Ready in 30 minutes, these fluffy Instant Pot garlic mashed potatoes are a flavorful side dish! Serve them for Thanksgiving or the next time you make a roast chicken!
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The Instant Pot has quickly become one of my favorite tools in the kitchen. It makes fantastic jams, shredded chicken, hummus, and now mashed potatoes!
This recipe would be especially useful on busy holidays or when you don't have time to babysit potatoes. No need to stir or check for doneness with these mashed potatoes, the high pressure of the Instant Pot cooks the potatoes in a matter of minutes!
Why These Mashed Potatoes Are Great!
- They are super easy to make! The Instant Pot does all the hard work for you! And the best part, no need to peel the potatoes!
- They are a delicious side dish! Make these for Thanksgiving or the next time you make a chicken.
- You can easily make these ahead of time! Keep them warm in the Instant Pot and serve them whenever you are ready!
Ingredients You'll Need
- Potatoes- Yukon gold or Russet are the best potatoes to use when mashing.
- Whole Milk- Half and half or heavy cream can be used as well and will make your potatoes ultra decadent!
- Butter- To make these potatoes light and fluffy. If you want to cut back on the amount of butter in this recipe, use ¼ cup of butter and ¼ cup of cream cheese.
- Salt- For seasoning the water and the cooked mashed potatoes
Equipment
Step By Step Photos
Cut the garlic in half lengthwise 
Add olive oil and salt 
Enclose the garlic head in parchment paper and roast 
Add the potato chunks and water to the Instant Pot 
Drain the potatoes 
Add the roasted garlic, milk, and butter to the drained potatoes 
Mash the potatoes
Let's Make Instant Pot Garlic Mashed Potatoes!
- First, let's make the roasted garlic. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the garlic in half across the garlic. Add olive oil and salt to the cut portion of the garlic. Enclose the head of garlic in parchment paper or aluminum foil and place it in the oven for 40 minutes.
- While the garlic roasts, wash the potatoes and cut them into chunks. Add the potatoes and 1 tablespoon of salt to the Instant Pot and add 6 cups of water.
- Cover the Instant Pot and cook on "High" for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, allow the Instant Pot to naturally release for another 10 minutes.
- Once the Instant Pot has released for 10 minutes, open the lid and carefully drain the potatoes into a colander. Place the potatoes back into the Instant Pot and add the butter, milk, salt, pepper, and garlic. To add the garlic to the Instant Pot, use a butter knife or a small spoon and scoop out the cloves of garlic and place them in the Instant Pot. Depending on how big your head of garlic is, would depend how many cloves there are. Dispose of the papery outside of the garlic.
- Mash the potatoes until they are the consistency that you desire. Season with more salt and pepper and enjoy!
What Type of Potatoes To Use
The best mashing potatoes are Russet potatoes or Yukon gold. They have the most amount of starch and produce a really nice mashed potatoes. You can use a combination of Yukon gold and Russet potatoes too. New potatoes or red potatoes aren't great to mash as they are too waxy. They are great for potatoes salads, not mashed potatoes.
Tips and Tricks
- When cutting the potatoes, make sure they are all similar in size. If they are not, the potatoes will not cook evenly.
- If you find that the potatoes are too thick for you liking, stir in a little more milk.
- No need to peel the potatoes! The skins have tons of vitamins and nutrients in them, so I like to keep them on. If you don't like the skins, peel the potatoes and then follow the rest of the instructions.
- This recipe can be made with or without the garlic.
- To add even more flavor to these mashed potatoes, cook the potatoes in chicken broth or vegetable broth instead of water.
- 1 Tablespoon of salt might seem like a lot of salt to add to the water of the Instant Pot, but it's the only time we will get to really season the potatoes. Like when you are making pasta and you season the water, it's important to do the same when making potatoes.
Frequently Asked Questions
To reheat them, I like to place them in a large baking dish, top them with about six pats of butter, and cover the dish with aluminum foil. Place them in the oven for 15-20 minutes and they should heat through. When they are done, stir the potatoes so the butter is mixed in.
Yes! If you don't have an Instant Pot, you can make these mashed potatoes right on the stove top. Place the water, salt, and cut potatoes into a large Dutch oven. Allow the water to come to a boil and cook for 15 minutes or until a fork comes out of one of the potatoes cleanly. After the potatoes are done, drain the water and add the butter, milk, and roasted garlic. Mash as you normally would and serve!
These mashed potatoes will last in the refrigerator up to 4 days. To reheat them, place them in a microwave save bowl and microwave on high for two minutes. Feel free to mix in a little more milk or butter to make them fluffy again.
Other Recipes You Should Try
Did you love these Instant Pot Garlic Mashed Potatoes? I'd so appreciate it if you would give this recipe a 5 star review! That will help other hungry readers find my recipes!
And don't forget to tag me on Instagram or Facebook and share this recipe on Pinterest! Thanks for sharing this journey with me and enjoy these delicious recipes!
- More Instant Pot Recipes
- Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower Soup
- Chicken Drumstick Sheet Pan Dinner
- All In One Apple Cake
- One Pot Chicken Broccoli Pasta
- Grilled Vegetable Quinoa Salad
- Sourdough Apple Cider Donuts
- Light and Crisp Sourdough Waffles
- Sourdough Pumpkin Waffles
- Death By Chocolate Zucchini Bread
📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
To Make The Roasted Garlic
- 1 Head Garlic
- 1 teaspoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Salt and Pepper to taste
To Make the Mashed Potatoes
- 3 lbs Russet Potatoes 4 large potatoes
- 6 cups Water
- ½ cup Butter
- ½ cup Milk
- 1 tablespoon Salt plus 2 teaspoons
- 1 teaspoon Pepper
Instructions
To Make the Roasted Garlic
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Cut the garlic in half across the head of garlic. Place the garlic on a piece of aluminum foil.
- Drizzle the cut side of the garlic with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
- Enclose the garlic in the aluminum foil and roast for 45 minutes. The garlic should be very spreadable when it is done roasting.
To Make the Mashed Potatoes
- While the garlic roasts, wash the potatoes and cut them into chunks. The chunks should all similar in size. Add them to the bowl of the Instant Pot.
- Add the water and 1 tablespoon of salt to the Instant Pot.
- Place the lid on the Instant Pot and cook on "High" for 10 minutes.
- Allow the Instant Pot to naturally release for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, release any leftover pressure and carefully take the insert out of the Instant Pot and drain the potatoes. Immediately put the potatoes back in the Instant Pot.
- Add the butter, milk, 2 teaspoons of salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper to the Instant Pot. To add the garlic to the Instant Pot, use a butter knife or a small spoon and scoop out the cloves of garlic and place them in the Instant Pot. Depending on how big your head of garlic is, would depend how many cloves there are. Dispose of the papery outside of the garlic. With a potato masher, mash the potatoes until they are the consistency you desire.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- Instead of water, chicken or vegetable broth would impart even more flavor into these potatoes.
- Yukon gold or russets are best for mashing. Russets are very starchy and Yukon gold are waxy. Both would be great for mashing.
Nutrition
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Mandy Applegate
Oh my goodness - delicious and so easy!!
Donna
I love how easy these turned out to be in the instant pot (and how delicious!), this is going to be a game-changer come Holiday season when I need the extra stovetop space.
Jennifer
I'm always on the hunt for new IP recipes, and this one was terrific! So light and fluffy - we devoured them!
Cindy
Pure comfort in a dish. I loved making these in the Instant Pot - the texture was perfect!
laura
The PERFECT way to make mashed potatoes especially when you're really busy!!
Aimee B.
These mashed potatoes had me pulling out my Instant Pot! YUM!
Sherry
My family has been asking me to switch up my mashed potato recipe. I tried your recipe and they loved it!!
Kim
I have been looking for a delicious garlic mashed potato recipe and this is it! It's even better than I made it in the instant pot.
Wendy Polisi
This is my idea of perfection. So ridiculously good.
Sachi
These turned out perfect!