Vegan Mashed Potatoes

You don’t need dairy butter or cream for rich, fluffy mashed potatoes! These vegan mashed potatoes call for just four ingredients (potatoes, vegan butter, dairy-free milk, and salt) and one pot!

There are a few secrets for better vegan mashed potatoes (start the potatoes cold, use salted water, use rice, and add butter before the milk!) This makes a big batch, perfect for Thanksgiving or the holiday table, but also easily halved or quartered for a weeknight dinner.

Living in the Midwest now, we eat a lot of mashed potatoes. They are one of my husband’s favorite side dishes for just about any meal (especially my vegan meatloaf!) and fairly easy to put together.

You’ll love how creamy and buttery these vegan mashed potatoes taste, no dairy needed! They also require just 4 ingredients and are make-ahead friendly, making them perfect for the holidays.

Ingredient Notes

• Potatoes: Yukon Gold are my favorite variety for buttery-tasting potatoes, but russet also works. Russet potatoes are starchy and make the fluffiest, lightest mash. Yukon Golds are naturally buttery, a little denser and creamier, and more forgiving if you mash a bit too long. Peel the potatoes and then slice into ~1-inch pieces so they cook evenly.
• Vegan Butter: A stick-style vegan butter gives the richest flavor, but tub vegan butter also works. I like Miyoko’s, Country Crock Plant Butter, or Earth Balance sticks.
• Unsweetened Plant Milk: For best results, warm your milk before adding to the mashed potatoes, as cold milk cools the potatoes and doesn’t absorb as well. I use unsweetened soy milk or oat milk; just make sure it’s unsweetened. Almond milk will work too, but it has a thinner consistency. I don’t recommend coconut milk as it will impart a coconut flavor.
• Salt: Good mashed potatoes need plenty of salt! Salt the cooking water for cooking the potatoes, and then add more salt when mashing with the butter. Most vegan butter is salted, so you’ll need to adjust the salt if you are using an unsalted version.

How to Make Vegan Mashed Potatoes

Step 1: Start in Cold Water

Put the potato pieces in a large pot and cover with cold water by at least 1-inch. Add a generous pinch of salt, as you would for salting pasta, about a tablespoon. Starting the potatoes cold helps the outsides and centers cook evenly.

Step 2: Simmer until fork-tender

Bring the water to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until a fork slides into the biggest piece without any resistance.

Drain well, then return the potatoes to the hot, empty pot for a minute or so to let any extra water evaporate. Dry potatoes absorb more butter and milk.

Step 3: Rice or mash with butter

For the best texture, press the potatoes through a ricer back into the pot. I highly recommend getting a ricer if you make mashed potatoes often! They make the best mashed potatoes!

If you don’t have a ricer, then mash the potatoes with a hand masher. Add the vegan butter and the salt and stir until the butter melts, taking care not to overmix.

Step 4: Add the warmed milk

Warm the milk either in a saucepan or microwave, then stir in the warmed milk, a little at a time, until the potatoes are creamy. Taste, adjust the salt, and add more milk if you’d like a looser texture for your mashed potatoes.

Tips for creamy (not gluey!) potatoes

• Use a ricer or a masher: Don’t use a blender or a food processor (even a hand mixer), as it will make for more gluey potatoes. This is because blades break the starch cells, which will turn the potatoes gluey. This is the ricer I use.
• Butter first: Add the butter first, as the fat helps coat the potatoes before you add the milk, which keeps the potato texture silky.
• Don’t undercook: It’s better to overcook than undercook your potatoes. Firm potato pieces will turn into lumps that no amount of mashing will fix.
• Season the potato water: Potatoes absorb salt as they cook, so salting the water as you cook them will season the potatoes all the way through.

Flavor variations

• Garlic: Simmer 6 peeled garlic cloves with the potatoes and mash them in using the ricer or potato masher. For a deeper garlic flavor, stir in a head of roasted garlic.
• Herb: Stir in 2 tablespoons each of chopped chives and parsley.
• Olive oil: Replace half the vegan butter with good extra-virgin olive oil, and top with a drizzle more.
• Sour cream and chive: Stir in ½ cup vegan sour cream or plain unsweetened dairy-free yogurt, plus a handful of chives.
• Cheesy: Stir in 2 to 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast or ½ cup shredded vegan cheddar.

How to make mashed potatoes ahead for a crowd

You can make these vegan mashed potatoes up to 2 days ahead of time! To do this, make the potatoes as directed, but use slightly less milk. Cool the potatoes, then cover the potatoes and refrigerate.

To reheat on the stovetop: warm the potatoes over low heat with a splash of warm milk and a pat of vegan butter, stirring often for about 10 to 15 minutes until warmed through.

To reheat in the oven: Spread the potatoes in a buttered baking dish, then dot with vegan butter, cover with foil, and bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring halfway.

Keep them warm in a slow cooker: Warm them in a slow cooker for up to 2 hours, stirring in a splash of warm milk every 30 minutes to prevent the potatoes from drying out. I love this idea on Thanksgiving because it frees up my stove to make my vegan mushroom gravy (or I’ll use my Instant Pot mashed potato recipe!)

What to serve with vegan mashed potatoes

Of course, I love my mashed potatoes with a side of my mushroom gravy, especially alongside my mushroom wellington, the best vegan stuffing, and my vegan sweet potato casserole.

If I’m enjoying these on a weeknight, then I’ll serve alongside my Impossible meatballs or lentil loaf. For more ideas, see all my vegan Thanksgiving side dishes.

If you make these potatoes, make sure to leave a star rating and tell me in the comments which variation you tried!