I have several vegans who are coming to Thanksgiving dinner. I’m making a few dishes from recipes that my daughter (a vegan) suggested. The one thing they all want to have is mashed potatoes. None of them have ever made vegan mashed potatoes. I found a recipe online that suggested using Earth Balance (a vegan subtitute for butter) and vegetable broth. My husband made lots of vegetable broth this weekend for a couple of the other dishes–so that’s readily available. I’ve never made mashed potatoes without milk/cream/sour cream, etc. Could I substitute coconut cream or soy/almond milk?
Does anyone have a vegan mashed potato recipe that he/she likes and has used. Any suggestions welcome.
I’ve made them with garlic roasted in olive oil until it was velvety, then I mashed the potatoes with the garlic and olive oil, and added drizzles of vegetable broth if needed to get the right texture.
The Idahoan brand of instant Original Mashed Potatoes (brown box) is made of potato flakes and little else and is foolproof. It makes a great vegan-friendly mashed potato dish. We use oat or soy milk and the Smart Balance “butter”, which is preferred over Earth Balance at my house.
We keep kosher, so the mashed potatoes need to be made without any dairy. Using Earth Balance and soy milk is fine. Don’t use coconut cream; the faint coconut taste doesn’t IMO go well with most savory dishes.
Stores like Whole Foods carry vegan versions of sour cream and cream cheese; these are very good when used in recipes rather than as stand-alone. Using yukon gold potatoes also helps with creaminess.
I like using this recipe because you can make it in advance and let it finish in the crock pot while dealing with other parts of the meal: http://www.ayearofslowcooking.com/2008/11/crockpot-mashed-potatoes-with-cream.html (though I don’t bother with the parsley). The recipe does not call for butter, but I finish it with a big chunk of Earth Balance spread. I’ve made it with full dairy, and also with the vegan substitutes; the full dairy is better but this is still very very good.
@SlitheyTove and @ralcut - you beat me to the suggestion of using Yukon Gold potatoes - they are pricey, but they really make a difference, especially as I like them “whipped” more than just “mashed”. One of D’s freinds is vegan, and we have made whipped Yukons with a splash of vegetable oil, a few cloves of fresh garlic pressed, and a dash or two of salt. You don’t need to add dairy if you are whipping them with the electric beaters
I just made some last night for my DF kid. I used a little water instead of milk, a combination of earth balance and olive oil instead of butter, and salt, pepper, nutmeg, and a couple of cloves of pressed garlic. The fresh garlic is the key.
Mashed definitely need to be Yukon Golds. Interestingly, if you bake them slowly in their jackets, they develop a rich flavor with a creamy and moist texture that mashes quite spectacularly. You can actually squeeze them out like toothpaste, but you have to mash them immediately before they get cold.
We did vegan mashed potatoes for the first time recently, pretty much along the lines of the suggestions in this thread. Baked Yukon Golds, truffle oil (could substitute regular olive oil), black pepper, salt (we actually used truffle salt, because truffles!), and almond milk. Very yummy, and much lower cal than the usual butter/milk/cream version we used to make. Adding roasted garlic is a great idea which I think we’ll try this Thanksgiving.
My relative also added some frozen spinach to the mashed potatoes along with garlic. It added some color and the garlic added some flavor. Since H is lactose intolerant, he tends to avoid mashed potatoes (tho he loves them) as they often have dairy.
I prefer my mashed potatoes made with a ricer rather than a masher. They are light and airy and need less moisture, butter or cream, added to the mixture. My family thinks the Yukon Gold potatoes are too dense.
