These Instant Pot brown butter mashed potatoes are creamy, silky, and full of comforting flavors. Elevate your mashed potatoes with nutty brown butter, earthy notes of sage, and the right amount of garlic, in a fraction of the time! The best part is no draining needed, and these are ready in under 30 minutes! Pair these potatoes with a butter basted turkey, and chilli glazed brussel sprouts, for the perfect holiday meal.
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👩🏽🍳Why This Recipe Works
Quick to make: The Instant Pot is an amazing tool to cook potatoes until fork tender, in a fraction of the time! You do not need to babysit a pot of water over the stove, to make these delicious potatoes!
Completely customizable: The add-ins and customizations for these mashed potatoes are endless. Love roasted garlic mashed potatoes, this will work here too! Loaded mashed potatoes are more your jam? Even better!
No draining required: This recipe is specifically formulated to ensure you do not need to drain your potatoes out of the Instant Pot. While it isn't a big step, it is one less thing to do while cooking dinner. That also means one less dish in the sink, too!
🥘Ingredients
- Russet potatoes: My potatoes of preference for mashed potatoes are russet potatoes. They have the right amount of starch, but do not end up gummy when they are mashed. Once cooked, they are light, fluffy, and mash up into creamy goodness.
- Chicken broth: Because this recipe does not use a large amount of liquid and does not get drained, I find using chicken broth adds another layer of savory flavor to the potatoes.
- Half and half cream: Half and half cream is the perfect balance of silkiness and creaminess for mashed potatoes, without being as rich as heavy cream. Half and half cream is the happy medium between milk and heavy cream.
- Fresh sage: Sage has earthy flavors that go perfectly with brown butter, which make it the herb of choice in these mashed potatoes.
A full list of ingredients with measurements is located on the recipe card, below.
📖Substitutions
- Russet potatoes: You can use red skinned potatoes, or yukon gold potatoes if you prefer.
- Chicken broth: You can use vegetable broth, or just regular water in place of the chicken broth.
- Half and half cream: Milk or heavy cream will work in place of half and half. Milk will give a lighter feel to the potatoes, while heavy cream will add more richness.
🔪Variations
- Roasted garlic: Try mashing in some homemade roasted garlic to the potatoes for a sweet, mellow garlic flavor.
- Loaded: Top with cheddar cheese, bacon, sour cream and scallions for a more deluxe version of these potatoes.
⏲️ Step-by-Step Instructions
Prep Work Before Cooking
Collecting all your ingredients - This will make cooking so much easier. Gather all the spices you will need, and keep them nearby.
Peel and cube the potatoes - Peel the potatoes, and cut into even-sized cubes.
Add the chicken broth and potatoes to the Instant Pot. Salt the potatoes liberally, and pressure cook on HI pressure for 15 minutes, and quick release the pressure once done.
While the potatoes are pressure cooking, brown the butter in a small skillet. Place the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Continuously swirl the skillet around while the butter is melting and foaming, as it can turn from brown to burnt very quickly. Once the butter is brown, remove from the heat.
Add the cream, garlic cloves and sage leaves to a sauce pan or a microwave-safe bowl. Heat the cream mixture on the stove over medium heat, or in the microwave, until the cream is hot. Add the brown butter to the cream mixture. Keep the cream warm until you are ready to add it to the potatoes.
Once you have released the pressure from the Instant Pot, turn on the sauté setting to HI, to remove some of the extra moisture from the potatoes. Once the potatoes are mostly dry, roughly mash the potatoes until relatively smooth.
Little by little, add the warm cream mix to the potatoes. Fold in using a spoon or rubber spatula, until they are completely smooth.
💭 Expert Tips
Get the potatoes as dry as possible: You want your potatoes to be completely dry before you start mashing them. Any residual liquid is going to make your potatoes gummy instead of creamy and fluffy.
Do not over-mash: When you start adding in your milk/butter mixture, use a spoon or rubber spatula to fold it in. It will look like a lot of liquid when you add it in, but the result is creamy, silky, mashed potatoes.
Use a Ricer: If you want absolutely zero lumps, use a potato ricer. It does add a little more time and work to the mashed potatoes, but they will be even silkier and creamier than you can ever imagine!
🍽 Make Ahead & Storage
Make Ahead Instructions
These potatoes can be made 3-4 days in advance of when you would like to serve them. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
You can also brown the butter in advance, and keep it at room temperature in a sealed mason jar or container. Add the pre-browned butter to the cream mixture when you are ready to prepare the mashed potatoes.
To reheat, add a splash of cream and a pat of butter, and either microwave, bake or heat on the stove.
Storing Leftovers
Store any leftover potatoes in the fridge for 3-4 days, in an airtight container.
⭐ Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can freeze mashed potatoes. Freeze in either an airtight container or freezer bag. The fat from the butter and cream will help the potatoes keep their texture, which is ideal for reheating.
Keeping the peel on or off of potatoes for mashed potatoes is entirely a matter of preference. If you like silky smooth mashed potatoes, you will want to keep the peels off. If you are using red skin potatoes, for example, the peel on the potatoes is fine.
📝More Potato Recipes
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Instant Pot Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes {No Drain!}
Ingredients
- 6 Russet potatoes peeled and cubed
- ½ cup Chicken broth reduced sodium
- 1 ½ teaspoon Sea salt
- ½ cup Salted butter 1 stick
- 1 cup Half and half cream
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 4 cloves Garlic peeled and smashed
- 6 leaves Sage whole
Equipment
- Potato Ricer optional
Instructions
- Add the chicken broth and potatoes to the Instant Pot. Salt the potatoes liberally, and pressure cook on HI pressure for 15 minutes, and quick release the pressure once done.6 Russet potatoes, ½ cup Chicken broth, 1 ½ teaspoon Sea salt
- While the potatoes are pressure cooking, brown the butter in a small skillet. Place the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Continuously swirl the skillet around while the butter is melting and foaming, as it can turn from brown to burnt very quickly. Once the butter is brown, remove from the heat.½ cup Salted butter
- Add the cream, garlic cloves and sage leaves to a sauce pan or a microwave-safe bowl. Heat the cream mixture on the stove over medium heat, or in the microwave, until the cream is hot. Add the brown butter to the cream mixture. Keep the cream warm until you are ready to add it to the potatoes.1 cup Half and half cream, 4 cloves Garlic, 6 leaves Sage
- Once you have released the pressure from the Instant Pot, turn on the sauté setting to HI, to remove some of the extra moisture from the potatoes. Once the potatoes are mostly dry, roughly mash the potatoes until smooth.
- Little by little, add the warm cream mix to the potatoes. Fold in using a spoon or rubber spatula, until they are completely smooth. Taste, and season with salt and pepper if needed.Salt and pepper
Notes
- Get the potatoes as dry as possible: You want your potatoes to be completely dry before you start mashing them. Any residual liquid is going to make your potatoes gummy instead of creamy and fluffy.
- Do not over-mash: When you start adding in your milk/butter mixture, use a spoon or rubber spatula to fold it in. It will look like a lot of liquid when you add it in, but the result is creamy, silky, mashed potatoes.
- Use a Ricer: If you want absolutely zero lumps, use a potato ricer. It does add a little more time and work to the mashed potatoes, but they will be even silkier and creamier than you can ever imagine!
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