I’m pretty sure I can say with confidence that everyone looks forward to mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving.
I mean, it’s a whole thing: if you have Thanksgiving, you have this iconic side dish. Smashed spuds are everyone’s favorite side, whether they admit it or not.
It’s one of those dishes that you give yourself an extra large heaping scoop, then look at your plate a little forlornly because it doesn’t look like quite enough. So you dive in for another.
It’s that dish.
The standard recipe has lots of tasty, fatty flavor components, like butter and cream.
But if you’re the kind of person who avoids those ingredients for whatever reason, making it can be… challenging.
So, I’ve tried many variations of a vegan version of this classic side dish. Some were okay (I mean, really, they’re carbs mixed with some kind of fat – they can’t be that bad). Some were pretty good.
But none have been as creamy as these.
I did something pretty crazy here to achieve that super creamy, melt-in-your-mouth taste that the traditional recipe has. I’ve tried all sorts of non-dairy milks and was never super impressed with the result. But this time, I succeeded. Two words:
Cashew. Cream.
That stuff has been my jam lately. Not like the fruity jam, but you get it. I am using it all over the place and LOVING it, like in my fresh pesto recipe and homemade caramels. It’s so good.
Aside from the cashew cream, my recipe has some vegan margarine, salt, roasted garlic, and crispy shallots.
Roasted garlic and crispy shallots! Love!
Even if you have no intention of ever making this non-dairy version, you must put roasted garlic and crispy shallots on your mashers next time.
Promise me…
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The Creamiest Vegan Mashed Potatoes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
These vegan mashed potatoes use cashew cream for the ultimate creamy texture. With roasted garlic and crispy shallots, they can’t be beat.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Boil 1 cup of water. Combine with the cashews in a large bowl, and let sit for 30 minutes.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. If preferred, peel the potatoes, or leave the skins on. Chop into 1/2-inch pieces. Carefully drop the potatoes in the boiling water, and boil for about 20 minutes, or until easily pierced with a fork.
- While the potatoes boil, place the garlic cloves in a heavy, dry skillet. Cook on medium-high heat, turning every now and then, for about 15 minutes, until they have brown spots on all sides. Let cool, then remove the skins and trim the ends.
- Peel the shallot and mince finely. Heat the olive oil in a small skillet and add the shallots. Cook, stirring constantly, until golden brown and crispy. Remove from the heat.
- Add the cashews and their soaking water to a blender with the peeled roasted garlic cloves. Blend until smooth, 1-3 minutes depending on your blender. It’s best to let the blender stop and cool down every minute or so.
- When the potatoes are done cooking, drain in a colander. Add to the bowl of your stand mixer and fit with the whisk attachment. Alternatively, add to a large, wide bowl and use a potato masher.
- Add the cashew cream, margarine, and salt. Beat for about 5 minutes for slightly lumpy potatoes, and up to 10 minutes for smooth potatoes.
- Serve topped with the crispy shallots.
Notes
*If your skillet is large, you may need to use more olive oil. You want to have plenty in there for the shallots to cook in, otherwise they may burn instead of browning.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Vegan
Keywords: mashed potatoes, vegan, Thanksgiving, side dish, cashew cream
How to Whip ‘Em Up
To make these super creamy, I used my KitchenAid mixer to whip them. It is by far the easiest way to make them nice and fluffy.
If all you have is a potato ricer or masher, that’ll work too, but will take a little more time. You’ll also have nice toned arms afterward!
The masher is also a great option if you prefer a chunkier side dish – I do really enjoy biting into perfectly al dente chunks scattered amongst the creamy base.
How do you like your pulverized spuds? Creamy or chunky? Skins or no skins? Do you have any special ingredients for making your own non-dairy substitute of this fall-favorite dish? Comment below, and rate my recipe!
And for more vegan potato recipes, why not try some of these:
- Cabbage, Potatoes and White Beans
- Leek & Potato Soup
- Potato and Chanterelle Soup with Fresh Arugula Pesto
Photos by Raquel Smith, © Ask the Experts, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. See our TOS for more details. Originally published on November 21st, 2015. With additional writing and editing by Nikki Cervone. Last updated: December 31, 2019 at 3:36 am.
Nutritional information derived from a database of known generic and branded foods and ingredients and was not compiled by a registered dietitian or submitted for lab testing. It should be viewed as an approximation.
About Raquel Smith
Raquel is a whole foods enthusiast, an avid mountain biker, and a dog lover. She works by day at Food Blogger Pro and formerly maintained her food blog "My California Roots" (now merged into Foodal).
If you use extra heavy whipping cream they are super creamy too!
Brilliant! Bet you think you’re the first to make that comment. So why even look at a vegan recipe?
I just discovered your site thanks to someone who shared this recipe on facebook… I can’t leave without telling you I’m completely spellbound by these photos and from now on I can’t think of anything else but potatoes. If it wasn’t 4:30AM, I’d rush to the store to buy cashews right away… I swear. How can I get asleep now? 🙂 I’m glad to find your page and can’t wait to explore more of your recipes. Thanks for sharing your ideas! Good luck and greetings from Czech Republic!
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Lucky! Go get yourself some cashews! 😉
Butter is not VEGAN
Sorry about that, Dobby. I use Earth Balance butter exclusively and a lot of the time just write “butter” down when developing recipes. I guess I forgot to clarify that it’s Earth Balance vegan butter in this one, so thanks for pointing that out. I’ve updated the recipe.
Dobby you are everything wrong with the vegan world.
★★★★★
Have you tried to freeze these? I’be done it with mashed potatoes with lots of cream and the fat is what keeps them creamy. Just curious if it would work!
Hey Layna –
I honestly have no idea, I’ve never tried! I imagine they would be fine… if you try it be sure to let me know how it goes!
I’m going to make this for thanksgiving. How many shallots should I use?
Oops! Nevermind!!
Amazing! Being vegan makes me so happy, I hope everyone jumps on! This recipe is delish! I’ve eaten almost all of the potatoes I made for 20 people. Sooo gooood! Mmmmm!!!! Thank you! Happy Thanksgiving!
This is so great! I’m so excited to make this!!
★★★★★
This is so great! I’m so excited to make this, now I won’t have an upset stomach after eating mashed potatoes!!
★★★★★
How many days in advance do you think this can be made, or do you think it has to be done on Thanksgiving day?
Probably 1-2 days in advance, though you’ll have to reheat them before serving somehow. Oven or microwave would probably work. The crispy shallots will be best made right before serving.
My husband made these for thanksgiving. They taste delicious. This will be our go to recipe from now on.
★★★★★
Raw cashews or roasted cashews to make the cashew cream? Thanks.
I made this recipe for Thanksgiving this year and the name of the recipe really holds true! These are the best mashed potatoes I’ve had, vegan or not. Thank you for sharing this recipe, this will be a staple on my vegan Thanksgiving table for years to come.
★★★★★
I made this for Thanksgiving this year. I have always read to not use a mixer on your mashed potatoes, or they will turn gluey. This recipe looked great, so I thought I’d give it a try.
That advice turned out to be correct. I could tell just in the first 30 seconds of whipping in my stand mixer, but it was too late. I ended up throwing most of it out, since no one else would eat it. I think this would be great using a ricer, food mill, or plain masher though.
★
I made these today for Christmas and they were wonderful! I’ll definitely make this recipe for all our holidays from here on out. Pretty darn simple too. I skipped the shallot because I had to travel 35 minutes to our relative’s house and I knew they wouldn’t stay crispy. I followed everything else exactly though and they were so delicious and creamy!
★★★★★
This was delicious! I used a ricer not the mixer. Thank you! I will be making this again.
Best mashed potatoes! Didn’t add the butter and it was perfect!
★★★★★
In the cashew cream it says add roasted garlic? How much because i didn’t see these instructions in the recipe?
Sorry for the confusion, Desirea. We’ve reordered the steps of the recipe a bit so this makes more sense. The garlic is roasted in a skillet, then peeled and blended with the cashew cream.
This recipe is not written well…there is no mention of roasted garlic in the ingredients, but then in the steps, it says to use roasted garlic. So it’s unclear if the 4 garlic cloves are to be used in addition to the roasted garlic, or if those are the cloves to use in the skillet.
Apologies for the confusing directions, Gloria! We edited this recipe a bit so it makes more sense. Since only a few cloves of roasted garlic are needed for this recipe, they’re roasted on the stovetop, then peeled and added to a blender along with the soaked nuts to make a flavor-infused cashew cream.
Thanks for the suggestion about the cashew cream! In exchange I’d like to offer a suggestion of my own, which is to add a pinch of ground nutmeg to enhance the creaminess. I’m also planning to add a touch of annatto to the oil next time I make mashed potatoes to give them a more golden color.
Generally, I love this recipe. I can’t have garlic, as I’m on a special diet for acidity balance….garlic and/or even onions chew through me the moment they touch my gut. I substituted a tiny bit of Rani Asafetida to mimic … but thank you for this idea…had never considered cashews.
ok, i just made this and it is awesome. thank you
You’re welcome, Andrew!