Instant Pot Garlic Mashed Potatoes
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If you have 30 minutes, that’s all it takes to make these creamy, fluffy, mouth-watering delicious Instant Pot Garlic Mashed Potatoes!
Oh hello holiday food! Good to see you again.
I love that this recipe is low-fuss and pretty hands off. Plus, using the Instant Pot clears up more space on the stove for your to make other delicious holiday favorites.
These instant pot mashed potatoes are the perfect comfort food side to any main dish.
Made with no fancy ingredients – just simple, common ingredients that are most likely in your pantry already.
They’re packed with flavor, texture, nutrients and are gluten free. Potatoes are loaded with nutrients: potassium, fiber, and vitamins B6 and C, as well as a serving of carbohydrates.
The holidays are going to get a bit easier thanks to this recipe because it:
- Is a 30 minute side dish
- Is made in 1 (instant) pot
- Is low maintenance
- Requires no boiling
- Requires very little mashing of the potatoes and voila! You have dreamy smooth, fluffy, and perfect mashed potatoes.
Some other side dishes great for the holidays are my Roasted Vegetable Medley, Wild Rice Pilaf, and Cornbread and Sausage Stuffing.
Ingredients needed
(For the full recipe, scroll down to the recipe card below)
- Potatoes: We use Russet potatoes for this recipe. (Yukon and red are great options as well. However I have not tested this recipe using those varieties)
- Garlic: You can use a fresh bulb of garlic and mince or crush yourself, or use jarred garlic. Also, feel free to use more or less garlic according to your liking. Live your truth!
- Water: Water is a necessity so the potatoes can cook properly in the pressure cooker.
- Salt: We’re using half of the salt (1 tsp.) when placing the potatoes and water in the pot, and the other half when we add in the other seasonings. Salt enhances the taste of the potatoes and helps bring out the natural flavors in the other ingredients.
- Butter: Butter helps us get that creamy texture we want in our mashed potatoes!
- Parmesan cheese: Because cheese + potatoes = ♡
- Sour cream: Contributes towards the creamy texture.
- Whole milk: Let the milk come to room temperature before adding it in, or gently heat. Warm milk (and dairy) is absorbed much easier by hot potatoes and it makes mashing and blending them in a breeze.
- Seasonings: Garlic powder & pepper
- Chives/herbs: We like adding in chives, but feel free to add in any herbs you prefer.
Step by Step Directions
(For the full recipe, scroll down to the recipe card below)
- Place the peeled, sliced potatoes in the bottom of the Instant Pot. Add fresh garlic, salt and cover with water.
- Cook on HIGH pressure for 15 minutes.
- Reserve ½ cup of the water and then drain the potatoes. Return them back to the pot.
- Add in the butter and stir. Then mix in the sour cream, parmesan cheese, milk, some of the reserved water, garlic powder, pepper, and the rest of the salt.
- Mash the potatoes in the pot using a potato masher and garnish with chopped chives, herbs, more butter and other toppings/add-ins your heart desires.
A Note About Butter
No need to melt the butter before adding into the hot potatoes. Hot or melted butter can cause the milk solids and fat to separate. Add in cold butter so it will distribute the fat and milk solids evenly.
Mashed Potato Toppings and Add-ins:
These are great ideas for other toppings and add-ins that can elevate your Instant Pot garlic mashed potatoes
- Add-ins such as cheddar, parmesan and ranch can add a lot of great flavor.
- Fresh herbs like thyme, rosemary and sage go well with potatoes.
- Make it into a meal and top your mashed potatoes with cooked chicken, broccoli or crumbled bacon
More Holiday Side Dishes
Looking for more inspiration for holiday side dishes? Then look no further than my Holiday Sides Series! You’ll find favorites like this Homemade Green Bean Casserole (pictured) and a delicious Sweet Potato Casserole!
Tips and tricks
- We use Russet potatoes. “They say” Yukon Gold potatoes are the best for mashing. It comes down to preference! You can also use a 50/50 mix of two types!
- No need take time cubing up the potatoes. Slice into rounds and add to the Instant Pot.
- To truly have a creamy taste and texture, be sure your potatoes are hot when mashing the potatoes.
- Add the fat first (butter), before adding any liquid. This helps to ensure the texture of the potatoes remains firm before being softened by the milk and remaining ingredients.
- You can use cream cheese, heavy cream or half and half instead of sour cream.
- Let the sour cream and milk sit out on the counter while the potatoes cook in the Instant Pot. Room temperature dairy is absorbed much easier by hot potatoes and it makes mashing and blending them in a breeze.
- I like to cook the garlic with the potatoes so it infuses them with garlic flavor. If you prefer to mash them in after cooking, you can do that too!
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Instant Pot Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3 lb. Russet potatoes, peeled and sliced (about 8-9 small potatoes or 5-6 medium potatoes)*
- 2 tsp. crushed garlic (about 4 cloves)
- 2 tsp. salt, divided
- 6 cups water (enough to cover potatoes)
- 8 Tbsp. butter, unsalted (1 stick or 1/2 cup)
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated, fresh
- 1/2 cup reserved starchy water from potatoes*
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 1 Tbsp. chives/herbs of choice (fresh preferred)
Last step! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- Peel and slice the potatoes into rounds and place in the Instant Pot.3 lb. Russet potatoes, peeled and sliced (about 8-9 small potatoes or 5-6 medium potatoes)*
- Add in the garlic and salt. Cover potatoes with ~6 cups of water or enough for the potatoes to be completely covered.2 tsp. crushed garlic (about 4 cloves), 2 tsp. salt, divided, 6 cups water (enough to cover potatoes)
- Secure the lid, set the valve to seal and cook on manual HIGH pressure for 15 minutes. (Note: Instant pot will take a few minutes to reach pressure, then time will begin to count down).
- When the timer goes off, quick release the pressure using a dish towel or pot holder.
- Reserve 1/2 cup of the starchy water (see notes). Drain the potatoes and then return back to the pot.
- Add in the butter and stir. Then add in remaining ingredients: remaining salt, 1/4 cup of reserved starchy water, Parmesan cheese, milk, sour cream, garlic powder and pepper. Mash until smooth.(Do not over work the potatoes, see notes).8 Tbsp. butter, unsalted (1 stick or 1/2 cup), 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated, fresh, 1/2 cup reserved starchy water from potatoes*, 1/4 cup whole milk, 1/4 cup sour cream, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, 1/2 tsp. pepper
- Serve with chives and more butter on top if desired.1 Tbsp. chives/herbs of choice (fresh preferred)
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is automatically calculated. It should only be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary and Kroll’s Korner can’t make any guarantees to the accuracy of this information.
This is the best picture I could get because they were all gone before I realized it! These were perfect for Thanksgiving.
We used margarine, lactaid sour cream, and lactaid whole milk because we had some dairy free and Lactose free dietary requirements, so next time I will definitely try the parmesean!
We decided to take the plunge and made these for the first time today, on Thanksgiving. Everybody LOVED them! One person loved how creamy they were. Another thought they tasted like they were from a restaurant. They had just the right amount of garlic flavor. The pepper is quite visible, but also not overpowering. It was a super simple recipe, and mostly hands off. Possibly my favorite part though, was that it was made just in the Instant Pot, which freed up room on the stove (HUGE benefit today!). Thank you! This will now be our standard mashed potato recipe going forward.
So good! I love the garlic and the Parmesan together!
One pot side dish is always a yess!
I’ve never thought to try mashed potatoes in the Instant Pot before but I LOVE this idea! I’ll be making these soon – looks so easy!!
My kiddos and I made this together! We have been spending a lot more time in the kitchen lately and its so fun. They really enjoyed making this recipe but they enjoyed eating it even more! Thanks for this delish creation, we are adding it to our “make again” list!!
I was surprised by the parmesan cheese but I loved it. My mom has always used sour cream and cream cheese. Makes super creamy mashed potatoes.
This was the perfect instant pot recipe! Can’t wait to make again for thanksgiving!