Instant Pot garlic mashed potatoes is the best Thanksgiving or Christmas side dish! Hands down this is a holiday favorite that’s cheap to make.

We all love the traditional dishes served during the holidays, but it is nice to tweak it just a bit! These Instant Pot garlic mashed potatoes do just that. Packed with flavor they’re a great easy Instant Pot recipe added to our list of more than 100+. (affiliate links present)
Best Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
You can make this with any brand of electric cooker you have at home. I mean I have them all including a Crockpot Express, Mealthy and of course my Ninja Foodi multi cooker. Use the same directions for all of them listed below.
We made “plain” Ninja Foodi mashed potatoes years ago and used this same method, except with LOT more garlic and goodness. I don’t only make these when family comes over though. It is so easy to throw together, and cheap as heck that they’re served a few times a month too.
FIRST – You should sign up for my free newsletter so you get new posts emailed to you twice a week and never miss out on anything! Now let’s start with a few basic tips:
- Make sure to Bookmark our InstaPot recipes page. We add new ones each week!
- Then PRINT this —–> Instant Pot cooking times cheat sheet that will help you understand how long meat, vegetables and beans take to cook in your pressure cooker.
- This is a great InstaPot cookbook and a set of wooden utensils are great to grab too.
- I HIGHLY recommend you buy this non stick pot.
- You should still deglaze pressure cooker after sautéing but it won’t have as many issues with this better liner.
For reference, this is the pressure cooker I have (a 6 quart) and use for all recipe creations.

Instant Pot Garlic Mashed Potatoes NO Drain
That is right!! There is no colander needed to drain the water out before you prep these. That is super handy and makes it a lot safer too. No scalding liquid that can potentially burn you. Instead you just cook them with broth to soften and then add all the other ingredients at the end when you mash it all together.
We do enjoy Instant Pot cauliflower mash here and there too if I am trying to cut down carbs a bit. Surprisingly they taste very close to these if you use the same ingredients to add lots of flavor.
I recommend using fresh garlic for this. Air fryer garlic is the all time best. I’ll admit that I do have a jar of minced in my fridge in case I run out but that is my standby. Diced onions are optional but add more taste and a bit of texture as well to every bite.

Ninja Foodi Garlic Mashed Potatoes
You can make this as an easy Ninja Foodi recipe, in your Mealthy or Crockpot Express. All you are using is the high pressure function and they all have this. Timing would remain the same for all electric pressure cooker brands so just follow it exactly as directed below in the printable recipe card.
- Washed and sliced Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes with the skin on or taken off like these. The only real difference is the texture and nutritional value is better when left on. Red take a bit longer because they are firmer.
- Chicken broth or water
- Minced jarred garlic or fresh garlic cloves and onions with olive oil in order to soften on saute
- Sour cream
- Heavy cream
- Garlic salt
- Potato masher
Add salt and pepper to taste at the very end. You can always season more when they are done and ready to serve, you can’t unsalt it once it’s in there.

Keep in mind that the thicker you slice your pieces the chunkier they will be. If you want them really smooth cut them into chunks like you see here.
Homemade Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Yukon Gold are said to be the smoothest and best to use. They have more starch than others but second to those would be Russets. Remove skins to make them very smooth, for more texture leave them on.
When it comes to the add ins at the very end you can add more or less than listed below. If you want them really thick you might only add a bit of the cream. Some like it real smooth and choose some cream cheese as well. For a healthier choice you could use broth instead to thin them out.
Start to finish this takes under 30 minutes which means you can pressure cook Instant Pot frozen roast first, and then when that is resting you can throw in potatoes to cook.

Potatoes in the Instant Pot
You can make other versions like our cheesy bacon ranch potatoes in your pot too. Feel free to add a bit of sour cream to those too for a creamier version. Want to leave petite baby taters whole and serve them just like that? We show you how to make those pressure cooker baked potatoes this way.
There are SO many ways to make these whether they are left whole, diced, or mashed as you see here. Adding in different herbs, butter, ranch seasoning, bacon bits and other add ins will make it taste different every time.
I will tell you this is my kids favorite side dish of all times. I mean even when they first starting eating solids they would want more and more. Mushrooms are probably my second favoritest.

Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes with Garlic
Want to really amp this up?? Dice up some air fryer garlic and sprinkle a little of that on the top when you serve up this baby. OH Yeah.
If this is for the holiday season you could combine these two favorites to make green bean mashed potato casserole too.
What do you do with these if you have any leftovers. Wait until they are room temperature to do anything first off. Then spoon what is left into airtight containers. Add as much as you’d want to reheat in one sitting the next day. The least amount of air left in the container or bag the better to keep them moist.
Reheating them is easy. Either make them into air fryer mashed potato balls or transfer to a microwave safe bowl and heat for 30 seconds and then stir. Continue to do this until they are as hot as you’d like them to be. For added yum sprinkle shredded cheese on top for the last warming.
Want to see a few of my favorite things that I am totally obsessed with?? Take a peek and see how many you might already have…twinsies!
Looking for more easy family recipes and tips? LIKE The Typical Mom Facebook page?
Then sign up for my free newsletter, and follow me on Pinterest! 😉
***** If you LOVED this recipe give it 5 Stars below and let everyone know what you thought about it. 😉

Instant Pot Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 lb potatoes Yukon or russet, cubed
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic diced
- 1/2 onion finely diced
- 3/4 c chicken broth or vegetable broth
- 1/4 c sour cream
- 1/4 c heavy cream optional if you want them not as thick
- 1/4 tsp garlic salt
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wash and slice potatoes or cube them about 1.5" x 1.5" in size. You can leave skins on or off, off will make them smoother.
- Finely dice garlic and onion. Set pressure cooker to saute and add oil. Then add these into the pot to soften.
- Turn pot off, add potatoes and broth into the pot.
- Close lid and steam valve. Set to high pressure for 7 minutes followed by a 2 minute natural release, then quick release.
- Open lid and mash potatoes. Add sour cream, garlic salt and heavy cream if you want to add that too. Taste and season with salt and pepper to taste.