If you ask me, Thanksgiving isn’t complete without perfectly creamy mashed potatoes. My mother-in-law actually makes the best mashed potatoes I’ve ever had, so each year I keep stepping up my mashed potato game.
You may have tried my famous Creamy Garlic Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes, or my Lightened Up Brown Butter Mashed Sweet Potatoes, but wait until your first bite of these incredibly luscious brown butter mashed potatoes with roasted garlic and crispy sage. Ingredients? Simple. Flavor? OMG delicious.
I have a few tips and ways to make them your own (are you team chunky or extra smooth?) plus the best way to prep them ahead of time. Drizzle them with extra sage-infused brown butter and get your new favorite mashed potato recipe on your table this holiday season.
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Everything you’ll need to make the creamiest brown butter mashed potatoes
We’re taking your standard homemade mashed potatoes recipe and jazzing them up with a few special ingredients that make them out-of-this-world delicious:
- Potatoes: I like to use Yukon gold potatoes or yellow potatoes because they have that buttery texture.
- Garlic: can’t have mashed potatoes without garlic, and in this recipe, you’ll actually be roasting a whole head of garlic with a little olive oil to blend into the potatoes. It adds SUCH a wonderful depth of savory flavor.
- Butter: the next ingredient that kicks them up a notch? Brown butter, baby! You’ll stir some right into the mashed potatoes and drizzle more on top.
- Sage: I tested this recipe with a few different herbs and in the end, I thought sage gave them the best flavor. You’ll cook down the fresh sage in your brown butter to make it aromatic and crispy!
- Milk & yogurt: the potatoes get their creamy texture from whole milk and some whole milk Greek yogurt.
- Seasonings: we’re keeping it simple with plenty of salt and pepper.
Can I make them dairy-free?
These brown butter mashed potatoes really get their magic from the brown butter, milk, and Greek yogurt. You can feel free to try swapping those ingredients for vegan butter, plain, dairy-free milk, and dairy-free yogurt, but note that the flavor won’t really be the same as vegan butter does not brown. Feel free to swap those ingredients in my Creamy Garlic Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes instead!
Try this extra savory mix-in
This brown butter mashed potato recipe would also be SO delicious with ¾ cup (3 ounces) of shredded white cheddar cheese stirred into the potatoes after step 7.
Creamy brown butter mashed potatoes in 6 simple steps
- Roast the garlic. Cut the top off of your garlic head so that the cloves are exposed. Place the garlic on some foil, drizzle with olive oil, and roast until the cloves are tender. While the garlic is roasting, bring the milk to room temperature.
- Brown the butter. Add the butter and fresh sage to your pan and brown it until it’s fragrant and a nice amber color. The sage leaves will be nice and crispy.
- Cook the potatoes. Place the potatoes in a large pot of cold water and salt. Cover, bring the potatoes to a boil, then uncover the pot and cook until they’re fork tender. Drain them and add them back to the pot.
- Whip with the mix-ins. Squeeze the garlic cloves into your pot with the potatoes, along with the brown butter (reserve some for drizzling), Greek yogurt, milk, salt, and pepper. Mix everything together with a handheld electric mixer or a potato masher, adding additional milk as needed to get your desired consistency.
- Serve them up. Transfer the mashed potatoes to a bowl and top with left over brown butter, crispy sage, and flaky sea salt. Enjoy!
How to brown butter
Brown butter is the key to making these mashed potatoes extra special, and is easier to make than you think! Get all of my tips and tricks for browning butter in this post.
The best way to keep mashed potatoes warm
Skip the constant reheating by simply adding your brown butter mashed potatoes to a slow cooker and turning it to the “warm” setting for up to 3 hours until you’re ready to plate them. Feel free to stir in extra milk as they stay warm to keep their creamy consistency.
Don’t forget these tips for perfect mashed potatoes
- Generously season your mashed potatoes with salt and pepper and then mix again and taste a bite or two before serving. It’s essential to taste as you go!
- Add additional milk to make the potatoes creamier, about 1/4 cup at a time until they reach your preferred consistency.
- If you like chunkier mashed potatoes, simply hold back on blending them with your handheld blender or mashing them too much and leave some more chunks!
Prep them ahead of time
Save time over the holidays by completing a few of the steps 1-2 days before serving:
- Roast your garlic up to 2 days ahead of time and store it in the fridge.
- Cube up your potatoes one day ahead of time and store them in the fridge in a bowl of cold water until you’re ready to cook.
- Or fully cook the mashed potatoes 1-2 days ahead of time and store them in an airtight container in the fridge. Save and reheat some of the brown butter (or make more the next day) so that you can drizzle it on top before serving. You may need to add more milk when you reheat to ensure the potatoes are creamy.
More side dishes you’ll love
- Parmesan Bacon Sourdough Mushroom Stuffing
- The Best Homemade Healthy Green Bean Casserole
- A Simple, But Fabulous Stove-Top Mac and Cheese (with optional herby golden bread crumbs!)
- Spicy Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Parmesan & Chili Crisp
- Lightened Up Healthy Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Oat Streusel
Get all of my side dishes here, and my Thanksgiving recipes here!
I hope you love these brown butter mashed potatoes! If you make them be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked them. Enjoy, xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Roasted Garlic, Brown Butter & Herb Mashed Potatoes (so creamy!)
Ingredients
- For the garlic:
- 1 head garlic
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- For the potatoes:
- 3 pounds yukon gold or yellow potatoes, peeled and quartered
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- For the mix-ins:
- 6 tablespoons salted butter
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage
- ½ cup plain whole-milk Greek yogurt
- 1 ½ to 2 cups whole milk (or use 2%), at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Roast the garlic: Peel and discard the outer papery layers of the whole garlic head. Leave the skins intact of the individual cloves. Using a sharp knife, cut ¼ inch off from the top of the cloves so that the individual cloves of garlic are exposed. Place garlic in a medium piece of foil and drizzle the top of the garlic with olive oil then loosely wrap in the foil and place on a small sheet pan. Roast in the oven for 40 minutes until very fragrant. Allow garlic to cool for 5 to 10 minutes before removing foil. (This can be done up to 2 days ahead of time and roasted garlic can be kept in the fridge.)
- Set out the milk: Bring the milk to room temperature white you cook the potatoes. I typically add mine to a bowl and let it sit near the oven where it is nice and warm.
- Brown the butter: Add the butter and chopped sage to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, whisk constantly; the butter will begin to crackle, then foam. After a few minutes, the butter will begin to turn a golden amber color. As soon as the butter turns brown and gives off a nutty aroma, 5 to 8 minutes total, remove from the heat and keep the butter in the pan. (The sage should be nice and crispy too!)
- Cook the potatoes: While the garlic is roasting in the oven, add the potatoes to a large pot and cover with cold water by at least 1 inch then add 2 teaspoons kosher salt. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, remove the lid and boil until potatoes fork-tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Drain and return to the pot.
- Whip the potatoes: Use your fingers to squeeze the roasted garlic from the skin and add it directly to the pot with the potatoes, then add in 4 tablespoons of the brown butter (reserving about 2 for pouring on top of the potatoes later), the Greek yogurt, 1 cup milk, 1 teaspoon kosher salt and as much freshly ground black pepper as you’d like.
- Use a handheld electric mixer to whip the potatoes on medium speed (or use a potato masher) until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. If you’d like creamier potatoes, add additional milk (¼-½ cup at a time) and whip again for 20 to 30 seconds. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper, if necessary.
- Serve: Transfer mashed potatoes to a serving bowl or dish and drizzle with remaining 2 tablespoons brown butter, crispy sage and a sprinkle of flaky Maldon salt, if desired. Serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
- Roast your garlic up to 2 days ahead of time and store it in the fridge.
- Cube up your potatoes one day ahead of time and store them in the fridge in a bowl of cold water until you’re ready to cook.
- Or fully cook the mashed potatoes 1-2 days ahead of time and store them in an airtight container in the fridge. Save and reheat some of the brown butter (or make more the next day) so that you can drizzle it on top before serving. You may need to add more milk when you reheat to ensure the potatoes are creamy.
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
I made these for (Canadian) thanksgiving and they were a hit! Bringing them to our family Christmas dinner and likely to be the new staple mashed potatoes going forward! I used less milk than was written in the recipe but only because I wanted them to be a bit more firm. Definitely silky smooth though. 🙂
So happy to hear that!
I’ve made these for Thanksgiving two years in a row now and they’ve been a hit both times! So much depth of flavor! Made exactly as written and doubled the recipe.
I’m so glad! The perfect side 🙂