Healthy Vegan Mashed Potatoes

Name: Healthy Vegan Mashed Potatoes
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 6 medium/average-sized Yukon Gold potatoes (about 200 grams each); 1 tsp salt for cooking the potatoes; 1 whole bulb of garlic; 1/4 cup finely chopped chives; 1-2 cups of the potato cooking water; salt and pepper (to taste)

By Deryn Macey

4.34 from 3 votes

on Oct 16, 2019, Updated Jul 18, 2024

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These healthy vegan mashed potatoes with roasted garlic are easy to make with basic ingredients. This recipe is whole food plant-based, oil-free and made without butter or cream.

A serving dish full of vegan mashed potatoes topped with fresh parsley.

Best Potatoes to Use
Mashed Potato Ingredients
Creamy Mashed Potatoes without Oil or Butter
How to Make Vegan Mashed Potatoes
More Thanksgiving Recipes
Healthy Vegan Mashed Potatoes Recipe

This vegan mashed potato recipe calls for just a few simple, everyday ingredients and is low in fat, oil-free and made without butter or cream.

Best Potatoes to Use

I used Yukon Gold potatoes for this recipe. I would recommend doing the same but if Yukon Gold isn’t available, you can use Russet potatoes.

Mashed Potato Ingredients

6 Yukon Gold potatoes, sea salt, fresh chives and a bulb of garlic sitting on a white surface.

Here’s what you’ll need to make these wonderfully creamy mashed potatoes:

Yukon Gold Potatoes. You’ll need 6 medium/average-sized Yukon Gold potatoes. You can easily use more or less if you like as the recipe is easily adapted to any amount of potatoes. Yukon Gold potatoes are sometimes called yellow potatoes.
Roasted Garlic. You’ll need one whole bulb of roasted garlic for this recipe. We’ll go over how to make it below.
Chives. The chives are optional but make a nice addition to the final dish. Parsley also works well or you can try dill.
Salt and pepper. Finally, the mashed potatoes are seasoned with a generous amount of salt and pepper.

Creamy Mashed Potatoes without Oil or Butter

There are a lot of ways you can add creaminess to vegan mashed potatoes without the need for dairy-based butter or cream. You can use:

plant-based milk
vegan sour cream
vegan butter
cashew cream
olive oil

However, I wanted to keep this recipe oil-free and whole food plant-based, so instead of using something like vegan butter or oil, I used some of the potato cooking water to add moisture and creaminess to the final dish.

If you’d like a little extra something, you can always add in 1-2 tbsp of vegan butter or olive oil. A bit of cashew cream or vegan sour cream is also lovely.

A spoon scooping a large spoonful of mashed potatoes out of a serving dish.

How to Make Vegan Mashed Potatoes

These potatoes are very easy to make. You’ll need 30-40 minutes to make the roasted garlic and about 20 minutes to make the potatoes. The mashed potatoes can be in progress while garlic roasts so overall this recipe takes less than 40 minutes.

Step 1. Roast the Garlic

Here’s how to make the roasted garlic for this recipe:

To roast the garlic, remove any loose outer layers then slice the top edge off a whole bulb of garlic so just a bit of each bulb is exposed.
Wrap the bulb in tin foil and roast at 400 degrees F for about 30 minutes. It should be nice and squishy when done.
Remove it from the oven, open the foil and let cool until you can handle it. You’ll be squeezing the whole thing into the mashed potatoes.

If you love garlic, consider making few extra bulbs of roasted garlic while you’re at it. Extras can be used in my roasted garlic hummus or roasted garlic cauliflower soup.

A whole bulb of roasted garlic on a cutting board.

Step 2. Cook the Potatoes

To cook the potatoes, add 1 tsp of sea salt to a large stockpot of water and bring to a light boil over medium-high heat.

While the water is coming to a boil, wash and chop the potatoes. There is no need to peel them – yay! I suggest cutting each potato into approximately 6 large chunks, keeping everything roughly the same size for an even cooking time.

Boil the potatoes for 12-15 minutes until they can be easily sliced with a knife.

Step 3. Reserve Cooking Liquid then Drain

This step is important. Before you drain the cooked potatoes, scoop off about 2 cups of the potato cooking water and set aside. We’ll be using it to add moisture and creaminess to the final dish.

Step 4. Mash the Potatoes

Finally, it’s time to mash!

I suggest using an immersion blender for this step. Just be careful not to overdo it or they can get gooey. A few quick pulses should do the trick.

If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use a potato masher.

Before you start blending, squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins and right into the pot. Add 1 cup of the reserved cooking water and a generous pinch of salt and pepper as well.

Cooked chopped potatoes in a large stockpot.

An immersion blender mixing mashed potatoes in a large pot.

Now blend it up! Add more of the cooking water as needed. How much you use will depend on the exact amount of potatoes you used but I find about 1.5 cups does the trick.

Taste and add more salt and pepper if desired. Once it’s smooth and creamy, stir in the chopped chives.

Chopped chives and a knife on a cutting board.

Mashed potatoes with fresh chives in a large pot.

A serving dish full of vegan mashed potatoes topped with fresh chopped parsley and chives.

More Thanksgiving Recipes

Create a Thanksgiving feast by serving these mashed potatoes with:

Looking for a low-carb alternative to mashed potatoes? Try my vegan mashed cauliflower with mushrooms and kale. Looking for roasted potatoes? Try these rosemary lemon potatoes.

Did you try this recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Scroll down to the comment section to leave a star rating and review.
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4.34 from 3 votes