Instant Pot Red-Skinned Mashed Potatoes

Name: Instant Pot Garlic Red-Skinned Mashed Potatoes
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 5 pounds red potatoes (cut into 2-inch pieces); 2 cups water; 2 teaspoons kosher salt; 4-5 large garlic cloves (minced); 1/4 cup butter; 1 cup milk; Black pepper (to taste); More salt (to taste)

These red-skinned mashed potatoes are cooked until fork-tender in the Instant Pot with loads of fresh garlic, butter and milk. They're the perfect side dish to add to your holiday meal or serve with your favorite protein. Ready in 30 minutes or less!

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A bowl full of mashed potatoes topped with butter.

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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!
Easy 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. Try my savory mashed sweet potatoes next!

🥘Ingredients

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. If you prefer skin off for your mashed potatoes, try yukon gold mashed potatoes instead.
Milk - Any milk will work when making mashed potatoes. For the creamiest results, I recommend using whole milk or heavy cream.
Butter - I've used both salted and unsalted butter for these red skin mashed potatoes. 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.

See the recipe card below for the remaining ingredients and quantities.

Red skin mashed potatoes in a bowl on a cutting board.

📖Substitutions & Variations

Substitute the butter in these red skinned mashed potatoes with 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.
It is important to mash the red-skinned 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. One of my favorite substitutes for milk in mashed potatoes is chicken broth. It adds some delicious additional flavor and saltiness.
Waxy potatoes such as Yukon gold would make a great substitution for red potatoes. They are similar in taste, and texture and both have thin skin that does not require peeling.
For even more garlic flavor, try roasting the garlic ahead of time.

🔪How To Make Red-Skinned Mashed Potatoes

Prep the potatoes. Gently scrub the potatoes to remove any dirt, debris and excess starch. Then, chop the potatoes into 2-inch pieces.

Step 1: Add the redskin potatoes to the Instant Pot with 2 cups of water and Kosher salt. Close the lid, set the valve to seal and pressure cook on high for 12 minutes. Release the pressure immediately. Heat oil or butter in a small pan over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook for about 2 minutes until fragrant.

Cooked potatoes in a pressure cooker with garlic and butter.

Step 2: Drain any remaining water and add the remaining ingredients to the pot with the potatoes and mash with a potato masher. Season garlic mashed potatoes with more salt to taste and enjoy!

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.
Heat a tiny bit of oil or butter in a small pan over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook for about 2 minutes until fragrant.
Drain the water and gently mash the potatoes with the remaining ingredients.

💭Recipe FAQs

How do red potatoes differ from white potatoes?

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.

Should I peel potatoes before cooking them?

It depends. When making red 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.

How do I keep mashed potatoes warm?

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 opt 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.

How do you fix chunky mashed potatoes?

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.

👩🏻‍🍳Chef Tips

There is no need to peel the potatoes but you can if you prefer them skinless. Be sure to scrub the potatoes well before cooking.
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.

🥗Serving Suggestions

These red-skinned mashed potatoes pair well with virtually any protein. You can even serve them over slow cooker Irish stew or chicken marsala. Here are a few of my favorites:

If you're looking for a few additional sides to round out your meal, try serving with:

🥣Storage & Reheating

Store leftover mashed potatoes in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days.
These red skin-mashed potatoes can be frozen for about 3 months. Be sure to cool them completely and store them in a freezer-safe container or plastic bag. Defrost in the fridge before reheating.
Reheat potatoes in the microwave or on the stove for a few minutes until warm. Add additional milk or water as necessary to thin them out and stir occasionally while reheating.