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Rich and creamy thanks to a combo of coconut milk and plant-based butter, these simple dairy-free mashed potatoes are the absolute best side dish for your dairy free and vegan dinners. They’re fluffy, garlicky, and wonderfully savory, and impressive enough to please everyone around your dinner table – dairy free or not!
See recipe card below for full list of measurements, ingredients, and instructions.
Why These Are The Best Vegan Mashed Potatoes
- Naturally vegan and gluten free, these dairy-free mashed potatoes are absolutely every bit as delicious as traditional mashed potatoes. A splash of coconut milk and a pat of dairy-free butter added to fluffy Yukon gold or russet potatoes make them rich, creamy, and absolutely mouthwatering. And even though we’re using coconut milk to make them super creamy, you can’t taste the coconut at all.
- These potatoes are seasoned with garlic, salt, fresh black pepper, and fresh chives. They’re all simple flavors that will work with basically any dish you’d want to serve mash with. They’ll fit right in with your Thanksgiving spread, your Christmas feast, and your Tuesday night leftovers.
- The garlic cooks with the potatoes to make it soft and mellow. You get all the flavor of the garlic in this recipe without the harshness of others who opt for garlic powder.
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What I Learnt Testing This Recipe
- If you want to avoid a gummy or mealy texture – and believe me, you do – then stick to Yukon gold potatoes or russet potatoes. Both are naturally smooth and buttery so they’ll mash into the perfect dairy-free mashed potatoes. Red potatoes and fingerling potatoes, on the other hand, are low in starch and super waxy. They won’t give you that fluffy, creamy mashed potato texture you want here.
- I’ve found that cutting the potatoes into equally sized pieces matters more than it seems — pieces that are noticeably different sizes mean some go mushy and start absorbing water while others are still firm, which throwing off the final texture for the mash.
- Room-temperature coconut milk incorporates smoothly, and cold-from-the-fridge if you’ve already got a can open won’t — cold coconut milk can cause the fat to seize slightly against the hot potatoes, leading to small flecks of solid coconut fat in not-quite-smooth mash.
- You can make a Whole30 version of these potatoes by using a compliant dairy-free butter. You could also use ghee, but it’s technically not dairy free, only lactose free.
Ingredients
Yukon gold potatoes – Or Russet potatoes. Avoid red or waxy varieties that will make lumpy mash!
Garlic – We want whole cloves here as they cook with the potatoes.
Vegan butter – Just use your favorite brand.
Full-fat coconut milk – At room temperature. Lighter coconut milk will make watery potatoes that won’t be as creamy.
Salt and fresh cracked black pepper – For seasoning.
Chopped chives – Optional, for garnish. You could use sliced green onion (green parts only) instead.
Getting Ahead For The Holidays
I’ve found that these dairy-free mashed potatoes can be prepared a little early if needed. Simply make them as instructed and transfer them to an oven-safe dish. Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil before placing the dish in an oven preheated to 200°F. Leave them to stay warm until you’re ready to serve them. Note that this method is best if you only need to keep them warm for an extra 15-20 minutes or so. Longer than that, you’ll need to check their temperature regularly with an internal thermometer. If their temp falls below 140°F, they won’t be safe to consume.
You can also peel or even cube the potatoes ahead of cooking them. They’ll happily sit in cold water in the refrigerator for several hours (up to 24!) — leaving them in cold water prevents them from browning.
Serving & Storage Suggestions
These dairy-free potatoes are perfect for your holiday table so obviously go well with all the other classic holiday sides. But for everyday I like to serve them with my ground beef and gravy to turn that dish dairy-free, and for a vegan option this mushroom gravy and some green veg for the ultimate comfort bowlful (who said mashed potatoes had to be a side dish??)
Leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Re-heat on the stovetop with a splash of coconut milk and don’t microwave them. Dairy-free mash can dry out and seize if you don’t re-heat them properly.
You can freeze these mashed potatoes, but because of the coconut milk they might separate a bit on thawing. Simply whip them together with a little more coconut milk as you warm them on the stovetop and they should come together okay.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can, but I don’t really recommend it. Any liquid will help you get that thin, mashed consistency. You could technically even use water if you wanted to. Full-fat coconut milk, though, is the key for thick, rich, creamy mashed potatoes without any dairy. Almond milk will work, but it can make the potatoes mealy. Oat milk’s flavor isn’t neutral enough in my opinion.
This happens if you over-mix / over-mash the potatoes. If you’ve used the right variety of potatoes, the usual culprit is if you’ve tried to use a food processor, or a stand or hand mixer to whip the potatoes rather than doing it by hand or using a ricer.
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions or variations listed are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
Creamy Dairy Free Mashed Potatoes
Equipment
- cold water
- Large pot
- Fork
- colander or fine mesh sieve
- Potato masher
- serving container
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes or russet potatoes; peeled, cubed
- 3 cloves garlic peeled
- 1 big pinch salt more or less to taste
- 4 tablespoons vegan butter softened
- ½ cup full-fat coconut milk plus more as needed, at or close to room temperature
- 2 teaspoons freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 tablespoon chopped chives for serving
Instructions
- Place cubed potatoes and peeled garlic cloves in large pot. Add cold water to pot until waterline sits roughly 1" above potatoes. Sprinkle 1 big pinch salt over top of water and place pot on stovetop burner set to high heat.
- When water begins to boil, immediately reduce heat to medium-low. Cook potatoes, uncovered, 10 to 20 minutes, or until potatoes can be easily pierced with tines of fork.
- Carefully pour water and potatoes into colander. Drain as much excess water as possible then return potatoes and garlic to pot.
- Turn off heat under pot. Using potato masher, mash boiled potatoes and garlic until mixture is mostly smooth.
- Add vegan butter, coconut milk, and pepper to pot with potatoes. Continue mashing until all ingredients are thoroughly combined and mashed potatoes are smooth and creamy. Add additional coconut milk as needed to achieve desired consistency.
- Taste potatoes and add more salt if needed. When satisfied with flavor and texture of mashed potatoes, transfer potatoes to serving bowl. Sprinkle chopped chives over top of potatoes and serve warm with additional butter.
Approximate Information for One Serving
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
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