This is my absolute favorite mashed potato recipe that I make at least every week or two at home. Garlicky (you can add as much or as little as you’d like), buttery, and creamy- it’s the perfect comfort food to serve alongside a cozy protein like roast beef, meatloaf, turkey & gravy, or roast chicken. With endless potential for pairings, this humble side dish is equally appropriate for a weeknight or a holiday. I promise that if you try it once, you be boiling your potatoes with garlic from here on in!
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Fill a medium to large saucepan with water and liberally season with salt (I use about 2 small handfuls of kosher salt). Add the potato chunks and whole garlic cloves and bring to a rapid boil.
Cook until the potatoes are tender enough to pierce easily with the a fork, then slide right off, about 10 minutes. Drain the potatoes, then mash them (you’ll need to scrape the skins off the masher at the end if you left them on the potatoes and want them in the mixture). Add the crème fraîche and butter and mix well.
To achieve a creamier, whipped consistency, add a little milk at a time, then stir. Add as much as you need to in small increments until the mashed potatoes have reached the desired creaminess. Add pepper to taste, and adjust salt to taste if needed.
Transfer to a serving plate or bowl and top with a pad butter (room temperature is best, because cold butter may not melt fully) and garnish with freshly cracked black pepper (or you could use ground sumac, fresh herbs, fried garlic, fried sage, crispy onions, or even edible flowers, to just name a handful of other garnish options).
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1½ lbs Russet potatoes, scrubbed and cut into uniformly-sized chunks (I like to keep the skins on, but you can peel them if you'd prefer)
- 2-5 cloves Garlic, peeled
- 3 Tbsp Unsalted butter (plus an extra pad of butter for the end)
- 2 Tbsp Crème fraîche (can substitute with equal amount of sour cream or vegan sour cream)
- ¼ cup Kosher salt, or to taste
- Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Fill a medium to large saucepan with water and liberally season with salt (I use about 2 handfuls of kosher salt). Add the potato chunks and whole garlic cloves and bring to a rapid boil.
- Cook until the potatoes are tender enough to pierce easily with the a fork, then slide right off, about 10 minutes. Drain the potatoes, then mash them. Add the crème fraîche and butter and mix well.
- Drain the potatoes, then mash them.
- Add the crème fraîche and butter and mix well.
- To achieve a creamier, whipped consistency, add a little milk at a time, then stir. Add as much as you need to in small increments until the mashed potatoes have reached the desired creaminess. Salt and pepper to taste (taste before adding salt, because it may not need any since the potatoes were seasoned in the water).
- Transfer to a serving plate or bowl and top with a pad butter (room temperature is best, because cold butter may not melt fully) and garnish with freshly cracked black pepper (or you could use ground sumac, fresh herbs, fried garlic, fried sage, crispy onions, or even edible flowers, to just name a handful of other garnish options).