Instant Pot Garlic and Herb Mashed Potatoes
Hello! The Girl Child is obsessed with mashed potatoes. I mean that literally. I’m pretty sure she could eat her weight in them. Two things get her excited when you are talking about food… chicken or mashed potatoes. Unless you are talking about dessert, that gets her pretty excited too.
The Misplaced Redneck is in love with his Instant Pot. It changed his life. He cooks in it all the time. I was pretty sure he had made mashed potatoes in it, so I asked him what he thought. He said they turned out great.
Then, like a sign from God, I was watching The Pioneer Woman and she made mashed potatoes in an Instant Pot. She added ranch seasoning, and I didn’t want ranch potatoes, but they looked amazing. I just so happen to have a Pioneer Woman Instant Pot, so I was sure this was a sign that I needed to make mashed potatoes in it.
I confess, we used Betty Crocker Butter and Herb mashed potatoes for a long time. They are dried potato flakes and they come in a pouch. Even the connoisseur of mashed potatoes, The Girl Child herself, loves these mashed potatoes. They are really nice and creamy with a great flavor to them. If you are ever in a rush, I recommend these. Just throw them in the microwave and you’ll have some amazing mashed potatoes in just a few minutes.
After making these Instant Pot Garlic and Herb Mashed Potatoes, I will be making them this way whenever possible. Don’t worry Betty Crocker, I’ll always have a couple of pouches of your potatoes on hand just in case.
I was on a mission to come up with a recipe now. I read so many versions of Instant Pot mashed potatoes. Not a single one was what I was looking for. I wanted them to be easy, creamy and have garlic and herb flavor. So, I did what I always do. I winged it.
A lot of recipes called for a lot of water and then draining the potatoes. Nope. Didn’t want to deal with that. So, I took a cue from The Pioneer Woman and cooked my potatoes like she did.
They all wanted me to season the potatoes after they cooked. Something about that didn’t make sense to me. I always season meat while it’s cooking. For instance, when I cook chicken breasts in my Instant Pot to shred or slice for a recipe, I always season them with salt and garlic pepper. That flavor really gets locked into the chicken. So, I decided that I was going to season mine while they cooked. I knew that would flavor them evenly and you would taste that yummy garlic and herb deliciousness in every bite.
I wasn’t excited about the seasonings that many of the recipes called for. Some of them were downright weird. So, I came up with my own.
The final product was absolutely amazing. Restaurant quality mashed potatoes that may cause you to drool. They were light, creamy and oh so delicious.
I knew that The Girl Child was going to be the one I needed to impress, so I let her have a taste before dinner. She exclaimed, “These are amazing!” Then the big announcement, “I approve.” The Girl Child does not give her approval lightly. She can be picky about things, especially mashed potatoes. I knew that my recipe was a success.
She couldn’t shovel those potatoes into her mouth fast enough at dinner. I think she would have happily only eaten mashed potatoes.
These will definitely be my go to for mashed potatoes. The Girl Child might hurt me if I don’t keep making them!
I recommend giving these a try. Here’s what you’ll need:
2 1/2 lbs russet potatoes (quartered)
3/4 cup water
1 tsp salt
4 cloves minced garlic
2 tsp dried minced onion
1/4 tsp basil
1/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp parsley
1/8 tsp thyme
1 stick butter (softened)
2 TBSP milk
4 oz cream cheese (softened)
Salt and black pepper to taste
Ok. Let’s do this!
Peel potatoes (8-10 depending on size) and cut into quarters.
Place potatoes and water into Instant Pot.
Season with 1 tsp salt and other seasonings, including minced garlic and dried minced onion.
Close instant pot and set valve to sealing.
Cook potatoes on manual setting for 10 minutes.
When potatoes are finished cooking, do a manual release of pressure.
Keep Instant Pot on keep warm setting.
Open lid and add butter, cream cheese and milk to potatoes.
Mash potatoes with a potato masher, in the Instant Pot, until smooth. You can add more milk, a little at a time, if you want to thin out your potatoes. I used 2 TBSP and it was perfect.
Stir to combined well.
Give them a taste to determine if you need any extra seasoning, such as salt or black pepper.
Mashed potatoes can stay in the Instant Pot on the keep warm setting for 30 minutes.
Instant Pot Garlic and Herb Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 lbs russet potatoes quartered
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 cloves minced garlic
- 2 tsp dried minced onion
- 1/4 tsp basil
- 1/4 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp parsley
- 1/8 tsp thyme
- 1 stick butter softened
- 2 TBSP milk
- 4 oz cream cheese softened
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Peel potatoes and cut into quarters.
- Place potatoes and water into Instant Pot.
- Season with 1 tsp salt and other seasonings, including minced garlic and dried minced onion.
- Close instant pot and set valve to sealing.
- Cook potatoes on manual setting for 10 minutes.
- When potatoes are finished cooking, do a manual release of pressure.
- Keep Instant Pot on keep warm setting.
- Open lid and add butter, cream cheese and milk to potatoes.
- Mash potatoes with a potato masher, in the Instant Pot, until smooth.
- Stir to combined well.
- Add salt and black pepper to taste.
- Mashed potatoes can stay in the Instant Pot on the keep warm setting for 30 minutes.