Healthy Mashed Potatoes? It’s a thing. These olive oil mashed potatoes are rich, creamy and buttery without butter or cream! Make them even dreamier by adding a head of roasted garlic for the most flavorful vegan and non dairy mashed potatoes you’ve ever tasted.
Jump to:
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Right?
Well, maybe.
I say maybe because I’d argue there isn’t a “broke” version of mashed potatoes.
Drenched in butter and heavy cream? Good mashed potatoes. Whipped with goat cheese and sprinkled with chives? Good mashed potatoes. Made with russets, or baby red new potatoes, or yukon golds? GOOD MASHED POTATOES.
You see where I’m going with this, yes? Mashed. Potatoes. Are. Yummy. I advocate for eating them in all forms, from traditional to twisted, so let’s add another version to your rotation with this healthy mashed potatoes recipe.
At face value, mashed potatoes with olive oil instead of butter are simple and delicious – rich and buttery with a slight kick. The addition of roasted garlic adds both creaminess and sweetness that rivals traditional mashed potatoes without butter or milk.
For a condensed post, click to view the web story for these healthy vegan mashed potatoes without butter!
Watch: Healthy Mashed Potatoes Recipe Video
How to Make Roasted Garlic
- Slice off the top of a head of garlic (or two!) with a sharp knife
- Drizzle with a teaspoon of olive oil and rub it into the cloves, then wrap in foil.
- Place into a 400°F oven and roast until garlic is deep golden brown, soft, and very fragrant ~35-45 minutes, depending on the size of the cloves. Remove from the oven using tongs (peel back the foil to check on the garlic). Once ready, open the foil and allow the garlic to cool until safe to handle.
- The cloves should easily pull away from the head of garlic. Gently squeeze each end to release the clove from its papery shell.
- Add into your recipe, or store in an airtight container for later use.
Slice off top, drizzle with olive oil, and wrap in foil. Roast in a 400°F oven for 35-45 minutes, until deep golden brown.
How to Make Healthy Mashed Potatoes
Using olive oil in mashed potatoes is perfect for creating non dairy vegan mashed potatoes without butter, but keep the taste incredibly rich and buttery. A hit of roasted garlic keeps these Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes sweet and creamy without cream or milk. Use mellow, buttery Yukon golds to make these heart healthy mashed potatoes as flavorful as possible.
Rinse, drain, then transfer to a large pot. Simmer until soft and mashable. Drain, then return to hot pot to evaporate water. Add extra virgin olive oil and roasted garlic. Mash. Garnish with more olive oil and chopped herbs.
- Dice the potatoes into one-inch cubes, rinse well, then transfer to a large pot or dutch oven.
- Add enough cold water to cover the potatoes by two inches, then season the water with one tablespoon kosher salt. Bring the water to boil over high heat, then reduce to maintain a simmer. Cook until the potatoes are soft and mash easily, about 10 minutes.
- Drain the potatoes, then return to the hot pot. Toss the evaporate any clinging water droplets.
- Add the roasted garlic and extra virgin olive oil.
- Mash the potatoes using your preferred tool (see below).
- Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with more olive oil and chopped fresh parsley. Serve.
Tips for the Best Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes
- RINSE. Give the potatoes a good rinse before cooking. It sounds strange, but there’s a good reason! Rinsing or briefly soaking the potatoes before cooking will remove starch. Less starch creates fluffier potatoes.
- COLD WATER. Always start potatoes in cold water to ensure even cooking. If you drop potatoes into boiling water, the outsides will cook more quickly than the insides. Starting the potatoes in cold water means they will heat with the water, and therefore cook evenly.
- SALT. Season the water with plenty of kosher salt. This will infuse the potatoes with flavor from the inside out. Potatoes need a good amount of salt to taste delicious, so use at least 1 tbsp of kosher salt. The water should taste like the sea.
- COOK TIME. Be sure to cook the potatoes all the way through. They should be just starting to fall apart and very easy to mash.
- REMOVE MOISTURE. Dry the cooked and drained potatoes in the hot pot to evaporated any residual water droplets.
- MASH. Use the right tool! A ricer or food mill, handheld potato masher, or hand-mixer set to LOW will each activate the residual starches the least, yielding the fluffiest garlic and olive oil mashed potatoes.
The Best Olive Oil
The type of olive oil is important for this healthy mashed potatoes recipe since it’s a significant part of the flavor base. Good quality extra virgin olive is extremely flavorful with a spicy, pungent kick.
My favorite commercially available brand is California Ranch Extra Virgin Olive Oil. It’s relatively inexpensive (key word being “relative!”), goes on sale frequently, and available at nearly every store I shop at.
Tips for Enhancing Mashed Potatoes without Dairy
- Use at least one full head of garlic, and up to two.
- Use the right potatoes – yukon gold potatoes have a naturally sweet and buttery profile, so they’re perfect for these Whole30 mashed potatoes.
- Keep those skins! The skins on yukon gold potatoes are so flavorful. We keep ’em for an extra flavor boost.
- Season well with salt while cooking, and then a bit of extra sea salt just before serving.
- Drizzle paleo mashed potatoes with even more olive oil just before serving.
- Herbs add both flavor and color. A bit of parsley or thyme is the perfect earthy touch.
- Nut milk adds creaminess to olive oil mashed potatoes while keeping the recipe vegan.
- Cut carbs by replacing half the potatoes with a medium to large head of cauliflower. Follow these instructions for steaming and add to potatoes before mashing.
More Healthy Holiday Side Dishes
- Roasted Acorn Squash with Maple Browned Butter
- Maple Roasted Root Vegetables
- Honey Roasted Carrots
- Green Beans Almondine
- Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes
- Maple Cinnamon Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Kale and Brussels Sprouts Salad
Did you make these Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes with Roasted Garlic? I’d love to know how they turned out! Leave a comment and a rating below.
While you’re at it, let’s be friends – follow me on Pinterest and Instagram for the latest and greatest.
Recipe
Health Mashed Potatoes Recipe (Vegan)
Print Recipe Rate this Recipe Pin RecipeRecommended Equipment
- Large Stockpot
Ingredients
- 1-2 heads garlic
- 1-2 tsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp sea or kosher salt
- 3 lb yukon gold potatoes, diced into 1” cubes
- ¼ c extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- chopped parsley, to taste
- ground pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 400°F.
- Using a sharp knife, trim ¼" – ½" off the top of the head of garlic to expose the cloves. Place the garlic onto a large piece of aluminum foil, then drizzle with a teaspoon of olive oil. Wrap the garlic in the foil and transfer to the oven. Roast 35-45 minutes (depending on the size of the cloves) until the garlic is golden brown, soft, and very fragrant.
- Remove from the oven using tongs, then rest 5 minutes. Open the foil and allow the garlic to cool at room temperature until you can handle it. Once cool, gently squeeze each narrow end to release the clove from it's papery shell.
- Dice the potatoes into 1" cubes, rinse throughly under cool running water (or soak for 10-15 minutes), then transfer into a large stockpot. Add enough cold water to cover the potatoes by 2", then add a tablespoon of salt.
- Heat over high to bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a brisk simmer (medium to medium-high) and simmer until potatoes are cooked through and soft, 10-12 minutes – they're ready when you can easily mash the flesh with the tines of a fork.
- Drain potatoes the potatoes, then return them back to the hot pot. Gently toss to evaporate any water clinging to the potatoes.
- Add the roasted garlic and olive oil to the pot. Use a hand-mixer, ricer, or potato masher to mash until the garlic cloves have been worked in, the potatoes are soft and fluffy, and the skins are mashed. If using a hand mixer, keep to the lowest setting to reduce starch activation.
- Transfer the olive oil mashed potatoes to a serving bowl. Drizzle with extra olive oil and garnish with parsley and additional salt if desired. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Roast the garlic until deeply golden brown, soft, and very fragrant for the sweetest, richest roasted garlic possible.
- The roasted garlic can be prepared up to a week in advance. Place the roasted garlic cloves into a small jar, cover with olive oil, then seal and place in the fridge. Strain the cloves from the oil before adding to the potatoes.
- Use the right extra virgin olive oil – a good quality brand like California Olive Ranch.
- Use the right potatoes – yukon gold potatoes have a naturally sweet and buttery profile, so they’re perfect for these vegan mashed potatoes.
- Be liberal with seasoning – potatoes need a lot of salt!
Amel snv
Nice post
QDSantos
Thanks so much for this recipe! My son is allergic to dairy and eggs. This was a great alternative that everyone, including my son, could enjoy. Remember to be generous with salt. It makes a difference!
Jenn
Can these be made a day in advance?