Creamy Garlic Red Skin Mashed Potatoes are a classic holiday side dish and a staple for great family meals! The smooth, rich potatoes still have a few lumps to enjoy all of the wonderful textures of your red potatoes.
If you're feeling the need for delicious mashed potatoes, then these Garlic Red Skin Mashed Potatoes are your next obsession!
They're easy to make, and they have a silky smooth texture from the red potatoes and cream cheese. Just a few lumps left in the mix from being mashed vs whipped with a hand mixer. Yum!
Why use red skin potatoes? Because the flavor and texture is different than the starchy potatoes like Russet and Yukon Gold. When you want fluffy mashed potatoes, use Russets. Yukon Golds, to me, are almost a cross between the Russet and Reds for texture and they are also in between as far as starch content.
🥘 Ingredients
- Red Potatoes - Any waxy potato will do, varieties like French fingerling, New Potatoes, Red Bliss, Red Adirondack, and Russian Banana.
- Water - Or for extra flavor use chicken or beef stock.
- Roasted Garlic - See my recipe for roasted garlic, so easy to do and adds a ton of flavor.
- Butter - Unsalted or salted, if you use salted butter, adjust the added salt to taste.
- Cream Cheese - This adds a cheesy creamy flavor and texture.
- Heavy Cream - Whole milk can be substituted.
- Salt & Pepper - Adjust to taste. Cracked pepper and Sea Salt are perfect for this mash.
(Optional) Stir Ins
Try some herbs - Parsley, chives, or green onions are great herbs to stir into your mashed potatoes.
Cheeses - like Swiss, Gruyère, smoked cheddar, or Parmesan can be stirred in with the butter and cream cheese for more robust cheese flavors.
💭 Tips & Recipe Notes
For added flavor - Use broth or stock to match your protein, use beef broth for beef main dishes and chicken stock for chicken dinners. When the cut red potatoes are boiled in the stock, it enhances the flavor and adds that 'steakhouse restaurant' quality.
Mashed vs Whipped - Mashing the potatoes allows them to retain some texture. This is especially useful with red potatoes as they have less starch than Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes. Whipping your red potatoes can make them 'gluey' in texture.
Roasted Garlic - I prefer to use roasted garlic as it has a milder yet still rich flavor. I know I'm not the only one that doesn't like to bite into chunks of partially cooked garlic! See my roasted garlic for instructions if you have never made your own. Once done, the roasted garlic is simply squeezed out of the clove directly into your mashed red skin potatoes. If you want to skip the step of using roasted garlic, you can also add a few raw minced cloves to the water or stock when boiling the potatoes.
🔪 Step-by-Step Instructions
- Wash and cut the red potatoes, leaving the skin on, into relatively the same size chunks approximately 1 to 1 ½ inch in size.
- Place cut potatoes into a large stock pot of salted water (enough water to cover the potatoes, you can also use chicken broth to add more flavor to the mashed potatoes) and bring to a low rolling boil over medium high to high heat.
- Cook at a low rolling boil until fork tender, about 10 minutes. Drain the potatoes and return to the pot or a large mixing bowl.
- Mash the cooked potatoes, then add mashed roasted garlic, butter, cream cheese, and salt and pepper. Stir to mix, until the butter and cream cheese are melted.
- Add the heavy cream or milk (start with less if desired and add more until you have reached your desired creamy texture) and stir until mixed in completely. Serve warm.
❓ FAQ
Yes, you can. However, the skin to flesh ratio may be off and change how well the resulting mash will be. The standard red potatoes work best to yield a nice creamy white mash with gorgeous red skins highlighted throughout.
Yes for sure, this is a key step to add flavor or you will end up with boring plain potatoes.
📋 Recipe
Garlic Red Skin Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 ½ lbs red potatoes
- 4 c water (or use chicken stock, 1 32 oz container)
- 4 cloves roasted garlic
- ¼ c butter (salted - ½ a stick)
- 4 oz cream cheese (½ an 8 oz package)
- ½ c heavy cream
- salt & pepper (to taste, freshly ground pepper is recommended)
Instructions
- Wash and cut the red potatoes, leaving the skin on, into relatively the same size chunks approximately 1 to 1 ½ inch in size.
- Place cut potatoes into a large stock pot of salted water (enough water to cover the potatoes, you can also use chicken broth to add more flavor to the mashed potatoes) and low rolling boil over medium high to high heat.
- Cook at a rolling boil until fork tender, about 10 minutes. Drain the potatoes and return to the pot or a large mixing bowl.
- Mash the cooked potatoes, then add mashed roasted garlic, butter, cream cheese, and salt and pepper. Stir to mix, until the butter and cream cheese are melted.
- Add the heavy cream (start with less if desired and add more until you have reached your desired creamy texture) and stir until mixed in completely. Serve warm.
Notes
Tips:
For added flavor - Use broth or stock to match your protein, use beef broth for beef main dishes and chicken stock for chicken dinners. When the cut red potatoes are boiled in the stock, it enhances the flavor and adds that 'steakhouse restaurant' quality. Mashed vs Whipped - Mashing the potatoes allows them to retain some texture. This is especially useful with red potatoes as they have less starch than Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes. Whipping your red potatoes can make them 'gluey' in texture. Roasted Garlic - I prefer to use roasted garlic as it has a milder yet still rich flavor. I know I'm not the only one that doesn't like to bite into chunks of partially cooked garlic! See my roasted garlic for instructions if you have never made your own. Once done, the roasted garlic is simply squeezed out of the clove directly into your mashed red skin potatoes. If you want to skip the step of using roasted garlic, you can also add a few cloves to the water or stock when boiling the potatoes.Nutrition
Angela is an at home chef that developed a passion for all things cooking and baking at a young age in her Grandma's kitchen. After many years in the food service industry, she now enjoys sharing all of her family favorite recipes and creating tasty dinner and amazing dessert recipes here at Bake It With Love!
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