Ultra creamy, fluffy, and buttery mashed Yukon gold potatoes made with lots of fresh garlic make the perfect Thanksgiving and everyday dinner side dish. These are the best garlic mashed potatoes you've ever had and will be requested again and again!

creamy garlic mashed potatoes in a white bowl with plate of garlic in the top right corner.

Mashed potatoes are a quintessential side dish for everything from your basic weeknight meal to the most elaborate Thanksgiving spread. These are the best garlic potatoes you've had and they are so easy to prepare!

For more Thanksgiving recipes, be sure to check our Southern Candied Yams, Southern Cornbread Dressing, and Soft Homemade Dinner Roll recipes next!

Table of Contents

Ingredients You Need To Make This Recipe
How To Make This Recipe
Can I Use Different Potatoes?
Is Milk or Heavy Cream Best For Mashed Potatoes?
Why Do I Need To Add Hot Milk to Mashed Potatoes?
Should I Use Cold Butter?
How Much Garlic Should I Add?
Make-Ahead and Storing Instructions
What To Serve With Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Recommended Tools for This Recipe
More Thanksgiving Recipes You Will Love!
📖 Recipe

Ingredients You Need To Make This Recipe

Yukon gold potatoes. For the most creamy and buttery texture. Peel, rinse, and chop the potatoes into large chunks. Don't miss our brown butter sage mashed potatoes recipe!
Heavy cream. To add extra creaminess to the mashed potatoes.
Unsalted butter. For added flavor. Bring the butter to room temperature for this recipe.
Sour cream. For a subtle tanginess and added creaminess.
Fresh garlic. To add robust garlic flavor.
Salt and cracked black pepper. To season the mashed potatoes.

creamy garlic mashed potatoes in a white bowl.

How To Make This Recipe

Place the potatoes in a large pot and add enough water to cover the potatoes. Boil the potatoes until they are easily pierced with a fork.
While the potatoes are cooking, melt one tablespoon of butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes until the garlic is fragrant. Add the heavy cream to the pan with the garlic and heat just until it begins to simmer then remove the pan from the heat.
Drain the potatoes and transfer them to a large mixing bowl. Pour the garlic and cream over the potatoes and use the beaters of a hand mixer, with the mixer turned off, to break the potatoes apart. Add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, and beat until mixed into the potatoes. Add the sour cream, salt, and pepper, and continue to beat the mashed potatoes until light, creamy, and fluffy.
Transfer the mashed potatoes to a serving bowl and garnish with fresh chopped parsley or chives.

boiled potato being pierced with a fork.

boiled potatoes wit hcream and garlic poured over top.

garlic mashed potatoes in a bowl with a hand mixer.

creamy garlic mashed potatoes in a mixing bowl.

Can I Use Different Potatoes?

These garlic mashed potatoes can also be made with russet potatoes. I do not recommend any other variety of potatoes as they are waxier and have a lower starch content, making them less ideal for mashing.

Yukon gold potatoes are my top choice and recommendation for making mashed potatoes because of their buttery texture and color and their medium starch content, which gives you extra creamy mashed potatoes.

Russets have a higher starch content and give you fluffier mashed potatoes.

Is Milk or Heavy Cream Best For Mashed Potatoes?

You can use either milk or cream in mashed potatoes and both work great. However, if you want extra creamy mashed potatoes heavy cream is best because it has much more fat and is already thick and creamy on its own.

You can also use a combination of milk and cream to get the texture you prefer. These mashed potatoes are made with sour cream as well so they will turn out creamy whether you use milk or cream!

Why Do I Need To Add Hot Milk to Mashed Potatoes?

Adding hot liquid to mashed potatoes is important so that it is easily absorbed into the potatoes, which helps them turn out creamy and fluffy.

You are less likely to overmix the potatoes if the liquid is absorbed properly when added. Overmixing mashed potatoes can cause them to go from fluffy to gluey - no good!

Should I Use Cold Butter?

Cold or room temperature butter can be added to mashed potatoes because the hot potatoes will melt the butter evenly so that it easily mixes into the potatoes. Do not melt the butter before adding it to mashed potatoes. This can cause the milk solids and fat to separate.

How Much Garlic Should I Add?

Since these are garlic mashed potatoes, we want to add a substantial amount of fresh garlic. To get a strong garlic flavor that isn't overpowering, anywhere from 6 to 8 cloves of garlic is the perfect amount for 3 pounds of potatoes. If you want a more subtle garlic flavor, 2 to 4 cloves should do the trick.

Whatever you do, don't throw a bunch of raw chopped garlic into your mashed potatoes! Cook the garlic for a couple of minutes with the milk or cream to infuse it with garlic flavor. No one wants to bite into a chunk of raw garlic with their mashed potatoes.

Make-Ahead and Storing Instructions

Mashed potatoes are best when prepared fresh. They become stiff after sitting for a while but can still be eaten.

If you need to make mashed potatoes ahead of time, just add additional butter and cream when reheating them to make them creamy again. Leftover mashed potatoes can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

What To Serve With Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Mashed potatoes are the perfect accompaniment for almost any protein, including chicken, beef, pork, turkey, and fish. They also pair well with countless other sides.

Some of my favorite foods to serve garlic potatoes with are:

Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes