Instant Pot Garlic Mashed Potatoes (No Drain)

Why Make Mashed Potatoes in the Instant Pot?

Ever since we bought an Instant Pot, we haven’t made mashed potatoes any other way.

Why?

NO DRAINING NEEDED!

It’s an annoying extra step in stovetop mashed potato recipes where you need to drain the potato water before mashing. With an Instant Pot, you use pressure instead of boiling water to cook the potatoes. The small amount of water left in the Instant Pot can be mashed right into the potatoes to give them a fluffier texture.

So no more fumbling around with a pot full of boiling hot water, no more supervising the stove, and no more colanders to wash.

One less thing to clean is always a good thing, in our book.

Ingredients + Substitutions

A few important notes on some of the ingredients used in this Instant Pot Garlic Mashed Potatoes recipe:

Potatoes: We’ve tested these mashed potatoes with russets, reds, and yellow potatoes. Russet potatoes and Yukon Gold potatoes are the best for mashing. They tend to absorb more moisture leading to a fluffy texture.

This Cook’s Illustrated article used blue dye to illustrate the differences between common potato varieties—fascinating and worth a read if you have five minutes!

Note: For a 6-qt or 8-qt Instant Pot, the smallest batch you can make is two pounds of potatoes. Otherwise your potatoes will end up too watery and you will have to drain off some of the excess water before mashing.

Garlic: Use a whole head of garlic (that’s 10-12 peeled cloves) for every two pounds of potatoes. No need to chop them, just peel and throw ’em into the Instant Pot. You can also use Roasted Garlic.

Chicken Stock or Water: You will need exactly 1 cup of liquid for your 6-qt or 8-qt Instant Pot to pressurize. Our trick for making irresistibly savoury mashed potatoes is to use chicken stock instead of water. Most Instant Pot mashed potatoes recipes call for water, but I promise, cooking the potatoes in chicken stock is a gamechanger. (You can use vegetable stock or beef stock too.)

Salt and Pepper: One common mistake that leads to bland-tasting mashed potatoes is lack of salt. The amount of salt and pepper we put in the recipe card is just a baseline. You might want to add more.

Butter: The rule of thumb is always add more butter than you think you need. I’ve worked in a restaurant and trust me, the amount of butter that restaurants put into their mashed potatoes is more than you can imagine. But that’s one reason they taste so good.

Cream: The secret to creamy mashed potatoes. We like to use half-and-half or light cream, which is around 10–20% milkfat. (Also known as coffee cream, but make sure it’s not coffee creamer.) You can also use milk for a healthier and lighter taste, or heavy cream for a thicker and rich mouthfeel.

Herbs: You won’t believe the magic that a single scallion or a handful of chives will do. A hint of fresh flavour is just what you need to round out garlic herb mashed potatoes.

Variations

• Garlic parmesan mashed potatoes: Stir some freshly grated parmesan cheese into the mashed potatoes for a creamy, cheesy flavour.
• Make it vegan: Use vegan butter or margarine instead of butter. Replace the cream with Soy Milk, or sub a vegan cooking cream like Valsoia. (We don’t recommend using coconut milk, as it gives an overly coconut-y taste to the potatoes.)
• Add bouillon: Throw in a tablespoon of concentrated bouillon (such as Better Than Bouillon Paste or Lee Kum Kee Bouillon Powder) for an extra dose of salty savoury goodness. This takes garlic mashed potatoes from good to FREAKING AMAZING.
• Brown butter mashed potatoes: Swap out half of the butter for browned butter. That’s right y’all, brown butter is good for so much more than baked treats. The nutty, caramelized flavour works great with mashed potatoes!

Directions

Step 1. Peel the potatoes and garlic. Add them to an Instant Pot along with chicken stock and salt.

Step 2. Put on the lid and make sure the steam release valve is in the sealing position.

Step 3. Pressure cook for 10 minutes. Let the pressure naturally release 5 minutes, then release remaining pressure.

Step 4. No need to drain the water. Add the butter directly to the Instant Pot and mash it into the potatoes and garlic.

Step 5. Pour in the cream and continue to mash until it reaches your preferred consistency.

Step 6. Mix in black pepper and fresh chopped herbs (we like scallions or chives), and serve.

Hint: If your potatoes or small or medium-sized, there is no need to chop them. If they are larger (weighs more than 6 ounces), then cut them in half before adding them to the Instant Pot.

Equipment

This creamy garlic mashed potatoes recipe works in any 6-qt or 8-qt pressure cooker.

I have tested this recipe in a 6-qt Instant Pot Duo, 6.5-qt Ninja Foodi, and 8-qt Instant Pot Pro.

Storage

Fridge: Refrigerate garlic mashed potatoes for up to four days.

Freezer: Freeze cooked mashed potatoes for up to three weeks. Any longer, and they tend to lose their flavour. For quicker thawing, you can freeze them in thick patties on a baking sheet, then pack them into freezer bags once frozen. Then you can just take out one patty at a time as needed instead of defrosting the whole thing. More methods for freezing mashed potatoes can be found here.

Reheating: Single portions are best reheated in the microwave. For larger portions, put the mashed potatoes in a covered casserole and put in an oven at 350°F, stirring occasionally until heated through.

More Easy Sides

Looking for other side dish recipes like this? Try these: