Easy, buttery, and creamy red skin mashed potatoes with garlic is a quick and rustic side dish that will be a welcomed addition at any table. Just 5 simple ingredients and ready in 20 minutes!
Using red skin potatoes makes the creamiest mashed potatoes, while still looking rustic and beautiful. They're also fantastic roasted, like in my roasted red skin potatoes with chimichurri.
Garlic butter and half & half is added to make extra smooth and fluffy mashed potatoes, while also deepening the flavor. We then add chives at the end for freshness and a pop of color.
These potatoes are rich and buttery, garlicky, and oh-so-satisfying – they'll be the hit at any Thanksgiving table.
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⭐️ Why This Recipe Is The Best
- Creamy, smooth & fluffy texture
- Rich, buttery, and garlicky flavor
- 5 simple whole foods and naturally gluten-free
- Ready in 20 minutes
🥔 Ingredient Notes
- Red potatoes - Naturally creamy and waxy, with a thin skin, making them perfect for mashed potatoes.
- Unsalted butter - Using unsalted butter lets us control the amount of salt here.
- Garlic - I recommend using fresh garlic, but jarred garlic and garlic powder will work as well.
- Fresh chives - Adds freshness and a pop of color.
📝 Variations & Substitutions
- Make vegan: Substitute any plant-based/vegan butter and plant-based/vegan milk or cream like almond milk or soy milk. The mashed potatoes will be just as delicious.
- Add ½ cup of blue cheese to your potatoes for a delicious cheesy variation.
- If you don’t have fresh chives, substitute 1 tablespoon of dried chives.
- Substitute milk or heavy cream for the half & half.
🔪 How To Make Red Skin Mashed Potatoes with Garlic
Cook potatoes: Place cut potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Add large pinch of salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Adjust heat to medium-high and cook potatoes until fork tender, about 10-12 minutes.
Make the garlic butter: While the potatoes are cooking, melt butter in a small frying pan over low heat. Once completely melted, add minced garlic and cook for an additional minute. Remove from heat.
Drain and mash potatoes: After potatoes have finished cooking, drain completely and return potatoes to the pot. Pour in garlic butter and half & half, and mash potatoes until well combined and mashed to your desired consistency.
Season and serve: Add chives, salt, and pepper, and give the potatoes another good stir. Serve while hot.
👩🏼🍳 Expert Tips
- Cut potatoes evenly. When you cut your potatoes, be sure that they are all roughly the same size so they cook evenly.
- Don’t forget to salt your water before boiling the potatoes. It adds flavor and allows for more thorough cooking.
- Start with cold water to cook the potatoes. This ensures even cooking.
- Storage: Transfer leftovers to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- How to reheat: The easiest way to reheat mashed potatoes is to pour a glug of olive oil into a non-stick pan and reheat over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through.
- How to freeze: These mashed potatoes freeze very well. Be sure to portion out the potatoes into smaller freezer bags for easier reheating later.
⏲️ Frequently Asked Questions
The beauty of using red skin potatoes is that they have a thin skin, so you can leave the skin on. It gives the mashed potatoes more flavor and texture, so definitely don’t peel your red potatoes.
Red skinned potatoes are naturally creamy and waxy, so they are a great potato for mashing.
For this amount of potatoes (which serves around 6 people), you should boil them 10-12 minutes. Don’t over boil or your potatoes will turn gummy.
🍽 Related Recipes
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Red Skin Mashed Potatoes with Garlic
Ingredients
- 2 pounds red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1.5-inch pieces
- large pinch of salt
- 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ cup half & half
- ½ cup fresh chives, chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Place cut potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Add large pinch of salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Adjust heat to medium-high and cook potatoes until fork tender, about 10-12 minutes.
- While the potatoes are cooking, melt butter in a small frying pan over low heat. Once completely melted, add minced garlic and cook for an additional minute. Remove from heat.
- After potatoes have finished cooking, drain completely and return potatoes to the pot. Pour in garlic butter and half & half, and mash potatoes until well combined and mashed to your desired consistency.
- Add chives, salt, and pepper, and give the potatoes another good stir. Serve while hot.
Notes
- Cut potatoes evenly. When you cut your potatoes, be sure that they are all roughly the same size so they cook evenly.
- Don’t forget to salt your water before boiling the potatoes. It adds flavor and allows for more thorough cooking.
- Start with cold water to cook the potatoes. This ensures even cooking.
- Storage: Transfer leftovers to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- How to reheat: The easiest way to reheat mashed potatoes is to pour a glug of olive oil into a non-stick pan and reheat over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through.
- How to freeze: These mashed potatoes freeze very well. Be sure to portion out the potatoes into smaller freezer bags for easier reheating later.
Lynn
These mashed potatoes totally hit the spot! I added about 1/2 cup of blue cheese crumbles at the end, and the whole family agreed that I should make this again and soon!
Gastronotherapy
Yay! So glad your family enjoyed this recipe, Lynn! I love adding blue cheese to this every once in a while, too. It makes for an extra decadent side dish!