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Real Talk: These dairy-free mashed potatoes are simply the BEST you can make—so buttery and creamy that, seriously, you will be shocked they are 100% vegan. After serving many thousands of lbs. of mashed potatoes (I’m not exaggerating) for the last twenty years, I’ve shared all my top tips and a complete guide on how to make mashed potatoes perfectly every time!
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While you can throw a juicy, gorgeous vegan turkey or even a terrifying baby-shaped tofu turkey onto your Thanksgiving table and hope for the best, we all know deep down inside that tender mashed potatoes are the real meat of a vegan diet, right? My potato-obsessed wife is only kinda kidding about that.
Anyway, this recipe is super dialed in and uses just 4 ingredients! I am going to share the methods I have figured out over the past two decades of catering that make the difference between potatoes becoming airy, fluffy heaven instead of gluey, gloopy mush.
Your guests will never guess these rich clouds of glory are completely dairy-free!
Jump to:
- 🥰 Why these are the best vegan mashed potatoes
- 🥔 Notable ingredients and substitutions
- 🤯Variations
- 🔪 The best tool to mash potatoes with:
- 📖 How to make dairy-free mashed potatoes
- 💡 Vegan Thanksgiving Dinner Ideas
- 👉Top tips
- 🤷♀️ Recipe FAQs
- ✌️Essentials to go with your vegan mashed potatoes:
- Perfect Dairy-Free Mashed Potatoes
🥰 Why these are the best vegan mashed potatoes
🛒 Simple Ingredients, Big Flavor: The four main ingredients you need for this recipe are easy to find in any grocery store. Even the optional additions I suggest aren’t hard to find at all!
🧄 Garlic Lovers Unite: Optional goodies like roasted garlic cloves bring out a depth of flavor that’s next-level. I am including a few great tried-and-true variations for you to mess with.
⌛ One Pot, Minimal Time: This recipe takes less than thirty minutes from start to finish and uses just one pot, making cleanup a breeze.
✊ Vegan AF & GF: Like all my vegan Thanksgiving recipes, this mashed potato recipe doesn't require any animal products at all. It also happens to be one of the naturally gluten-free vegan recipes that even the biggest jerk at your holiday party will go back for seconds of without flinching.
✅ Tested and Approved Worldwide: After perfecting this recipe, I shared it with a global team of recipe testers, and they all nailed it on the first try. That’s what I do with all the vegan recipes that hit my site, actually. You can trust that these mashed potatoes are guaranteed to be a hit no matter where on the planet you are.
🥔 Notable ingredients and substitutions
The Potatoes
I have made mashed potatoes and smashed (skin-on) potatoes with every variety of potato you can find in the US and even some you can only get in Peru. Hands down, the best for really airy, fluffy mashed potatoes are russets. You can probably get Russet Burbank potatoes. If your local grocery store has Russet Norkotah, a strain that was developed in the 1980s at North Dakota State University, those are even creamier and less grainy than regular russets.
While you can get away with using just about any variety, Yukon gold potatoes are more waxy, and there are plenty of potato varieties that are more of a pain-in-the-butt to peel or are too starchy. So, in this case, if you want the best results, please stick with russets, ok, sweetie?
The Fat
While I have done vegan mashed potatoes plenty of times with good quality olive oil or refined coconut oil, after lots of double-blind taste testing, I really like them made with vegan butter the most.
My top recommendations are Earth Balance buttery sticks (which come in pre-measured foil-wrapped sticks), Melt, and the vegan butter from Trader Joe’s, which is nice and cheap and actually tastes quite a lot like real dairy butter. You can also use the butter I teach in my vegan dairy crash-course.
The Plant-Based Milk
Other than gluey texture, the other cardinal sin of potato mashing is when they come out dry, and their only hope is lots of gravy.
Unsweetened plant-based milk provides creaminess without dairy. Soy milk and oat milk work best for this recipe, but almond milk can also be used. It's best to avoid coconut milk and non-dairy creamer, as they have strong flavors that will make your mashed potatoes weird. Whatever you do, steer clear of any sweetened non-dairy milk or those with (shudder…) vanilla.
The Optional Fun Stuff:
I’ve included measurements in the recipe for a few things that are optional but strongly advised.
The first thing at the top of that list, that I almost didn’t want to mention as optional, is vegan cream cheese. OMG, this is a total game-changer. The only reason I left it as optional is because it’s not available in every nook and cranny of the world. But you can 100% easily make it at home following my vegan cream cheese recipe. If you have any doubts, don’t. Just use this stuff in the recipe and thank me later!
Other yummy stuff I included measurements for, should you want to use them, are roasted garlic, rosemary, and pepper. Roasting garlic caramelizes its natural sugars, creating a sweet, mellow flavor. When mashed into the potatoes, it adds a deep, savory aroma that’s hard to resist.
You can either toss peeled cloves of garlic in a tiny bit of olive oil and roast them at 350 degrees for 16-18 minutes until lightly golden brown, or you can roast the whole head of unpeeled garlic for 25-30 minutes, which makes squeeing the roasted garlic cloves out super-easy.
*See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact quantities, nutritional info, and detailed cooking directions.
🤯Variations
Vegan Truffled Mashed Potatoes
Did you know that more than 90% of the truffle oil in the USA is artificially flavored garbage? Get a nice natural, organic truffle oil and drizzle a small amount into the mashed potatoes. They are so good that way, as long as you don’t have mushroom-haters coming over for dinner.
Use These Potatoes to Make Indian Food!
I mean, this isn’t exactly a variation, it’s more of a way to give your leftover mashed potatoes a new lease on life. Chilled leftover mashed potatoes can be put to work to make Indian street food classics like aloo tikki, aloo papri chaat and Amritsari Kulcha. After the holiday, it’s sometimes nice to find some non-Thanksgiving flavored flavors your leftovers can be served in, right?
Horseradish Mashed Potatoes
I love mixing a generous spoonful of prepared horseradish into your mashed potatoes. This variation, common in Central and Eastern European cooking, adds a sharp, peppery bite that cuts through the richness of the potatoes and butter. Horseradish mashed potatoes make a crazy-awesome filling for the pierogies I teach in my vegan Eastern European cooking class.
🔪 The best tool to mash potatoes with:
While some folks use a food processor, stand mixer, or immersion blender for mashing potatoes, those tools are wayyyy at the bottom of my list for this task. The two things you want to accomplish when making mashed potatoes are: to incorporate as much air as possible into them, and break the potatoes down without releasing extra starch by overworking them.
- A food mill is perfect for ultra-smooth, and aerated mashed potatoes. What makes it my top choice is that it does everything a potato ricer can do but allows you to keep loading in more potatoes from the top as you go, which is great for bigger batches you might need to make when company is coming over.
- A potato ricer delivers incredibly fluffy and lump-free results, making it the go-to for those who want restaurant-quality mashed potatoes with minimal effort. The problem is you have to load it with typically less than a cup of cooked potatoes at a time, which can get tedious if you are making a bigger batch.
- A potato masher is the classic choice for a more rustic, textured mash, giving you control over the consistency while being simple to use and easy to clean. The trick when using a potato masher is to focus on the “upstroke” more than smashing down. This way you can encourage more air to move into the potatoes as you mash them, rather than compressing the potatoes down, making them heavier and denser.
📖 How to make dairy-free mashed potatoes
Nail this holiday table essential on your first shot by following these step-by-step photos with helpful tips. Or scroll down to the bottom of this page for the easy-to-print recipe card.
Step One
Potato Cold Plunge:
Place the peeled potatoes in a big pot and cover them with cold water, making sure the water is about one inch (2.5 cm) above the potatoes.
Step Two
Simmer Time, And The Livin’s Easy:
Set the heat to high and bring it to a boil, then switch to medium and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes until the potatoes are tender when poked with a fork.
✅ The level of doneness is key for great mashed potatoes. Make sure the potatoes are definitely on the softer side of fork-tender, but not falling apart and waterlogged.
Step Three
Potato Niagara Falls:
Once the potatoes are soft, drain them in a colander and give them a brief rinse with hot tap water to get rid of extra starch.
✅ Obviously, you don’t want to cool the potatoes off, but a tiny little rinse to get off extra starch will really help prevent gloopy potatoes.
Step Four
Season of the Witch:
Return the potatoes to the same pot and toss in the vegan butter (or olive oil), plant-based milk, salt, and any extras like vegan cream cheese (I highly recommend this!), fresh minced garlic, or roasted garlic.
✅ Garlic mashed potatoes make a super good filling if you are planning to make pierogies with the leftovers.
Step Five
Option 1: Food Mill-y Vanilli
For the most aerated, fluffiest mashed potatoes, run the seasoned potatoes through a food mill or potato ricer set over a large bowl. Keep adding batches of the potato mixture, depending on your food mill’s size. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the mill with a rubber spatula to gather all the potato goodness.
✅ If you have a food mill with different removable screens, my recommendation is to go for a screen with medium holes in it. Not so big that there are un-pureed bits of potato getting through, but not so fine that the potatoes get ground, release more starch, and get gloopy on you.
Option 2: Mash of the Titans
Use a potato masher and smash them until they reach your desired smoothness.
✅ Do not overwork your potatoes, as they will release more starch and become gluey, which sucks and will make you cry.
Step Six
Flavor Checkpoint Charlie:
Taste the potatoes and adjust the salt or other seasonings if needed. Give them a quick stir, but don’t overmix—this will keep them light and airy from the food mill’s magic.
Step Seven
Mr. Potato-head Never Looked So Dazzling:
Spoon the mashed potatoes into your loveliest looking serving dish, and top with extra vegan butter, rosemary, black pepper, or chives if you’re feeling fancy. Ready to serve with your fave gravy!
💡 Vegan Thanksgiving Dinner Ideas
Start your holiday meal with a warm bowl of lentil carrot soup topped with chestnuts and a drizzle of chili oil, served alongside a slice of pan-fried vegan cornbread.
Your mashed potatoes are crying out in the night for some glorious gravy. So slather them all up with your choice of vegan brown gravy, mushroom gravy, or vegan sausage gravy, for crying out loud!
Other essential sides? You’ve got to have candied yams, Southern-style collard greens, and bourbon cranberry sauce, or my Turkish-style cranberry relish recipe slaps pretty hard too. And while vegan green bean casserole is a staple for some, I’m all about serving these wonderful Turkish green beans instead sometimes.
Classic vegan stuffing with chestnuts, or my cranberry walnut spiked vegan cornbread stuffing? These are seriously difficult choices in life to make. Why, oh why can't there be Thanksgiving once a week so we can do everything?
Thanksgiving without dessert? That’s downright trash and should be considered a federal crime. A glorious slice of vegan apple pie, a creamy pumpkin flan, or some still-warm vegan apple cider donuts will make sure your meal ends on the perfect note.
👉Top tips
- Don’t Overwork the Potatoes: Resist the urge to overmix once you add your fat and liquid. Overworking the potatoes releases more starch, which will definitely turn your mashed potatoes into a gluey mess. Stick to gentle mashing for fluffy results.
- Choose the Right Potato: The potato variety you use can make or break the texture. Russets have the perfect starchy content to get that creamy texture. Waxier potatoes like Red Bliss are more likely to turn gummy. Yukon Gold potatoes can work, but if you can, just stick to russets, ok?
- Warm Your Liquids: Always add room temperature, or even slightly warm plant-based milk and vegan butter to the potatoes. Cold liquids can make your mashed potatoes cool down too quickly and may cause the fats to separate, which affects texture. The warm butter will more easily incorporate without the need for overworking.
🤷♀️ Recipe FAQs
To store mashed potatoes, let them cool completely, then transfer them to an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 4 days. Never freeze mashed potatoes. They will suck terribly upon thawing and reheating.
No. Just simply: no.
I mean, I can’t stop you. But it’s a terrible idea.
Reheat mashed potatoes in a covered pan over low heat, adding a splash of either plant-based milk or a little dash of olive oil to keep them creamy. Once heated through, slightly re-mash them with a potato masher or a fork to fluff them back up.
Russets are the top choice for mashed potatoes, which are fluffier and creamier. Yukon Gold potatoes work too, but will not become quite as light and airy.
Gummy mashed potatoes happen when the potatoes are overworked, releasing too much starch. Avoid using a food processor or blender, and stick to a hand masher, food mill, or ricer.
The other thing that can cause gummy potatoes is letting the cool and sit around before mashing them. Don't do that, alright?
For me, this is a strong and decisive no. Fresh mashed potatoes are one of the few non-negotiable things that for holiday gatherings, I make only once my guests have arrived.
What you can do to save some time though is have your potatoes peeled and cut in advance. You can do that as much as a couple of days in advance if you store them in cold water in a sealed container in the fridge. The only reason I don’t do that all the time is that fridge space is often a tight commodity around big holidays.
✌️Essentials to go with your vegan mashed potatoes:
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Get your hands on seriously crowd-pleasing vegan Thanksgiving menus, including detailed video guidance from Chef Adam Sobel.
Perfect Dairy-Free Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3 pounds potatoes peeled
- ½ cup vegan butter or olive oil
- 1 cup unsweetened plant-based milk
- 1½ teaspoons sea salt or to taste
Optional Additions:
- 10 cloves roasted garlic
- ½ cup vegan cream cheese
Optional Garnishes:
- Additional vegan butter or olive oil
- Fresh rosemary leaves
- Ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon chives finely chopped
Instructions
- Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover by at least 1 inch (2.5 cm) with cold water.
- Over high heat, bring the pot to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and boil gently for 15-20 minutes, until the potatoes are fork-tender.
- Drain the potatoes and briefly rinse them with hot tap water to remove extra starch.
Mashing Method:
- Add the cooked, drained potatoes back to the pot they were cooked in, along with the vegan butter (or olive oil), milk, salt, and any additional ingredients such as roasted garlic or vegan cream cheese you may want to add.
- Using a potato masher, mash and stir the potatoes until smooth.
Food Mill Method (my personal fave):
- Add the cooked, drained potatoes back to the pot they were cooked in, along with the vegan butter (or olive oil), milk, salt, and any additional ingredients such as roasted garlic or vegan cream cheese you may want to add.
- Using a large liquid measuring cup, scoop up the mixture to add to a food mill suspended over a large bowl. Depending on the size of your food mill, and whether or not you multiplied the recipe, you may need to add more of the seasoned potato mixture to the food mill as you go.
- Run the potatoes through the food mill into the bowl. When finished, make sure to use a rubber spatula to get any potato purée that is stuck to the bottom of the food mill.
- Check and adjust the seasonings. Give the potatoes a gentle stir with a rubber spatula to combine, but don’t go crazy. You don’t want to get rid of the aeration you have created with the food mill. That’s what makes this method fluffy.
Serve the Mashed Potatoes:
- Transfer the mashed potatoes to an attractive serving dish and garnish if desired with extra vegan butter, herbs, coarsely ground black pepper, and chives.
Notes
Once you add fat and liquid, keep mixing to a minimum. Overworking releases starch, turning your mash into a gluey disaster. Stick to gentle mashing for fluffier potatoes. 🥔 Potat-oh No You Didn’t:
The right potato makes all the difference. Russets give you that perfect creamy texture, while waxy varieties like Red Bliss can turn gummy. Yukon Golds are an okay substitute, but russets are your best bet. 🧈 Butter Shape Up, ‘Cause I Need A Man:
Always use room-temperature or slightly warm plant-based milk and vegan butter. Cold liquids can cool down the mash too fast and mess with the texture, while warm butter blends smoothly without overmixing.
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Staci says
These super fluffy vegan chive mashed potatoes delivered! I roasted garlic the day before and used a potato masher focusing on the “up” as Adam instructs. Talk about comfort in a bite. Didn’t tell anyone they were vegan and there were no leftovers. Will definitely make again.
Adam Sobel says
Super-glad to hear you and everyone else loved these so much, Staci!
Dina LeClair says
This was a game changer this Thanksgiving. No one could tell it was vegan and raved about how creamy and delicious it was. I will be making this a lot more!!
Sarah says
Can go wrong with mashed potatoes! Super creamy and non of the guilt. Only change was cooking the potatoes in an instant pot to save burner space.
Kimbi Walton says
The texture of these potatoes is so soft, so creamy. Great flavor, it's definitely worth using a food mill!
Karin Van Zeist says
This turned out so good!! Easy and very scrumptious!
Jennifer Margopulos-Kelenske says
I am embarrassed to say this was the first time I made mashed potatoes from scratch...I never really thought they had much flavor how others made them... Not these!!! Cream cheese= genius . I forgot to roast the garlic beforehand so I used raw and it was really good but I'll try roasting it next time. Even my non-vegan husband gave them the thumbs up😄
hg says
Rich and creamy don't do this recipe justice. Stands alone by itself due to the roasted garlic ( be sure to add it), but also tastes great too with the Mushroom Gravy on the blog.