Vegan Mashed Potatoes are rich and creamy and popping with garlic and umami – the perfect hearty side dish. Includes tips on different ways to cook and tweak the recipe based on your cookware and taste.
Intro to Vegan Mashed Potatoes
The holiday feast season is in full swing now and I absolutely needed a solid mashed potato recipe to bring to potlucks and make for my family at Thanksgiving. I put together this recipe as a simple guide to help you make really tasty plant-based mashed potatoes.
I cooked these potatoes a few different ways – steaming on the stove, boiling on the stove, and steaming in the Instant Pot. Do you need to free up stove space for other holiday cooking? Or maybe you don’t have an Instant Pot or steamer? No problem.
And there are a number of ways you can enhance your mashed taters. They should be some combination of creamy and savory, of course. But there are a bunch of different ways you can get there. I’ll help you with that, too.
WARNING: Long post ahead. Feel free to skip around depending on what you need.
Different Ways to Cook Vegan Mashed Potatoes
I’ll show you three ways:
Instant Pot
This one is my favorite. It gets the potatoes perfectly tender without falling apart and losing their starch. It’s also the quickest (by a few minutes, anyway).
To steam the potatoes in the Instant Pot, just pour an inch or two of water into the pot, place the steaming rack into it, and stack the cut-in-half potatoes on the rack (to see what that looks like, check out the photo 1/3 of the way down in this post). Steam them for 7 minutes, let the pressure release naturally, then pour out the steaming water and remove the rack.
At this point, you just need to mash the potatoes together with all the other ingredients (more on that in a moment). You can use the “saute” function on the Instant Pot to heat and thicken the mash.
Steam on the Stove
This one is my second favorite. It’s nearly as quick as the Instant Pot and the results are about as good. You’ll need a pot with a steamer basket.
Set up the pot with the basket and an inch or two of water. Get the water boiling over high heat, then add the potatoes. Steam for 20 minutes, then pour out the water.
You can mash the potatoes in the steaming pot (minus the steamer basket) with all the other ingredients. And then heat that pot over low heat to thicken.
Boil on the Stove
This is the simplest method because it uses the most basic equipment. And it still produces great potatoes.
It’s essentially the same as the stovetop steaming method, except you boil the potatoes in a large pot. Once the water is boiling, gently(!) add the potatoes and wait for it to return to a boil. Boil for 12-15 minutes, until the potatoes are fork-pierceable.
Make Your Vegan Mashed Potatoes Pop
There are a number of different enhancements you can use to get your mashed potatoes as tasty as possible. Since this comes down to personal preference, I’ll walk you through all of them.
Intense Creaminess
This is about mouthfeel and mainly comes from adding creamy liquid and fats. I like to use plant-based butter (margarine) and unsweetened, unflavored plant milk. This helps get a uniform, creamy consistency and buttery sensation on the tongue.
Umami “Cheesiness”
There are a few ways to enhance the savoriness of the potatoes, but keep in mind they should be enhancers and shouldn’t overwhelm the dish.
My favorites for this are vegan cream cheese (both Tofutti and Violife are great), nutritional yeast, and miso. To mix in miso, you should first combine it with a bit of plant milk in a small bowl, so you can distribute it evenly in the potatoes.
I’ve made mashes with truffle salt and truffle oil in the past and they can be pretty tasty. Be especially careful not to overdo the truffle, though.
Punchy Garlic
This adds some depth to the flavor of the potatoes and goes well with other hearty foods. The two main ways to achieve this are with garlic and with green onions or chives.
For garlic, you’ll want to saute it in some oil, then stir the garlic and oil into the potatoes. The higher the temperature you use to cook the garlic, the more it will get toasted and have a very sharp garlic flavor.
Chopped green onion tops or chives add a milder note and can be added at the time of serving.
Shower Them With Gravy
The icing on this savory cake. I developed a plant-based mushroom gravy recipe which I’ll share shortly – check back soon.
If you’re making gravy, you can skip some of the enhancements (nutritional yeast, miso, garlic) if you like, and it’ll still be plenty delish.
Some Notes on the Vegan Mashed Potatoes
If I haven’t already said enough, here are some more tips to help you make the most of your mash:
- For the best results, use russet or Yukon gold potatoes. These two are the starchiest and will have the best texture when mashed.
- Don’t over-mash the potatoes. Mash them just enough to get them to the consistency you like. Mashing too much can make them gluey.
- Scrub or peel the potatoes as you like. I like to leave the skins in for some extra texture, but this means I have to scrub them pretty well with a sponge beforehand. The skins do become easy to remove after cooking, if you want to go that route.
- Cut the potatoes in half (at least) to ensure they get cooked. The smallest dimension of each piece should be less than 2.5 inches (5 centimeters)
- If you’re going to boil the potatoes, use a heavy pot if you have one. This will help ensure even boiling and quicker cooking.
More Warming Plant-Based Comfort Food
- Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup – silky texture and big mushroom flavor
- Vegan Shepherd’s Pie – lentils, mushrooms, and veggies topped with a layer of creamy mashed potatoes
- My Favorite Vegan Chili – smoky, spicy, and satisfying; tastier than meat
- Minestrone Alla Milanese – potatoes, veggies, and beans in a soothing aromatic broth
Some Easy Veggies to Round Out Your Plant-Based Feast
- 3-Ingredient Sauteed Kale – the quickest (and still tasty) way to get greens on the table
- Sauteed Summer Squash – also just 3 ingredients, brings out the squash’s sweetness
- Roasted Oyster Mushrooms – crispy, juicy, and meaty, these shrooms are addictive
- Air Fryer Carrots – seasoned with chili and cumin, roasted until toasty
As always, if you try this recipe out, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @gastroplant on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.
Vegan Mashed Potatoes
Equipment
- Instant Pot (optional)
- Steamer Pot (optional)
Ingredients
- 2 pounds potatoes scrubbed and cut (see notes)
- 1 cup unsweetened unflavored plant milk
- 3 Tablespoons plant-based butter divided
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup plant-based cream cheese such as Tofutti or Violife, optional
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast optional
- 1/4 cup chives minced, optional garnish
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Cook the Potatoes in the Instant Pot
- Fill the Instant Pot with 1-2 inches (2.5-5 centimeters) of water. Place the steaming rack into the Instant Pot. Stack the cut potatoes on top of the rack so that they’re all above the water. Close and seal the lid and cook on manual for 7 minutes. Allow the pressure to release naturally.
- While the potatoes cook, heat 1 Tablespoon of the plant-based butter in a small skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the garlic. Stir until fragrant and tender, 5-6 minutes (see note). Turn off the heat and set the garlic butter mixture aside.
- When the pressure has fully released, remove the potatoes from the Instant Pot. Pour out the remaining water and remove the steaming rack. Return the potatoes to the pot. Add the rest of the ingredients, including the garlic butter mixture but excluding the chives, if using.
- Set the Instant Pot to “Saute”. Mash and combine everything together. Continue to mash slowly as the mixture heats up and the potatoes reach the desired consistency. It took about 6 minutes for the potatoes to thicken to the way I like them.
Steam the Potatoes on the Stove
- Prepare a steamer pot large enough to hold the potatoes with 1-2 inches of water. Heat over high heat. When the water begins to boil, add the potatoes to the steamer basket. Cover the pot and steam until tender, about 20 minutes.
- While the potatoes cook, heat 1 Tablespoon of the plant-based butter in a small skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the garlic. Stir until fragrant and tender, 5-6 minutes (see note). Turn off the heat and set the garlic butter mixture aside.
- When the potatoes are cooked, drain the water from the pot and remove the steamer basket. Combine the potatoes and other ingredients, including the butter garlic mixture but excluding the chives, in the pot.
- Turn to medium-low heat. Mash and combine everything together. Continue to mash slowly as the mixture heats up and the potatoes reach the desired consistency. It took about 6 minutes for the potatoes to thicken to the way I like them.
Boil the Potatoes on the Stove
- Prepare a large, heavy pot of water, about 2/3 full, adding about 1/2 Tablespoon of salt to the water. Bring the water to a boil over high heat. Add the potatoes very carefully to avoid splashing hot water out of the pot. Boil the potatoes until they can be easily pierced with a fork, 12-15 minutes.
- While the potatoes cook, heat 1 Tablespoon of the plant-based butter in a small skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the garlic. Stir until fragrant and tender, 5-6 minutes (see note). Turn off the heat and set the garlic butter mixture aside.
- When the potatoes are cooked, drain the water from the pot. Combine the potatoes and other ingredients, including the butter garlic mixture but excluding the chives, in the pot.
- Turn to medium-low heat. Mash and combine everything together. Continue to mash slowly as the mixture heats up and the potatoes reach the desired consistency. It took about 6 minutes for the potatoes to thicken to the way I like them.
I loved your directions for the 3 different ways to cook potatoes. The recipe sounds delicious and I can not wait to try it. I will even give them a trial run before Thanksgiving and look forward to seeing more recipes for the Holidays.
Thank you so much!