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 frozen chicken thighs or Instant Pot Beef Bourguignon!
The Instant Pot has quickly become one of my favorite tools in the kitchen. It makes fantastic Instant Pot Peach jam, Instant Pot shredded chicken, Instant Pot Hummus, and now mashed potatoes, too!
This recipe is 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! It's perfect to serve with an Instant pot pot roast or a Mississippi Pot Roast, too!
Ingredients You'll Need
You only need a handful of ingredients to make the best garlic mashed potatoes!
Roasted garlic. Coat a whole garlic clove with olive oil, and season it with salt and pepper to roast.
Potatoes. You'll need three pounds of potatoes, which is about four large potatoes. Starchy potatoes like Yukon gold potatoes or Russet potatoes are best to use when mashing. New potatoes or red potatoes aren't great to mash as they are too waxy. They are great for potato salads, though!
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. I recommend unsalted butter. 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
Be sure to check out the printable recipe card for full recipe information on ingredients and quantities.
How To Make Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
Step 1
Make the roasted garlic. Cut a head of garlic in half across the garlic cloves. Add olive oil and salt to the cut portion of the garlic. Enclose the head of garlic in parchment paper or aluminum foil, and bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.
Step 2
In the meantime, wash the potatoes, and cut them into chunks. Transfer them to the Instant Pot, and add one tablespoon of salt and 6 cups of water.
Step 3
Cover the Instant Pot, and cook on high for 10 minutes. Allow the pot to naturally release for another 10 minutes. Or, quick release to speed up the process.
Step 4
Carefully open the lid, and drain the potatoes in a colander. Place them back in the Instant Pot with the butter, milk, salt, pepper, and roasted garlic. Use a butter knife or small spoon to scoop out the garlic cloves.
Step 4
Use a potato masher to mash the potatoes to your desired consistency.
Lynn's Tip!
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.
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 your liking, stir in a little more milk.
- No need to peel the potatoes! If you don't like the skins, peel and cut the potatoes, and 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.
Make Ahead Instructions
You can store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. To reheat, place leftover mashed potatoes in a microwave-safe bowl, and microwave on high for two minutes. Feel free to mix in a little more milk or butter to make them fluffy again.
I like to place leftover mashed potatoes in a large baking dish and top them with about six pats of butter. Then, I cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are heated through. Just be sure to give the potatoes a good stir to incorporate the melted butter!
What to Serve with Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
- With turkey! Whether you are making a full turkey, an Instant Pot turkey tenderloin or Instant Pot turkey breast, this is a great side dish to serve alongside turkey.
- As a dinner side dish! Turkey is classic, but you can serve this alongside Bisquick turkey pot pie, Instant Pot chicken drumsticks, or Instant Pot pork tenderloin.
- On your Thanksgiving table! It would go perfectly alongside cornbread stuffing, Instant Pot cranberry sauce, and my favorite sourdough dinner rolls.
Frequently Asked Questions
Use heavy cream, sour cream, or cream cheese for an ultra-rich texture. Also, mashing while the potatoes are still hot helps absorb the dairy better.
Yes! If you don't have an Instant Pot, you can make these mashed potatoes right on the stovetop. 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!
Avoid over-mixing! Use a potato masher or a ricer for fluffy mashed potatoes. Mixing too much (especially with an electric mixer) can make them gluey.
Other Recipes You Should Try
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📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Equipment
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.
Sachi says
These turned out perfect!
Wendy Polisi says
This is my idea of perfection. So ridiculously good.
Kim says
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.
Sherry says
My family has been asking me to switch up my mashed potato recipe. I tried your recipe and they loved it!!
Aimee B. says
These mashed potatoes had me pulling out my Instant Pot! YUM!
laura says
The PERFECT way to make mashed potatoes especially when you're really busy!!
Cindy says
Pure comfort in a dish. I loved making these in the Instant Pot - the texture was perfect!
Jennifer says
I'm always on the hunt for new IP recipes, and this one was terrific! So light and fluffy - we devoured them!
Donna says
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.
Mandy Applegate says
Oh my goodness - delicious and so easy!!