Creamy garlic mashed potatoes can be yours thanks to the Best Garlic Mashed Potatoes Recipe! Roasted garlic is mashed with fluffy potatoes, butter and herb-infused cream to create soft and creamy mashed potatoes. Serve with a batch of Prime Rib Gravy.
This roasted garlic mashed potatoes recipe is the perfect side dish to your holiday roast, or even Smoked Leg of Lamb, Sous Vide Turkey Breast, Smoked Rack of Lamb, Smoked London Broil or Sous Vide Corned Beef.
Serve these with Sous Vide Ribeye, Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin and Sous Vide Asparagus for an indulgent holiday meal.
We have a few more potato recipes for you to check out: Smoked Potatoes, Sous Vide Mashed Potatoes, Air Fryer Baby Potatoes, Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes, Smashed Potatoes and Instant Pot Baked Potatoes.
How To Make Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Making roasted garlic potatoes is easy, but a bit more labor intensive than regular mashed potatoes due to the fact you need to roast the garlic. The garlic can roast while you’re prepping and cooking the potatoes, so it doesn’t add too much extra time. There are basically 4 steps: roasting the garlic, making the herb cream, cooking the potatoes and then mixing it all up to create creamy garlic mashed potatoes.
What’s the Best Potato To Use For Mashed Potatoes?
- Russet Potatoes – creates the fluffiest potatoes. You must remove the skins, however.
- Red Potatoes – creates the creamiest potatoes. Keep the skins on or remove them.
- Yukon Gold – creates the richest potatoes. Keep the skins on or remove them.
Recipe Variations
Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes With Cream Cheese
Prefer cream cheese in your potatoes? Replace 1/4 cup of butter with 1/4 cup of cream cheese. Taste and adjust as needed.
Homemade Garlic Mashed Potatoes With Skin
Like some texture to your taters? Use red potatoes or Yukon gold potatoes and leave the skins on. No other edits are required.
Creamy Mashed Potatoes With Milk
Don’t have heavy cream or prefer to reduce the calories? Swap out the heavy cream with 1.5 cups milk. Or even half and half. Add up to 1/2 extra cup of milk until your preferred consistency is reached.
Easy Garlic Mashed Potatoes Tips:
- Chicken Broth vs. Water – Boil the diced potatoes in chicken broth (like our Instant Pot Bone Broth) to amp up the flavor even more. We use this method when making Ensalada de Coditos as well.
- Potato Ricer – for the smoothest potatoes, run the cooked potatoes through a potato ricer. This will only work with skinned potatoes.
- Potato Masher – prefer Steakhouse Mashed Potatoes, with a little lumps? Forego the ricer and mash by hand with a potato masher.
- Whipped – for light and airy taters, use a hand mixer to whip the cooked potatoes. Don’t over mix as you’ll end up with gluey mashed potatoes. These taters go great with Shake and Bake Chicken.
- Make Them Early – once finished, transfer the garlic mashed potatoes to a slow cooker set on low for up to two hours.
How Many Potatoes Should You Make Per Person?
Calculate half a pound per person. This recipe uses 4 lb. of potatoes, so serves 8 people.
How To Re-heat Leftover Potatoes
- Re-heat Potatoes On The Stovetop – Add 1 tablespoon of butter and 1/2 cup of heavy cream to a medium size saucepan and heat over medium heat. Stir cold leftover potatoes into the warmed butter/cream mixture. If you have a ton of potatoes, you’ll need to gradually add more butter/cream until your preferred texture is reached.
- Re-heat Potatoes In The Microwave – Alternately, you can add the butter, heavy cream and leftover potatoes to a covered baking dish and cook at 300 degrees F until warm. Again, If you have a ton of potatoes, you’ll need to gradually add more butter/cream until your preferred texture is reached.
What To Serve With Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Prime Rib Recipe (Visit our Prime Rib Headquarters!)
Sous Vide Prime Rib
Smoked Prime Rib
Smoked Beef Tenderloin
Smoked Turkey
Smoked Turkey Wings
Beef Wellington
What Wine Goes With Mashed Potatoes
Pinot Noir, Chardonnay (un-oaked), Côtes du Rhône, Barbera, Merlot

Ingredients
Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes Without Herbed Cream:
- 3 Heads Garlic (*Note 1)
- 1.5 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 4 Lbs Red or Russet Potatoes (*Note 2)
- 2 Cups Heavy Cream
- 1 Tbsp Fresh Thyme
- 1 Tbsp Fresh Rosemary
- ¾ Cup Unsalted Butter, Cubed + More For Serving
- Kosher Salt, To Taste
- Black Pepper, To Taste
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F and bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- Roast The Garlic: Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut off the top 1/4 section of each garlic head. Place each head of garlic, cut side up, in their own piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle each head with 2 teaspoons olive oil. Wrap the aluminum foil around the garlic and crimp tightly to seal. Place the aluminum packets in the oven and roast until the garlic is soft and fragrant, approx. 45 minutes to 1 hour. Set aside to cool.
- Cook the Potatoes: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Peel the potatoes and dice each potato into 1" pieces. Once all the potatoes have been diced, put the diced cubes in a large colander and rinse with warm water (this helps remove excess starch). Once rinsed, add them to the pot of boiling water. Return the water to a boil and reduce the heat to medium-high. Cook until potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork (approx. 13 to 15 minutes. Transfer to the same large colander to drain. (*Note 2)
- Prep the Herb Cream: Add the heavy cream, rosemary and thyme to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, approx. 5 minutes. (The mixture will bubble up vigorously, which helps reduce the liquid and concentrate the flavor.) Strain the mixture, discarding the solids, and rinse out the saucepan. Return the infused cream to the saucepan and season with salt and pepper. Cover and set aside. (You should have about 1 1/3 cups.)
- Make the Garlic Potatoes: Transfer the potatoes back to the pot and add the herbed cream and butter. Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves from two garlic heads into the potato mixture and mash until creamy. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Add more roasted garlic for a stronger flavor, if desired.
- Transfer mashed potatoes to a serving bowl, dot with a generous pat of butter and sprinkle with rosemary, thyme and black pepper. Top with garlic chips, and serve immediately.