Hello my lovely chickpeas, and welcome to the official start of holiday-inspired-recipe season! This time of year is so much fun for me because I get to create recipes for you to share at your holiday table with all of your friends and family, and something about that thought just makes my heart happy. We are starting the season out strong with my Vegan Mashed Potatoes! These are the perfect vegan Thanksgiving side for your plant based holiday. They are creamy, easy to make, and dairy-free. Plus they have a delicious garlic flavor that I know you'll love.

Vegan Mashed Potatoes by Joyful Balance: Vegan, Oil Free, and WFPB

Trust me when I say that these NEED to be on your holiday table this year, so let's dive on in!

Inspiration for Vegan Mashed Potatoes

Garlic mashed potatoes with yukon gold potatoes

Growing up as a vegetarian, my Thanksgiving meal was usually made up of mostly sides. And I was completely okay with that! My family usually did Thanksgiving with close friends who always prepared a traditional turkey, but luckily for me I could fill my plate with cranberry sauce, various casseroles, roasted veggies, and of course everyone's favorite Thanksgiving side... mashed potatoes.

As you probably know, traditional mashed potatoes usually contain quite a bit of dairy. They usually call for butter and milk, and sometimes even cream cheese. Back in my vegetarian days this was fine, but now that I don't really do dairy, I've had to find other delicious ways to prepare my mashed potatoes in a way that is suitable for a vegan Thanksgiving. Luckily we live in a world where that is very possible!

When creating this recipe I wanted to of course keep it vegan, but I also wanted to let the potatoes themselves shine! For that reason we are going to be adding a few creamy dairy-free additions, such as soy milk and coconut yogurt, but only just enough for those creamy vibes. We really want the potatoes themselves to be the star of the show! Plus, my recipe is WFPB and oil-free!

Ingredients

Vegan Thanksgiving side: mashed potatoes with chives

As mentioned above, we really want the potatoes themselves to shine in this recipe. But all of our ingredients work together here to bring extra flavor & creamy vibes! Let's take a look at our ingredients today:

Yukon gold potatoes: I tested a few different types of potatoes for this recipe, and yukon gold were hands down the best. They are so creamy and have a naturally buttery flavor, making them perfect for Vegan Mashed Potatoes!
Soy milk & plain coconut yogurt: for a creamy texture! The coconut yogurt also adds a slight tart flavor (similar to greek yogurt) that works really well in this recipe.
Garlic, seasonings, nutritional yeast, and chives: for our additional flavors! These all compliment our main potato flavor beautifully, and garlic is pretty much always a good idea.

How to Make Vegan Mashed Potatoes

As always, the full recipe can be found at the bottom of this post! But let's talk about these delicious Vegan Mashed Potatoes and what you'll need to do to make them.

Add your potatoes and garlic to a pot with water. Bring to a boil.
Allow to cook until potatoes are very easily pierced with a knife.
Drain the water.
Mash your potatoes.
Add in most other ingredients and mix until combined.
Give it a taste test and adjust seasonings as needed. Add in chives and combine.
Lastly, enjoy!

Tips & Tricks

Thanksgiving Vegan Mashed Potatoes with yukon gold

I did quite a bit of testing to get this one just right, so I wouldn't mess with the cooking methods much on this one. But here are some ideas on how to adjust the flavors to make them your own, and on fun ways to enjoy this recipe!

Obviously this could be enjoyed as a side with anything you'd like, but I truly hope you try it out as a Thanksgiving side or Christmas side this holiday season! It pairs great with my Vegan Mushroom Gravy for holiday gatherings!
Some people like their mashed potatoes thick, others like them thinner. Either way is okay by me! I'd say this recipe comes out on the thicker side. If you'd like to thin out your potatoes, simply add more soy milk in the last step of the recipe.
These are already decently garlicky, but if you REALLY love garlic then go crazy and add a couple extra cloves in at the beginning of the recipe! I don't judge.
Looking for other delicious vegan holiday recipes? Perhaps you should consider my Veggie Lentil Wellington as your main course, or my Smoky Roasted Brussels Sprouts as another side!

Enjoy!

Vegan Mashed Potatoes (Creamy & Easy!)

Recipe by Delaney Romero - Joyful Balance

Servings

servings

From Start to Finish

minutes

These Vegan Mashed Potatoes are perfect as a side dish anytime, but especially for your holiday table! They are creamy, easy to make, completely dairy-free, and full of delicious garlic flavor! These can be enjoyed by both vegan and non-vegan potato lovers.

*Note that From Start to Finish is an estimate that includes 10 minutes to prep your ingredients (such as peeling and chopping your potatoes), and an estimated 35 minutes to complete the recipe directions.

Ingredients

2 lbs yukon gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
4 medium/large garlic cloves, skins removed
½ cup unsweetened soy milk*
¼ cup plain coconut yogurt*
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon onion powder
2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
2 tablespoon chives, finely chopped

Directions

Add your quartered potatoes and whole garlic cloves to a medium pot. Fill the pot with water so that all the potatoes and garlic are covered.
Place your pot on the stovetop and turn the heat to high. Allow to cook until water comes to a boil. Reduce the temp to medium/high to maintain a low boil and cook another 15 minutes, or until a knife can be inserted into the potatoes with almost no resistance (this can sometimes take up to 25 minutes depending on the size of your potatoes).
Drain the water from the pot so that you are left with just the potatoes and garlic.
Add your potatoes and garlic to a large bowl. Mash the potatoes by using either a handheld potato masher, or a stand mixer set to a low-speed setting.
Once your potato mixture is mashed and all large chunks are gone, add your soy milk, coconut yogurt, salt, black pepper, onion powder, and nutritional yeast to the potatoes. Mix to combine everything, either with a stand mixer on low speed or with a wooden spoon.
Give it a quick taste test and add more seasonings or coconut yogurt if desired. You may also add more soy milk if you'd like your potatoes to be a thinner consistency. Add in your chives and mix again until just combined.
Serve and enjoy!

Notes

*unsweetened soy milk: any brand should do the trick, but my favorite is Silk Organic Unsweet Soy Milk
*plain coconut yogurt: my favorite is Culina Plain & Simple

Happy cooking! If you made this recipe don’t forget to tag me (@joyfulbalanceofficial) on facebook or instagram so I can cheer you on for your mashed-potato-making ways.

Stay joyfully balanced!