuse the cream, and to boil along with the potatoes. I call for ten cloves in the recipe, but feel free to add more. And if you find that your garlic doesn’t have the strongest flavor, adding in some garlic powder at the end doesn’t hurt.
• Black peppercorns: I like to boil them along with the potatoes. Sometimes I’ll crack a little into the garlic-infused cream, too.
• Kosher salt: We’re going to generously salt the water, and of course season the Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes – to taste, as always.
• Equipment: By far the most important tool you’ll need for these is a potato ricer. It works by forcing the cooked potato pieces through a bunch of holes that are too tiny for any lump to survive and eliminates the need to mash them. Simply stir in your additions and you’re good to go. If you choose to use a potato masher or mixer they’ll still be creamy but they won’t be as creamy, and they won’t be smooth.

How to Make Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes 

Full instructions are included in the recipe below, but here is a basic overview of what you’ll need to do, along with some important tidbits to help you make the most of this Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes recipe:

• Boil your taters. You’ll want a pretty large stockpot to hold them all, about 5 qts or so. Place it over high heat and add your potatoes, peppercorns, and a couple of the garlic cloves. Pour in enough water to cover the potatoes by a couple of inches, then add in two teaspoons of salt. Bring everything to a boil then reduce to medium-low and simmer until the potatoes are fork-tender in the center, about 13-15 minutes. Be careful not to overcook them or you can end up with dry, gummy mashed potatoes.
• Infuse your cream. Keep busy while the potatoes are cooking! Add two a small saucepan over medium-high heat and add one tablespoon of butter. Stir in the remaining garlic cloves into the melted butter and let cook for a minute or two, until foaming. Next, stir in the cream, kosher salt, and remaining peppercorns. Bring the cream mixture to a low boil, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Finally, pour the liquid through a fine-mesh sieve to strain out the aromatics, and return to the pot. Cover with a lid to keep warm over very low heat.
• Rice ’em! When the potatoes are fork-tender pour them into a colander and drain well. The pot you cooked them in should still be hot – add the remaining butter to it. Next, working in small batches, add a few chunks of potato to a ricer and push them through, directly back into the pot along with the butter. After all the potatoes are rice stir them into the butter to encourage to melt if it hasn’t already.
• Bring the Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes together. Next, use a silicone spatula or wooden spoon to stir in the sour cream until it’s completely incorporated. Then gradually stir in the cream, being as gentle or heavy-handed as you like. I normally beat the crap out of them at this stage! Taste and adjust for salt, as needed. Serve hot. Dassit!

Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes Variations and Substitutions

You can make endless variations with this Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes recipe, so please feel free to customize yours to taste!  For example, you could…

• Herb Infused Cream: Along with the smashed garlic cloves, add some sprigs of fresh rosemary, thyme, and flat-leaf parsley to the butter for the cream.
• Buttermilk: Instead of sour cream, substitue an equal amount of buttermilk. It’ll add just a bit more tang to these potatoes – it’s not enough to be sour – and it’s really good.
• Plant Based Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes: You can easily make these vegan-friendly with some substitutions, a couple more steps, and one more ingredient. Swap the heavy cream for plain oat milk, omit the sour cream, use vegan butter, and add a tablespoon of all purpose flour. When it’s time to make the infused cream, sprinkle the flour over the melted butter and stir it together to make a roux. Cook it for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently, before adding the garlic cloves. Immediately pour in the cream instead of cooking the garlic for one minute. Continue with the rest of the recipe as written.

Let me know what you think if you make these! Obligatory Pin – 

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