Brown Butter & Sage Mashed Potatoes with Roasted Garlic
These incredible homemade mashed potatoes are perfectly savory and creamy. Toasted sage browned butter, with sweet and nutty roasted garlic combine to make the ultimate side dish. You do not need a special occasion to make these perfect mashed potatoes.
Why I love these smashed taters so much
Mashed potatoes are in my comfort food category. They are a perfect side dish because they pair well with so many different meats. I honestly do not make mashed potatoes often, but when I do I savor them. I might even close my eyes and hum a little yum yum toon. Quite honestly, this side dish is the work of many years of trying different ways of adding flavor to mash potatoes. If I do say so myself, these are the best mashed potatoes I have ever had! Mash potatoes can be very basic, if not done correctly. They can honestly be quite awful. However, on the flip side, if prepared properly they can be easily elevated to divine. These creamy, buttery, sage toasted, sweet nutty roasted garlic taters are absolutely divine! Did I miss any adjectives? Make these and you will see what I mean.
Gather these ingredients
This to make brown butter & sage mashed potatoes with roasted garlic
Step 1: Roast garlic. Cut the top off a bulb of garlic. Wrap in a piece of foil and place in a 400 degree oven for 40 minutes. Remove, unwrap, and allow to cool. While garlic is roasting you can boil your potatoes, and brown the butter.
Step 2: Peel 3 pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes, cut them into equal size pieces. Place potatoes in a 6 quart pan cover with cold water and add 1 tablespoon of salt. Turn stove to medium-high heat, bring to a slow boil, turn stop temperature down if needed. Cook for 20 minutes or until a fork is easily poked into potatoes. You should not feel any resistance, however you also do not want to over cook so they fall apart when you poke with a fork. Drain potatoes. Set aside and cover potatoes while garlic finishes roasting.
Step 3: Brown the butter with sage. Cut butter into cubes, place in a small saucepan over medium heat. As the butter melts, do not stir, add fresh sage leaves. As the butter browns it will bubble up, and foam. Keep a close eye on it, still not stirring it. When bubbles start to darken, tip the pan side to side, until you can see that the milk solids have sunk to the bottom of the pan and turned toasty brown. There will be a nutty aroma that is absolutely amazing! Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes, it will continue to brown while off the heat. The butter should be golden brown.
Step 4: Add cream cheese, still warm brown butter and crispy sage leaves, heavy cream, and squeeze the creamy roasted garlic cloves out of the bulb into the pan. Smash all of this together using a potato masher or a fork, just enough to break up the potatoes and start to incorporate the ingredients.
Step 5: Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer to whip the potatoes until all the larger chunks are gone. You can add an additional 1/4 cup milk and whip more if you prefer your mashed potatoes looser. However, you can turn your mashed potatoes into a glue if you over mix, so be careful not to over mix. Now the most important step of all when cooking!
TASTE!! Taste and adjust. Add salt and pepper, more cream or milk if you like. Mashed potatoes are not an exact science, feel free to taste and adjust to your liking.
FAQs
- What are the best potatoes to use for mashed potatoes? Yukon Gold potatoes are the best. If you cannot find Yukons then russet potatoes are the next best thing. However, russet potatoes have more starch in them so you need to be careful when whipping because the more starch there is in the potato the higher chance you have of turning your mashed potatoes into a gooey mess. Red potatoes are not a good choice; they are waxy and want to hold their shape making them the perfect choice for roasting, or boiling and making potato salad.
- Could I add other fresh herbs to this recipe? Yes, I would suggest using thyme or rosemary and adding it in addition to the sage. Chop teaspoon or two of thyme or rosemary and when your butter is done browning add these herbs in, so their flavor permeates the butter but also does get crispy. Add mashed potatoes as directed in the recipe card.
- Can I make these delicious brown butter mashed potatoes ahead, and what is the best way to do this? This is the perfect dish to make ahead and save yourself sometime during the holiday season. Place in an oven-safe dish, cover tight with plastic wrap. Make up to two days in advance. Remove from the refrigerator 2 hours ahead, bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until warmed through.
- What is the best way to store leftovers? Store leftover mashed potatoes in an airtight container and microwave to reheat.
How best to serve
Serve this side dish with a nice fat juicy steak and roasted asparagus. It’s perfect as the topping for shepherds pie. Pair these mash potatoes with roast chicken for the ultimate comfort dinner. Also as a side to these pork chops. This recipe will be the star of your Thanksgiving dinner table! I have convinced you yet? Do not wait until Thanksgiving Day to make these! Thanks for being here! Enjoy, Sheila
Browned Butter & Sage Mashed Potatoes with Roasted Garlic
Equipment
- potato masher
- sauce pan for browning butter
- 6 quart pot for cooking potatoes
- aluminum foil roasting garlic
- hand or stand mixer for whipping potatoes
Ingredients
- 3 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes
- 1 tbsp salt for the cooking water
- 1/2 cup butter browned
- 2 leaves Sage medium to large in size
- 8 ounces cream cheese brought to room tempurature
- 1 bulb garlic roasted
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 cup milk (optional)
- salt and pepper to your taste
Instructions
preheat oven to 400 degrees for roasting the garlic.
- Cut the top off bulb of garlic. Wrap tight in aluminum foil and place in oven on middle rack for 40 minutes. Remove, open foil and allow to cool.
- Peel potatoes, and cut into larger potatoes in half. You want all your potatoes to cook at the same rate, so you want them the same size. Add potatoes to a 6 quart pan cover with water and add 1 tablespoon of salt. Bring to a slow boil, and turn stove down so potatoes do not boil over cook for approximately 20 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender. When potatoes are fork tender drain water off potatoes, and set aside until ready to mash.
- While potatoes are cooking brown the butter. Cut butter into smaller chunks, place in a 3 quart sauce pan over medium heat. Allow butter to melt, add sage leaves, do not stir. Butter will foam up. There is no need to stir, keep a close eye on it. When the foam starts to turn brown, tip the pan to see if the milk solids have sunk to the bottom of the pan and turned brown. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes. This process will take about 10 minutes.
- When all your elements are prepared it's time to mash. Squeeze out the roasted garlic cloves into the potatoes, add browned butter and sage, cream cheese, and heavy whipping cream. Using a potato masher break up the potatoes. Then using either a hand mixer or a stand mixer whip the potatoes until all the large chunks are gone. Taste. Add salt and black pepper to your taste.
- If you prefer looser mashed potatoes you can add milk and whip until fully incorporated.
