Description
Whether it’s for a holiday feast or just a cozy winter meal, vegan mashed potatoes are the comfort food you need! These vegan mashed potatoes are soft and buttery with hints of garlic and salt. Perfect for serving with vegan gravy or vegan butter.
The full post details all the tips and tricks you need to avoid common mashed potato mistakes!
Ingredients
- 3 pounds potatoes (russets or Yukon golds are best)
- 8 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1/3 cup vegan butter
- 2/3 – 3/4 cup non-dairy milk
Instructions
- Peel potatoes and cut into 2-3″ cubes and peel 8 cloves of garlic. Rinse the potatoes under cold water to remove excess starches. Add cubed potatoes and whole garlic to a large pot and cover with cold water. Season the water with salt and bring to a simmer over high heat.
- Low boil the potatoes for 15 minutes, until a fork or butter knife can pierce a piece of potato.
- While potatoes are simmering, heat butter and milk in a small pot to warm the milk and melt the butter. Set aside.
- Strain potatoes and rinse with hot water to remove excess starch. Add potatoes back to the empty pot and heat over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally. This helps dry the potatoes and remove excess water.
- Keep whole garlic cloves in with the potatoes through straining, rinsing, drying, and mashing!
- Turn the heat off and pour the butter/milk mixture into the potatoes and begin to mash. Add the salt and pepper to continue mashing. Taste for seasoning and texture, adding more salt as you mash until smooth and creamy. Be careful not to overwork the potatoes or they can become gluey and sticky.
- Keep covered until ready to serve and enjoy!
Notes
Potatoes love salt. If you find you need to add salt several times during mashing and tasting, don’t be alarmed!
How you cook your potatoes matters! For perfect mashed potatoes you want to cut into 2-3″ cubes, start with cold water, and cook over a simmer. Potatoes cut into smaller sizes take on too much water, leaving less room to absorb milk and butter! Adding potatoes to a pot of already boiling water cooks the outsides quickly but will leave the insides hard. Cooking potatoes over a high rolling boil does the same, cooks the exterior of the potatoes too quickly and they start to break down.
Rinse your potatoes before & after cooking! Ever had a batch of mashed potatoes that was gummy and unpleasant? This is due to the starch in potatoes, just as french fries benefit from being rinsed or soaked- the same goes for mashed potatoes. Rinse potatoes after cutting and after cooking when they’re in the strainer.
Dry Potatoes After Cooking. Yes, cook, strain, rinse, then DRY! Add potato cubes back to the pot and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally for 1-2 minutes. This is another step (and a quick one) to help remove excess water from the potatoes.
Warm Your Milk & Butter: Not only will adding cold milk and butter to your mash significantly cool things down, but the warm potatoes won’t as readily absorb these flavorful components if they are cold. While the potatoes cook, melt the butter and warm the milk in a small pot.
Do Not Over Mix! If you’ve already followed our cooking recommendations, this won’t be an issue as you’ll have perfectly cooked potatoes. The top tip for avoiding the gumminess that can ruin mashed potatoes is not to overwork them. Don’t use a blender or food processor. Mash by hand or use a mixer. Taste and season with salt as you mash.
Keywords: Vegan Mashed Potatoes