Red skin mashed potatoes with roasted garlic and cream cheese are a classic holiday side dish and a staple for great family meals! The smooth, rich potatoes still have a few lumps to enjoy all of the wonderful textures of your red potatoes. If you're feeling the need for delicious mashed potatoes, then this dish is your next obsession!
Best Red-Skinned Mashed Potatoes Recipe
These incredibly easy-to-make mashed potatoes are flavor-packed and have a silky smooth texture from the red potatoes and cream cheese. Just a few lumps left in the mix from being mashed vs whipped with a hand mixer. Yum!
Why use red skin potatoes? Because the flavor and texture are different than starchy potatoes like Russet and Yukon Gold. When you want fluffy mashed potatoes, use Russets.
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🥘 Red Skin Mashed Potatoes Ingredients
With just a handful of simple ingredients, this recipe couldn't be any easier! Just grab your favorite variety of red potatoes and you are all set!
- Red Potatoes - 2½ pounds of red potatoes. Any waxy potato will do, try out varieties like French fingerling, New Potatoes, Red Bliss, Red Adirondack, and Russian Banana.
- Water - 4 cups of water. Or, for extra flavor, use chicken or beef stock.
- Roasted Garlic - 4 cloves of roasted garlic. See my recipe for roasted garlic, so easy to do and adds a ton of flavor.
- Butter - ¼ cup of butter at room temperature. Unsalted or salted, if you use salted butter, adjust the added salt to taste.
- Cream Cheese - 4 ounces of cream cheese at room temperature. This adds a cheesy creamy flavor and texture.
- Heavy Cream - ½ cup of heavy cream that is room temperature. Half & Half or whole milk can be substituted.
- Salt & Pepper - ¼ teaspoon of both salt and pepper. Adjust to taste. Cracked pepper and Sea Salt are perfect for this mash.
(Optional) Stir Ins
Try some herbs - Parsley, chives, or green onions are great herbs to stir into your mashed potatoes.
Cheeses - like Swiss, Gruyère, smoked cheddar, or Parmesan can be stirred in with the butter and cream cheese for more robust cheese flavors.
*Be sure to see the free printable recipe card below for ingredients, exact amounts & instructions with tips!*
🔪 How To Make Red Skin Mashed Potatoes
Just the essentials of great mashed potatoes here! Make sure to use salted water for the best flavor, then get everything boiling while your garlic roasts to perfection!
Making 8 servings, you can easily serve this side dish with any family dinner!
- Prep the potatoes. Wash and cut 2½ red potatoes, leaving the skin on, into relatively the same size chunks approximately 1 to 1½ inches in size.
- Bring to a boil. Place cut potatoes into a large stock pot of salted water (enough water to cover the potatoes, you can also use chicken broth to add more flavor to the mashed potatoes) and bring to a low rolling boil over medium-high to high heat.
- Boil until tender. Cook at a low rolling boil until fork tender, about 10 minutes. Drain the potatoes and return to the pot or a large mixing bowl.
- Mix in ingredients. Mash the cooked potatoes, then add 4 cloves of mashed roasted garlic, ¼ cup of room-temperature butter, 4 ounces of cream cheese, and ¼ teaspoon of both salt and pepper. Stir to mix, until the butter and cream cheese is melted.
- Finish and serve. Add ½ cup of heavy cream, half & half, or milk (start with less if desired and add more until you have reached your desired creamy texture) and stir until mixed in completely. Serve warm.
Pair this versatile side dish with any of your favorite entrees! Try it with some pan-seared pork chops, crockpot BBQ beef short ribs, or grilled lamb shanks! Enjoy!
💭 Tips & Notes
- Use broth or stock to match your protein, use beef broth for beef main dishes, and chicken stock for chicken dinners. When the cut red potatoes are boiled in the stock, it enhances the flavor and adds that 'steakhouse restaurant' quality.
- Mashing the potatoes allows them to retain some texture. This is especially useful with red potatoes as they have less starch than Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes. Whipping your red potatoes can make them 'gluey' in texture.
- I prefer to use roasted garlic as it has a milder yet still rich flavor. I know I'm not the only one that doesn't like to bite into chunks of partially cooked garlic!
- See my roasted garlic for instructions if you have never made your own. Once done, the roasted garlic is simply squeezed out of the clove directly into your mashed red-skin potatoes.
- If you want to skip the step of using roasted garlic, you can also add a few raw minced cloves to the water or stock when boiling the potatoes.
🥡 Storing & Reheating
These potatoes can be refrigerated in a sealed container for up to 5 days.
If you want to freeze your mashed potatoes, allow them to come to room temperature and then place them into a freezer-safe storage container. Keep frozen for up to 2 months. Take a look at my guide to freezing mashed potatoes to learn more!
Reheating Red Skin Mashed Potatoes
Your potatoes can be reheated in small bursts in the microwave, or on the stovetop over low heat. For an in-depth guide, check out my post on reheating mashed potatoes!
>>>>See all of my recipes here<<<<
❓ FAQ
Yes, you can. However, the skin-to-flesh ratio may be off and change how well the resulting mash will be. The standard red potatoes work best to yield a nice creamy white mash with gorgeous red skins highlighted throughout.
Yes for sure, this is a key step to add flavor or you will end up with boring plain potatoes. You'll want to use about 1 tablespoon of salt per pound of potatoes.
This depends on the kind of mashed potatoes you want! Russets are great for fluffy mashed potatoes while Yukon golds are a great option for a creamier mash. Take a look at my post which is all about the best potatoes for mashed potatoes!
😋 More Great Recipes To Try
- Grilled Boneless Chicken Thighs - These tasty chicken thighs are simple to make and incredibly versatile!
- Honey Roasted Acorn Squash - A sweet vegetable side dish that is tasty and nutritious!
- Grilled Corn On The Cob - If you are firing up the grill, go ahead and throw some corn on there!
- Grilled T-Bone Steak - A classic steak recipe for a wonderful and juicy steak dinner!
- Apple Turnovers - Enjoy these tasty apple turnovers for breakfast, a snack, or even dessert!
- Baked Donuts - Baking donuts in the oven is a fantastic mess-free alternative to traditional donuts!
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📖 Recipe Card
Red Skin Mashed Potatoes Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 ½ lbs red potatoes
- 4 cups water (or use chicken stock, 1 32 ounce container)
- 4 cloves roasted garlic
- ¼ cup butter (salted - ½ a stick)
- 4 oz cream cheese (½ an 8 ounce package)
- ¼ teaspoon each, salt & pepper (to taste, freshly ground pepper is recommended)
- ½ cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Wash and cut the red potatoes, leaving the skin on, into relatively the same size chunks approximately 1 to 1 ½ inch in size.
- Place cut potatoes into a large stock pot of salted water (enough water to cover the potatoes, you can also use chicken broth to add more flavor to the mashed potatoes) and low rolling boil over medium high to high heat.
- Cook at a rolling boil until fork tender, about 10 minutes. Drain the potatoes and return to the pot or a large mixing bowl.
- Mash the cooked potatoes, then add mashed roasted garlic, butter, cream cheese, and salt and pepper. Stir to mix, until the butter and cream cheese are melted.
- Add the heavy cream (start with less if desired and add more until you have reached your desired creamy texture) and stir until mixed in completely. Serve warm.
Notes
Tips:
For added flavor - Use broth or stock to match your protein, use beef broth for beef main dishes and chicken stock for chicken dinners. When the cut red potatoes are boiled in the stock, it enhances the flavor and adds that 'steakhouse restaurant' quality. Mashed vs Whipped - Mashing the potatoes allows them to retain some texture. This is especially useful with red potatoes as they have less starch than Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes. Whipping your red potatoes can make them 'gluey' in texture. Roasted Garlic - I prefer to use roasted garlic as it has a milder yet still rich flavor. I know I'm not the only one that doesn't like to bite into chunks of partially cooked garlic! See my roasted garlic for instructions if you have never made your own. Once done, the roasted garlic is simply squeezed out of the clove directly into your mashed red skin potatoes. If you want to skip the step of using roasted garlic, you can also add a few cloves to the water or stock when boiling the potatoes.Nutrition
Angela is an at home chef that developed a passion for all things cooking and baking at a young age in her Grandma's kitchen. After many years in the food service industry, she now enjoys sharing all of her family favorite recipes and creating tasty dinner and amazing dessert recipes here at Bake It With Love!
Veronica says
Would russet potatoes work?
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
Yes, there is differences in the final product but still will be tasty!
Jean says
I’ve been looking for a restaurant quality garlic mashed potato recipe and this is it ! I think the roasted garlic makes a difference. I didn’t have heavy cream so I used light cream and it was rich enough. Thanks, a definite keeper, friends loved it as well
Frank says
So simple but delicious! Thank you.
Anonymous says
Yummy!
Kaitlyn says
Tried these last night, marvelous! Making next week for Christmas but had a couple of questions.
1. Made mine in beef broth. Should I still salt the broth?
2. I have a family member who is lactose intolerant so going to make a separate batch for him. Any feedback on how a dairy free cream cheese and dairy free milk would work?
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
Hi there Kaitlyn! I use broth all the time for boiling potatoes, and no, I don't usually add more salt when using the broth. For your lactose-intolerant family member, you can actually make these without the dairy at all (they're wonderful with just using some of the broth from boiling). Otherwise, using dairy-free alternatives should be a snap but I would start with a bit less and add more as needed. Thanks for asking and have a very Merry Christmas!