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The Best Vegan Mashed Potatoes Recipe

These vegan mashed potatoes are a holiday must have. So creamy and flavorful, these dairy free potatoes are always a family favorite!

vegan mashed potatoes topped with vegan butter


One of my absolute favorite things to eat at Thanksgiving is vegan mashed potatoes.

No vegetarian Thanksgiving table is complete without mashed potatoes in my opinion.

A big serving of these vegan mashed potatoes with almond milk, topped with a generous pour of the best vegetarian gravy ever…

Now that is what Thanksgiving is all about!

ingredients to make vegan mashed potatoes

  • diced onion
  • minced garlic cloves
  • russet potatoes
  • vegan butter
  • unsweetened plain almond milk
  • salt and pepper
mashed potatoes with butter on top

Mashed potatoes are one of the most important things to get right if you’re making Thanksgiving dinner.

Luckily, this recipe is so simple that anyone can make it!

How to make vegan mashed potatoes

Step 1: rinse and scrub 3 pounds of russet potatoes.

Step 2: add the potatoes to a large pot, cover with hot water, and boil until soft.

You can tell the potatoes are done when a fork can easily break them into pieces.

up close mashed potatoes with chives

Cooking the Garlic and Onion

Fresh garlic and onion are what take these mashed potatoes to the next level of flavor!

Step 3: In a small skillet, saute the garlic and onion until softened. Once the garlic and onion are done, add them to a blender with the plain almond milk. Blend the mixture until it becomes a paste like texture.

While you can technically skip this step, we do this to make the mashed potatoes completely smooth. If you don’t mind little bits of onion, you can skip this step.

mashed potatoes in a bowl

What can I substitute for milk in mashed potatoes?

Almond milk is an easy replacement for milk when making vegan mashed potatoes. Be sure that you buy almond milk marked plain and unsweetened: we don’t want sweetener or vanilla flavoring here!

Step 4: Place the cooked potatoes in a bowl and use a fork or potato masher to mash them up. Add in the softened vegan butter, garlic/onion mixture, and salt and pepper to taste.

These potatoes are creamy, delicious, and have a great depth of flavor from the fresh garlic and onion puree. That is one of the secrets to how good these are!

I have made these many times, and no one could even guess that they weren’t regular mashed potatoes.

a scoop of mashed potatoes

No one would ever guess that these are vegan!

What is a good substitute for butter in mashed potatoes?

For vegan butter, I prefer to use Earth Balance brand. Although I myself am not vegan, I still prefer vegan butter and buy it regularly.

Earth Balance even makes “butter” sticks that look just like the butter you would normally buy. That’s what I used to put a pat of vegan butter on the mashed potatoes in the pictures.

vegan mashed potatoes topped with butter and chives

These potatoes are super creamy and buttery and full of flavor. If you don’t like skins in your mashed potatoes, you can always peel the potatoes first.

a spoon taking a scoop of mashed potatoes

Are you planning your Thanksgiving menu?

Be sure to give these vegan mashed potatoes a try and let me know how you like them!

mashed potatoes up close topped with a pat of vegan butter

More Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes

Are you making this recipe? I want to see! Don’t forget to tag me on instagram @buildyourbite and hashtag #buildyourbite with your recipe creations!

vegan mashed potatoes in a bowl topped with butter and chives

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vegan mashed potatoes topped with vegan butter

Vegan Mashed Potatoes

Yield: 8 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

The best vegan mashed potatoes recipe you'll ever eat!

Ingredients

  • ⅓ cup diced onion
  • 5 large garlic cloves, minced
  • 3 lbs russet potatoes
  • 1 ½ cups vegan butter, softened
  • 4 tablespoons unsweetened unflavored almond milk
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

  1. Rinse and scrub the russet potatoes and place in a large pot
  2. Cover potatoes with hot water and bring to a boil, salt generously (I used 2 teaspoons)
  3. Boil potatoes until a fork can go all the way through 
  4. While potatoes are boiling, sautee diced onion and garlic in a skillet with a teaspoon of olive oil
  5. Cook garlic and onions until softened (about 5 minutes on medium heat or until onion is translucent)
  6. Puree garlic and onion mixture with the almond milk in a blender or food processor until it reaches a paste texture
  7. Once potatoes are soft, mash them in a large bowl or pan and add garlic/onion puree, vegan butter, and salt and pepper to taste ( I used an additional 1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper)
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 383Total Fat: 28gSaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 73mgSodium: 268mgCarbohydrates: 31gFiber: 3gSugar: 2gProtein: 4g

Did you make this recipe?

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Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a star rating below!

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Maggy

Tuesday 26th of November 2019

I used roasted garlic and onion powder also Soy milk so yummy!!! maggy

Rob

Thursday 11th of October 2018

Delicious!

Kaitlyn

Sunday 8th of July 2018

These are amazing!

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