Smoky Garlic Mashed Potatoes

It’s amazing how you can boil a bag of simple potatoes, mash them in milk and butter, and suddenly, they’re comfort food. And if you take them a step further and load them up with flavor, with pairings like buttermilk and cheese or bacon and herbs, they catapult from a humble side dish to the most popular holiday recipe on the menu.

However, one downside of experimental mashed potato recipes is that the add-ins often change not just the taste but also the texture of the creamy spuds—which is a cardinal sin for mashed potatoes! It’s very important to keep them creamy, but not gummy or lumpy. For example, if you love traditional creamy mashed potatoes, unpeeled tubers, chunky bits of bacon and lightly cooked onions might throw off the mouthfeel for some people.

We kept all this in mind when we developed our smoky garlic mashed potatoes recipe. It folds in roasted garlic and melts in cheese along with plenty of butter, sour cream and heavy cream to keep the potatoes smooth and creamy. The roasted garlic, smoked Gouda and smoked paprika give it all the smokiness of bacon without the lumps. As a bonus, this dish still counts as a vegetarian recipe even though it’s got a smoky flavor.

We call for 5 pounds of potatoes, which is a batch size ideal for sitting shoulder to shoulder around the holiday table. This recipe also creates versatile leftovers, but it can easily be scaled down to serve smaller holiday groups.

Ingredients for Smoky Garlic Mashed Potatoes

• Garlic: Roasted garlic has a caramelized smokiness and soft creaminess that take mashed potatoes to a new level. Roasting garlic also mellows and sweetens its harsh raw bite, so don’t hesitate to add a whole head or bulb to a bag of potatoes.
• Canola oil: A drizzle of oil speeds the caramelization of garlic, especially when the bulb is wrapped in aluminum foil to keep the moisture in. In addition to canola oil, olive and grapeseed oil work well when roasting garlic.
• Potatoes: Yukon Gold potatoes have minimal moisture and loads of starch, so they become fluffy when cooked and mashed. Other types of potatoes that work well for mashers include starchy russet or Idaho potatoes, rather than waxy red or white ones.
• Butter: Two whole sticks of butter take a long time to melt into a mound of potatoes, so cube them first to avoid overbeating the potatoes and making them gummy. Better yet, bring the butter cubes to room temperature (again, small cubes make butter soften more quickly) or heat them until just melted. The closer the butter is to the temperature of the potatoes, the better the flesh absorbs it.
• Sour cream: Sour cream gives these potatoes a tang to offset their smokiness. As with the butter, set the sour cream on the counter when you prepare the garlic, or warm it gently so that the fridge-cold ingredients don’t cool down and gum up the just-boiled potatoes.
• Seasonings: Salt, pepper and minced fresh chives are classic potato seasonings, but our version adds smoked paprika for bonus flavor.
• Heavy whipping cream: The creamiest mashed potatoes are made with heavy whipping cream, but you can scale back the decadence with half-and-half cream or whole milk. Potatoes absorb room-temperature or warm cream better than cold cream. (Notice a theme here with hot potatoes and ingredients stored in the fridge?)
• Cheeses: Two types of shredded cheese give these potatoes their signature flavor. Cheddar increases in nuttiness as you move from mild to extra sharp, and it melts best if you choose a young cheese and grate the cheese yourself. This recipe uses twice as much sweet, rich smoked Gouda for extra-smoky potatoes.

Directions

Step 1: Prepare the garlic

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Remove the papery outer skin from the garlic bulb, but do not peel or separate the cloves. Cut off the top of the garlic bulb, exposing the individual cloves, and brush with oil. Wrap the bulb in heavy-duty foil.

Step 2: Roast the garlic

Bake until the garlic cloves are softened, 30 to 35 minutes. Unwrap the bulb and let it cool for 10 minutes.

Step 3: Boil the potatoes

Place the potato pieces in a 6-quart stockpot, and add water to cover. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook the potatoes, uncovered, until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain the potatoes and transfer them to a large bowl.

Editor’s Tip: One of the secrets to making the best mashed potatoes is to cover them in room-temperature water and then bring the water to a boil. This helps them cook evenly and avoids mushy potatoes riddled with lumps. For better flavor, salt the water so that the potatoes absorb the salt as they cook. They’re ready when easily pierced with a fork.

Step 4: Mash the garlic

Squeeze the garlic cloves into a bowl, and then mash them with a fork until smooth. Add the mashed garlic to the still-hot potatoes.

Step 5: Mash the potatoes

Add the butter, sour cream, smoked paprika, salt and pepper to the potatoes, and beat until blended. Then, beat in the heavy whipping cream.

Editor’s Tip: “Beat” might not be the most accurate word for adding ingredients to hot potatoes, because using an electric mixer or food processor makes it all too easy to overwork potatoes and turn them to glue. Hand tools, like a ricer, potato masher, food mill, pastry blender or even a stiff wire whisk, create the fluffiest mashed potatoes.

Stir in the Gouda and cheddar cheese and the chives. Sprinkle with additional cheese and chives, if desired.

Smoky Garlic Mashed Potato Variations

• Leave the skins on: This recipe peels the potatoes for the smoothest mashers, but Yukon Gold potatoes have a thin-enough skin that you can leave it on. If you substitute russet or other thick-skinned potatoes, peel them so that you don’t end up with sandpaper-y chunks.
• Brown the butter: To intensify the roasted smokiness of these mashed potatoes, brown the butter in a skillet until it darkens and starts to release a nutty aroma. Immediately remove the butter from the pan so it doesn’t burn, and pour it into a heatproof measuring cup or directly into the potatoes for mashing.
• Fold in other ingredients: Add sauteed or caramelized onions, crumbled bacon or smoked chorizo to build up the smokiness. Chopped parsley or rosemary and thinly sliced scallions give the potatoes more fresh herbal notes. Build on the tanginess of sour cream with a splash of lemon juice or vinegar.

How to Store Smoky Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Before you store smoky garlic mashed potatoes, spread them across a wide, shallow pan so that they cool quickly and release excess moisture. Then pack them into a container, seal it tightly and refrigerate them.

How long do smoky garlic mashed potatoes last?

Smoky garlic mashed potatoes will last for three to four days in the refrigerator, but they taste best when freshly made. To speed up the pre-dinner prep, roast the garlic ahead of time and store it in an airtight refrigerated container for up to four days because it keeps well. Peel and chop the potatoes, submerge them in water and store them in the fridge for up to 24 hours. When you’re ready to prep the rest of the dish, drain the chilled potatoes, pour them into the pot and cover them with fresh, room-temperature water to cook.

How should you reheat smoky garlic mashed potatoes?

A microwave excels at reheating smoky garlic mashed potatoes. Stop and stir them every 30 seconds until heated through, adding a splash of cream or a dab of butter if they seem dry. If you reheat mashed potatoes over low heat on the stovetop, a little extra fat helps keep them from sticking to the saucepan.

To use an oven, let the potatoes come to room temperature while you preheat the oven to 350°, and then warm them in a covered dish until heated through, 15 to 20 minutes. If you just need to keep freshly mashed potatoes warm, put them in a slow cooker on the warm setting for up to two hours.

Smoky Garlic Mashed Potato Tips

What can you serve with smoky garlic mashed potatoes?

Serve smoky garlic mashed potatoes with all your favorite meaty mains, whether it’s our contest-winning holiday glazed ham or slow-cooker roast beef and gravy. This smoky version of potatoes pairs well with anything off the grill, such as grilled steak, portobellos served as mushroom steaks or grilled corn in husks. These mashed potatoes have enough flavor and moisture to serve under any dish that doesn’t benefit from a rich gravy, like Cajun shrimp. Even so, they readily soak up stand-alone mushroom sour cream gravy or a gravy made from pan drippings.

What else can you do with leftover mashed potatoes?

As a side dish, potatoes taste best when freshly mashed, but many other recipes use leftover mashed potatoes. Smoky garlic mashed potatoes intensify the flavors in shepherd’s pie and baked casseroles. They make a delicious filling for homemade pierogies and stay creamy and fluffy in twice-baked mashed potatoes. Use them for spinach quiche with potato crust to create a vegetarian quiche layered with smoky flavor. But stick with plain, unflavored mashed potatoes for sweet treats like potato doughnuts and fluffy potato rolls.