Perfectly fluffy vegan mashed potatoes that are rich, creamy, and buttery! Make a bowl of these quick and easy mashed potatoes topped with vegan butter, brown butter sage sauce, veggie cheese sauce, or vegan gravy for a delicious addition to any meal. I know mashed potatoes are a pretty straightforward dish, but there are a few key steps to make them great.
Jump to:
🧾 Ingredients and Substitutions
- Potatoes - starchy potatoes like russet or Yukon gold work well. If you like to leave the skin on your potatoes, use thin-skinned potatoes such as yellow or red.
- Vegan Butter - you can use any vegan butter that you like or swap it out for refined coconut oil or olive oil. I also love to use vegan brown butter in my mashed potatoes for a rich depth of flavor.
- Garlic - use garlic powder to make it quick and easy. For garlic mashed potatoes use roasted garlic cloves or warm 3 cloves of minced garlic in your butter or oil before adding to the mashed potatoes.
- Plant-Based Milk - use vegan milk that is plain flavored (not vanilla) and not too sweet. Unsweetened soy milk, cashew, or oat milk work best since they are rich and creamy, but unsweetened almond or rice milk will also work.
- Salt and Pepper - for flavor.
🥄 Instructions
- Fill a large pot about 1/3 full of cold water.
- Wash and peel your potatoes, then cut them into cubes about 1 square inch in size.
- Place the potato cubes in the pot of cold water as soon as you cut them. (This prevents the air from getting to the potatoes so they won't oxidize and turn brown. You can leave them in this water for a few hours while you prep any other food and cook them about 30 minutes before you want to eat so they are fresh and warm.)
- Add salt to the cooking water and bring the potatoes to a boil.
- Adjust the heat so that they stay at a rolling boil for about 15-20 minutes until the potatoes break easily when pierced with a fork.
- Pour off the cooking water and immediately add vegan butter, plant milk, garlic to the hot potatoes. (You can do this in a mixing bowl or in the pot you cooked them in.)
- Mash with a hand potato masher until the desired consistency is reached and add salt and pepper to taste. You may need to add another splash of milk to them if they seem dry or you want fluffier potatoes
👩🏻🍳 Pro Tips
- The smaller that you cut the potatoes, the faster they will cook. You can save some work and cut them into larger pieces, but you will need to let them boil for an extra 5 minutes or more.
- Be sure to put plenty of salt in the cooking water. This will cook into your potatoes and give them a better flavor than simply adding salt at the end. (Most of this salt will be poured off with the cooking water so don't get worried about them being too salty.)
- Cover the potatoes with enough water to cover them, but be sure to leave room for the water to rise when it boils. It will form a foam on the top when boiling that can be scooped off with a large spoon if it looks like it may boil over.
- Don't use an electric mixer or over mash the potatoes. When they are over mashed they become sticky and have a glue-like texture.
- This recipe uses 1/2 of a 5 lbs bag of potatoes. It will serve 6 as a side dish, if you are making this for a crowd, you will want to double the recipe.
🧄 To Make Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Melt the vegan butter in a small saucepan over the lowest heat. Peel and mince 3 cloves of fresh garlic and stir into the butter. Let the garlic infuse into the warm butter while keeping the heat at the lowest setting for 5 minutes. Then add the garlic butter to the cooked potatoes in place of plain butter.
Used these mashed potatoes to top a vegan shepherd's pie or serve them with vegan gravy, vegan chicken a la king, vegan brown butter, or keep it simple with some vegan butter and chives.
These fluffy mashed potatoes are a must-have holiday side that goes perfectly with vegan "meats" like turkey, ham, chicken, or steak. Serve these along with other classic sides like summer squash casserole, vegan stuffing, and vegan green bean casserole.
🌟 More vegan side dishes
- Vegan Butternut Squash Risotto
- Balsamic Roasted Veggies
- Cauliflower Stuffing
- The Best Vegan Cornbread
- Vegan Focaccia Bread
- Cornbread Casserole
📌 Be sure to follow me on Pinterest for new vegan recipes!
Light and fluffy, perfectly cooked vegan mashed potatoes.
- 2.5 pounds potatoes (about 5-6 medium potatoes)
- 2 teaspoons salt for the cooking water
- 3/4 cup plant-based milk (plain unsweetened works best)
- 4 tablespoons vegan butter or light olive oil or refined coconut oil
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (seen notes for using fresh garlic)
- 1 dash salt to taste
- 1 dash pepper to taste
-
Fill a large pot about 1/3 full of cold water.
-
Wash and peel your potatoes, then cut them into cubes about 1 square inch in size.
-
Place the potato cubes in the pot of cold water as soon as you cut them. (This prevents the air from getting to the potatoes so they won't oxidize and turn brown. You can leave them in this water for a few hours while you prep any other food and cook them about 30 minutes before you want to eat so they are fresh and warm.)
-
Add salt to the cooking water and bring the potatoes to a boil.
-
Adjust the heat so that they stay at a rolling boil for about 15-20 minutes until the potatoes break easily when pierced with a fork. (Cooking time will depend on the size of your cubes and altitude.)
-
Pour off the cooking water and immediately add 3/4 cup vegan butter, 4 tablespoons plant milk, and 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder to the hot potatoes. (You can do this in a mixing bowl or in the pot you cooked them in.)
-
Mash with a hand potato masher until the desired consistency is reached and add salt and pepper to taste. You may need to add another splash of milk to them if they seem dry or you want fluffier potatoes.
- The smaller that you cut the potatoes, the faster they will cook. You can save some work and cut them into larger pieces, but you will need to let them boil for an extra 5 minutes or more.
- Be sure to put plenty of salt in the cooking water. This will cook into your potatoes and give them a better flavor than simply adding salt at the end. (Most of this salt will be poured off with the cooking water so don't get worried about them being too salty.)
- Cover the potatoes with enough water to cover them, but be sure to leave room for the water to rise when it boils. It will form a foam on the top when boiling that can be scooped off with a large spoon if it looks like it may boil over.
- Don't use an electric mixer or over mash the potatoes. When they are over mashed they become sticky and have a glue-like texture.
- This recipe uses 1/2 of a 5 lbs bag of potatoes. It will serve 6 as a side dish, if you are making this for a crowd, you will want to double the recipe.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Leave a comment and starred review! I would love to hear from you!
These mashed potatoes came out perfect! I made them with your brown gravy and it was delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
You're welcome, Jill! I'm so happy that you liked it! 🙂