Tips on Making the BEST Creamy Mashed Potatoes (Dairy Free Option)!

Creamy.

Dreamy.

Mashed potatoes.

This recipe combines the collective wisdom of hundreds of tips and tricks to perfect your creamy mashed potatoes.

So, let’s get into it!

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links for products I use and love. If you make a purchase after clicking one of those links, I may earn a small affiliate commission, perhaps enough to buy some extra gochujang or gochugaru 🙂

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Why Creamy Mashed Potatoes?

I feel like you really can’t have a “sides” section on your blog without addressing the most iconically American side dish–mashed potatoes. I could be biased, here. I’m a self-professed potato-phile and I’ve loved mashed potatoes since I was a little girl. Of all the side dishes at the Thanksgiving table, it was the one side dish I would always go back for at least three times.

But having tried making my own year after year, I’ve discovered that there are a lot of ways to make them taste, well, TERRIBLE. They come out gummy or mealy or watery or pasty. Once, I made a whole batch that somehow turned sour.

The truth is, the best creamy mashed potatoes of your life aren’t hard to make. But, they’re also not hard to screw up!

So, herein, you will find all my tips for making the BEST creamy mashed potatoes you’ll ever eat!

Tips on Making the BEST Creamy Mashed Potatoes.

Tip #1: Pick the Right Spuds.

Use a mix of both russet potatoes (which have more starch) and Yukon gold (which maximizes creaminess) to create the perfect blend for your creamy mashed potatoes.

Tip #2: Avoid the Wrong Taters.

Avoid using waxier potatoes, like red potatoes, as they tend to hold more moisture and run the risk of becoming gummy (no!).

Tip #3: Bake Those Babies.

Bake your potatoes instead of boiling them. Not only will this require less effort, it will ensure less moisture to achieve fluffy and non-gummy mashed potatoes.

Tip #4: Warm Your Liquids.

All your liquids—the butter and milk—need to be warm or, at the very least, at room temperature. Cold liquids will prevent your potatoes from soaking up their lovely flavors.

Tip #5: Pre-coat with Butter.

Coat your potatoes in butter before adding your milk to make them extra buttery!

Tip #6: Get the Right Gear.

Using a ricer or a food mill will prevent you from overworking the potatoes (which will make them gummy and gross!).

Key Ingredients and Notes on Substitutions for Creamy Mashed Potatoes Recipe.

This creamy mashed potatoes recipe only calls for straightforward ingredients with a few twists. Let’s take a look at each of the key ingredients:

Russet and Yukon Gold Potatoes.

No, you cannot make creamy mashed potatoes without potatoes. Yes, I know there are recipes made with cauliflower masquerading as this iconic side dish, but those are mashed cauliflower–perfectly delicious, but not mashed potatoes.

As I mention above in Tip #1, what you want is a mix of both russet and Yukon gold for these creamy mashed potatoes. The russets are very starchy and will help to keep the mashed potatoes fluffy and light. The Yukon golds are a little waxier (though not nearly as waxy as the reds), and will maximize creaminess.

If you don’t have a mix, you can simply go with all russets or all Yukon golds.

Roasted Garlic.

I want these creamy mashed potatoes to literally detonate a flavor bomb in your mouth and that means we need garlic. A whole head of garlic. We’re going to roast the garlic in the oven along with the potatoes, so they’ll be mushy and sweet. If you don’t like garlic (what’s wrong with you…?), you can skip the garlic.

Milk.

You can’t have creamy mashed potatoes without some kind of milk. I use Chobani’s extra creamy oat milk for this recipe, which I find to be very creamy. You can, of course, use whatever variety of milk you have, though I would avoid something as thin as almond milk. My favorites are always oat milk and soy milk when it comes to all my recipes. You can also substitute with heavy cream, if you want; but, it’s more expensive and harder to find (for us dairy-free folks) and oat milk does the trick anyway!

Fresh Herbs.

This creamy mashed potatoes recipe calls for fresh rosemary and thyme. They will make your mashed potatoes jaw-droppingly delicious, so I would not skip this part. The flavors that these herbs provide will make anyone who tastes these creamy mashed potatoes go, “WHOA THOSE ARE AMAZING.”

If you can’t find rosemary and thyme, you can also go with sage and/or oregano. I would not try to substitute with dried herbs as doing so will make it hard to achieve optimal creaminess.

Butter.

You need butter to make creamy mashed potatoes. I use Earth Balance’s butter sticks, but Country Crock also makes a great dairy-free butter.

Can you substitute with extra virgin olive oil? Yes. Both the flavor and fat content of extra virgin olive oil makes it a good substitution candidate for butter. You can also try using avocado oil. However, it won’t be quite the same when it comes to flavor.

Miso.

Miso adds just the right amount of umami and savoriness to these creamy mashed potatoes, while also heightening the creaminess. If you don’t have miso or don’t want to use miso, you can always skip this ingredient.

White Pepper.

In addition to the standard salt and black pepper, these creamy mashed potatoes also call for a little white pepper. White pepper has a more subtle heat than its darker half, black pepper. It also lends a bit of brightness to your mashed potatoes (that’s what I’ve always found, at least). If you don’t have white pepper, you can simply skip it.

Step-by-Step Instructions for Making Creamy Mashed Potatoes.

As I’ve mentioned, these creamy mashed potatoes are very easy and come together quite quickly. So, let’s get to it!

Step 1.

Preheat oven to 450° F. Using a fork, poke holes into your potatoes before wrapping them in foil and placing them on a baking sheet. Cut the garlic head in half, drizzle the open halves with olive oil, and also wrap in foil and place on baking sheet. Place the potatoes and garlic in the oven for about 60 to 70 minutes, until potatoes are all fork tender.

Step 2.

About 30 minutes before the potatoes are done, add milk to a small sauce pot, together with rosemary and thyme, over a low heat. Let the milk get warm over low heat, making sure that it never comes to a boil.

Step 3.

Once the potatoes are done, scoop out all the flesh and place through a food mill or ricer. Similarly, place the roasted garlic through a food mill or a ricer.

Step 4.

Add miso and melted butter and stir in until the potatoes are evenly coated. Then, add the warm milk (fish out the herbs before doing so!). Stir until potatoes are creamy and flavorful. Season with salt, white pepper, and black pepper, to taste.

Step 5.

Scoop out into a large bowl and use the back of your spoon to create a small divot into the middle. Add another tablespoon of unmelted butter to the divot and sprinkle with thyme leaves just before serving.

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