These redskin mashed potatoes are cooked until fork tender in the Instant Pot with loads of fresh garlic, butter and milk. They're the best, comfort food side dish to add to your holiday tables or serve with your favorite protein. Ready in 30 minutes or less!
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Why You'll Love this Recipe
- No watery mashed potatoes! By using the Instant Pot, the redskin potatoes are cooked under pressure using steam instead of boiling. This prevents the potatoes from absorbing excess water and prevents your mashed potatoes from being gummy and watery.
- Perfect potatoes every time. Boiling potatoes on the stovetop requires a bit more attention and checking to see if they are fork tender. By cooking them in the Instant Pot, they cook perfectly every time without the need for standing over the pot. Sit back and enjoy a Holiday Cranberry Bourbon Cocktail or Thanksgiving Margarita while you wait!
- Versatile side dish. These potatoes are decadent enough for holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, but also easy enough for simple weeknight meals too. Enjoy these garlic mashed potatoes year-round.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Red skin potatoes - Red potatoes are naturally soft and creamy, making them great for making mashed potatoes. Red potatoes also have a very thin skin which doesn't require any peeling.
- Milk - Any milk will work when making mashed potatoes. For the creamiest results, I recommend using whole milk or heavy cream.
- Butter - I always recommend cooking and baking with unsalted butter for the most consistent results, but salted butter will work in a pinch. If using salted butter, lower the amount of additional kosher salt added to taste.
- Garlic - Using freshly minced garlic cloves over garlic powder really makes the flavor of these redskin mashed potatoes shine. To make these potatoes even more garlicky, try roasting the garlic ahead of time.
See the recipe card below for the remaining ingredients and quantities.
Variations
- Can I make mashed potatoes without butter? Yes, substitute the butter called for with a quality oil like extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil. These oils will emulate a similar buttery richness and add a bit of fat to the potatoes, making them creamy.
- Is milk necessary for mashed potatoes? It is important to mash the garlic mashed potatoes with some sort of liquid to make them creamy and more flavorful, but if you are out of milk, there are ways to get around that. Try half and half, sour cream, greek yogurt, or cream cheese mixed with half and half.
- Using another potato variety? Yukon gold potatoes would make a great substitution for the red potatoes. They are similar in taste, and texture and both have thin skin that does not require peeling.
Stovetop Method
If you do not have an Instant Pot, you can make these redskin mashed potatoes on the stovetop.
- Add the chopped redskin potatoes to a large pot with water, cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium-high, remove the lid and cook for about 15 minutes or until potatoes are fork-tender.
- Drain the water and gently mash the potatoes with the remaining ingredients.
Instructions
- Prep the potatoes. Gently scrub the potatoes to remove any dirt, debris and excess starch. Then, chop the potatoes into 2-inch pieces.
- Add the redskin potatoes to the Instant Pot. No need to use the trivet. Pour 2 cups of water over the chopped potatoes, then season with salt.
- Cook for 12 minutes. Close the lid, set the valve to seal and pressure cook on high for 12 minutes. Release the pressure immediately by switching the valve from "seal" to "vent".
- Drain the excess water. Carefully drain any remaining water from the pressure cooker to prevent the potatoes from being watery.
- Mash and season. Add the remaining ingredients to the pot with the drained potatoes and mash with a potato masher. Season garlic mashed potatoes with more salt to taste and enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
The biggest difference between red potatoes and white potatoes like russet potatoes is that red potatoes are less starchy and waxier. Red potatoes also have a much thinner skin that is easy to eat and are typically significantly smaller in size compared to white potatoes.
It depends. When making redskin mashed potatoes, there is no need. The potato skin is so soft and thin, it mashes easily into the potatoes and is palatable. On the other hand, thick-skinned Russet or Idaho potatoes should be peeled beforehand for the best textured mashed potatoes.
Another perk of making mashed potatoes in the Instant Pot is you can leave them covered and on the warm setting after cooking to keep them warm during dinner parties or holidays like Thanksgiving. If you opted to cook your mashed potatoes using the stovetop method, you can keep them warm by utilizing your oven's warming drawer or even a slow cooker.
If your mashed potatoes are chunky or difficult to mash, chances are they are undercooked. This can happen if you chopped your potatoes into chunks larger than 2-inches or if you used the stovetop method and drained them before the potatoes were fork tender. To fix this, cook the potatoes over low heat or using the sauté setting on the Instant Pot for a few minutes longer until fork tender. Then, mash with the remaining ingredients per usual.
Serving Suggestions
These redskin mashed potatoes pair well with virtually any protein. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Pan Seared Chicken with Dijon Mustard Sauce
- Prosciutto-Wrapped Stuffed Chicken Breasts
- Cranberry Orange Chicken Thighs
- Easy Italian Sausage and Vegetable Sheet Pan Dinner
- Air Fryer Maple Bourbon Glazed Ham
If you're looking for a few additional sides to round out your meal, try serving with:
- Air Fryer Frozen Brussels Sprouts
- Sheet Pan Maple Bacon Brussels Sprouts
- Roasted Garlic Air Fryer Carrots
- How to Cook Frozen Broccoli
- Air Fryer Frozen Green Beans
Top Tips
- Use hot milk. Adding cold milk to mashed potatoes is a common mistake you want to avoid. Cold milk does not melt into the potatoes as easily, which causes people to over-mash the potatoes in an attempt to combine the ingredients. This results in gluey, sticky mashed potatoes! By using very warm milk, the potatoes and milk will melt together and be easy to mash into fluffy potatoes.
- Be careful not to over-mash. As mentioned above, doing so creates gluey mashed potatoes. For this reason, I'd recommend avoiding using an electric mixer or hand mixer to mash your redskin potatoes. Instead, gently mash using a potato masher or even a fork as needed.
More Easy Potato Recipes You May Enjoy
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🍳Recipe
Instant Pot Garlic Redskin Mashed Potatoes
Equipment
- Cutting board
Ingredients
- 5 pounds red potatoes, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 2 cups water
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 4-5 large garlic cloves, minced
- ¼ cup butter
- 1 cup milk
- Black pepper, to taste
- More salt, to taste
Instructions
- Begin by cutting the potatoes into 2-inch pieces.
- Add the potatoes to the Instant Pot with 2 cups of water and the kosher salt. Close the lid, set the valve to seal and pressure cook on high for 12 minutes. Release the pressure manually.
- Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of butter or oil in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Turn off the heat and set aside.
- Once the pressure has been released, drain the water from the Instant Pot.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the pot with the potatoes and mash with a potato masher. Season with more salt to taste and enjoy! If you want creamier potatoes, feel free to add more butter and/or milk until you reach your desired texture.
Video
Notes
- The garlic can also be added as whole cloves to the pot with the potatoes.
- Use hot milk. Adding cold milk to mashed potatoes is a common mistake you want to avoid. Cold milk does not melt into the potatoes as easily, which causes people to over-mash the potatoes in an attempt to combine the ingredients. This results in gluey, sticky mashed potatoes! By using very warm milk, the potatoes and milk will melt together and be easy to mash into fluffy potatoes.
- Be careful not to over-mash. As mentioned above, doing so creates gluey mashed potatoes. For this reason, I'd recommend avoiding using an electric mixer or hand mixer to mash your redskin potatoes. Instead, gently mash using a potato masher or even a fork as needed.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
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