Perfectly creamy, buttery, and easy Garlic Mashed Red Potatoes with roasted garlic, thyme, sour cream, and milk. Makes an easy and comforting side dish for your regular weeknight or holiday meat dish!
salt and freshly ground black pepper or white pepper to taste
¾ – 1cup (180-250 mL) warm milk, or add more
chopped parsley for garnishing
Instructions
Roasted Garlic
Preheat your oven to 400° F
Cut the top ¼” to ½” off of a whole head of garlic, so that each individual clove should be visible. Make sure every garlic clove is exposed.
Place the head of garlic on foil paper together with the thyme. Drizzle the top of the garlic with a bit of oil, about 1 teaspoon. Wrap it up and place it in the oven to roast for about 30 minutes or more. It should be soft, fragrant, and golden. Let the garlic cool, then squeeze individual cloves out of the skin.
Mashed Potatoes
Scrub potatoes, clean, and remove any spoiled spots, such as bruising and discoloration. Cut into big even-sized chunks.
Wash the potatoes and rinse until water runs clear. Place the potatoes in a large pot with about 1-2 teaspoons of salt and enough water to cover the potatoes.
Bring to a boil. Cook until potatoes are fork-tender. Be sure to drain the potatoes after cooking. Then gently reheat the drained potatoes on the stovetop to remove moisture from the potatoes.
Transfer potatoes into a large bowl. Then, add the soft butter, sour cream, garlic, and black pepper. Start mixing while adding warm milk as you go until the mashed potatoes are soft and fluffy. You may add more milk if desired.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Notes
Be gentle with your potatoes. Mashing them vigorously for too long will release its starch which leads to unfluffy and un-creamy results.
Make sure to drain them well after boiling to avoid watery and mushy mashed potatoes.
Reheat the potatoes on the stovetop to remove moisture from the potatoes.
Never skip roasting the garlic since it brings out the garlic flavor when added to the mashed potatoes.
If you use salted butter, you have to cut back a pinch of salt during the mashing step.
If available, use a potato ricer. It creates the right texture by breaking the potatoes into mall, flaky tiny, pieces which makes it light and fluffy. You do not want gluey mash potatoes.
You can also mash them up using a wire whip on a stand mixer. Remember to be gentle with your potatoes.
Please keep in mind that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.