Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

My Easter dinner offering last Sunday was a giant bowl of these mashed potatoes. And dear family, you should know I slaved. I peeled and riced over 20 potatoes. My poor aching arms. I hope you people enjoyed these.

Riced? What could I be talking about? There is a tool called a potato ricer that can make all of your potato dreams come true. You will be able to make ideal, fluffy mashed potatoes with a ricer. Want a good potato ricer? Click here. This is the one I have.


If you don't have a potato ricer, no worries. You can achieve smooth potatoes easily. Coarsely mash the cooked potatoes with a masher or a fork and then smooth them out with a hand mixer. But careful careful, you don't want to overmix the potatoes. Overmixed mashed potatoes are gummy and not fluffy. I kind of balk at the title "Whipped Mashed Potatoes". Whipped means beating into submission. Beating until air has been incorporated and created a light texture. If you were to whip potatoes, they would overmix so easily and you wouldn't have light and airy potatoes. They would be a bit like concrete. Don't whip those darn potatoes! The less mixing you have to do, the better.

Another important element to this recipe is the roasted garlic. Roasted garlic is a lot like caramelized onions. Huge flavor impact with very little effort. A garlic bulb, a little olive oil, 2 hours in the oven and then you have some gorgeous, sexy garlic cloves, ready to take your potatoes to the next level.


While I was making these potatoes, I was eating jelly beans. And guess what I discovered? A lemon jelly bean and a spoonful of unseasoned mashed potatoes tastes like lemon meringue pie. And Ethan told me not to tell anyone that because people will think I am crazy.




1 garlic bulb
3 Tbsp olive oil
6 russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1/3 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup butter
2 tsp kosher salt
A few grinds black pepper
A small handful of chopped fresh parsley

Set oven to 300 degrees.

Cut off the top of the bulb and set onto a sheet of aluminum foil. Pour olive oil over the top of the garlic bulb. Wrap the foil loosely around the bulb and place on the oven rack. Roast for 2 hours, until garlic cloves are golden. Remove from oven and set aside to cool. Once cooled, squeeze garlic cloves out of the the garlic bulb, discarding the garlic skins and bulb. Set roasted garlic cloves on a cutting board and with the flat edge of the knife, scrape the garlic cloves over the board, making a paste. Scrape into a small bowl and set aside.

Add potatoes to a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat and boil until potatoes are fork-tender, about 10 minutes. Drain potatoes and pour into a large mixing bowl. While the potatoes are boiling, add heavy cream and butter to a small saucepan over medium heat and melt butter, stirring occasionally. Once melted, remove from heat and set aside.

With a potato ricer or hand mixer, mash potatoes until smooth. Pour heavy cream mixture over the potatoes and add salt, pepper and roasted garlic paste. Using a rubber spatula, fold the potatoes over themselves, combining all ingredients. Be sure to not overmix. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley.

Yields 4 servings.

Rookie's Notes: When testing a potato for doneness, take a chunk of potato out of the water and set it on the counter. Stab it with a fork and if it breaks apart easily, it's done. If the fork sticks in it, you need a few more minutes.

Huge garlic fan? Use two garlic bulbs in this. Roasted garlic has a mellower flavor than fresh garlic, so more garlic wouldn't be harsh, it would be decadent.