Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes make dinners so much more special! We’ll start by roasting whole heads of garlic, squeeze out those cloves, and fold it in with grated asiago cheese, and your usual mashed potato ingredients. The creamiest, dreamiest you’ll ever have!

mashed potatoes topped with gravy

You’ve never had roasted garlic mashed potatoes like this!

Unpopular opinion: I don’t love roasted garlic.

There. It’s out there in the universe now. 

What I do love is perfectly creamy and fluffy homemade mashed potatoes made with russets or Yukon golds that are laced with some sort of cheese. And when you combine the flavor of asiago cheese with roasted garlic – it’s like fireworks! Fold it all with a couple of tablespoons of sour cream, a generous drizzle of butter, some heavy cream, and what you’re left with is a batch of gourmet mashed potatoes.

I could eat these year-round but this side dish is something that’s just a little extra special to enjoy around the holidays too! If you happen to be in charge of mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving, these asiago roasted garlic mashed potatoes are the way to go!

garlic mashed potatoes in speckled bowl with spoon

Ingredients for roasted garlic mashed potatoes:

  • Garlic: You’ll need 2-3 heads of garlic along with a few cloves as well. We’ll peel the cloves and toss them in when we’re boiling the potatoes. This gives the potatoes more garlic flavor and aroma. The heads of garlic will get drizzled with olive oil and we’ll bake them until soft and tender. Then we’ll mash them up with the potatoes so you get a little bit in each bite!
  • Potatoes: You can use russets or Yukon gold potatoes for this recipe. Red potatoes would also work! If you use russets, I do suggest removing the peel. Feel free to leave them on if you use Yukon’s or red potatoes. We’ll boil the potatoes in a large pot with fresh thyme and a few cloves of garlic.
  • Thyme: I like to add a few sprigs of fresh thyme with the potatoes when I’m boiling them. It’s something I do for my quick 20-minute mashed potatoes and it’s something I’ll probably always do! It adds just the right amount of aroma and really elevates the mashed potatoes.
  • Butter: I don’t even think you can make mashed potatoes without butter! I melt the butter in a butter warmer before I drizzle it into the mashed potatoes. You can also just zap it in the microwave.
  • Sour cream: A couple of tablespoons just helps bring out the tang from the asiago a bit more and works beautifully with the rich flavor of the roasted garlic. If you wanted to make these a tad bit lighter, you could swap the sour cream for a couple of tablespoons of Greek yogurt. Or you can also use a couple of tablespoons of softened cream cheese.
  • Milk + Cream: I use 50:50 of milk and cream for this recipe. If you happen to have half and half on hand, feel free to swap the milk and cream for that!
  • Asiago cheese: Asiago is a cow’s milk cheese that is similar to parmesan and has a nuttier flavor. If you don’t want to use Asiago, you can swap it for pecorino romano here and achieve a similar flavor.
mashed potatoes in cast iron pot

How to make perfect roasted garlic mashed potatoes:

  1. Roast the garlic. Start with this step. You can do this up to 3 days in advance so it isn’t taking up precious oven space during the holidays! Trim the top of the garlic and peel back as much of the paper as possible. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle kosher salt. Wrap the heads in foil tightly and roast for 1 hour or until tender when pierced with a knife. Allow the garlic heads to cool completely before squeezing them out of the paper. I like to set a few whole cloves aside as a topping but this is entirely optional!
  2. Boil the potatoes. Grab a handful of russet potatoes and peel them with a peeler. Chop the potatoes into 4-6 pieces depending on the size. You want them to all cook in roughly the same amount of time so try and cut them uniformly. Add enough water to cover the potatoes by two inches. Then add a few whole cloves garlic and a few sprigs of thyme. These are optional but they make these potatoes even more delicious! Boil the potatoes until they’re fork-tender, about 15-20 minutes. 
  3. Rice or mash them. Drain the potatoes, discard the thyme. You can leave the boiled garlic in or toss them. Mash potatoes with a potato masher or a potato ricer. Some people like to use a hand mixer. I don’t suggest using an immersion blender for this recipe. I find that it causes more of the starch in the potatoes to release, and can turn them gummy. This is especially true for russet potatoes, because they have a higher starch content then red potatoes or Yukons. I usually use a ricer and just toss in the garlic cloves with the potatoes when ricing, they evenly disperse throughout and you get a little bit in each bite that way!
  4. Let’s make mashed potatoes. I like to keep the potatoes on low heat in the dutch oven while I’m doing this. The heat allows the cheese to melt in better and gives you a bit more time to stir it all together. Add the milk and cream to a microwave-safe measuring cup and heat the milk and cream so that it’s warm but not hot. Add the melted butter into the potatoes and stir to combine. Then, add the sour cream, shredded asiago cheese, warmed milk, cream and stir to combine. When the potatoes are thoroughly mixed taste and adjust with salt as needed. You can also add black or white pepper if you’d like. Pop the potatoes into a serving dish and sprinkle with chives, more thyme, and a few pats of butter. Always delicious topped with homemade gravy. Leftovers should be kept in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. 
bowl of mashed potatoes with spoon on striped towel

Other mashed potatoes recipes to try:

If you like this recipe, you might also like:

roasted garlic mashed potatoes with garlic cloves and butter pat in speckled bowl
Yield: serves 6-8

Creamy Asiago Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Inactive Time 55 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes make dinners so much more special! We'll start by roasting whole heads of garlic, squeeze out those cloves, and fold it in with grated asiago cheese, and your usual mashed potato ingredients. The creamiest, dreamiest you'll ever have!

Creamy Asiago Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

Roasted Garlic:

  • 2-3 whole heads garlic
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil

Potatoes:

  • 3 pounds russet or Yukon golds (peeled + cubed in 2-inch pieces)
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled (optional)
  • few sprigs of fresh thyme
  • 5 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 2 tablespoons sour cream, room temperature
  • 1 cup grated asiago cheese
  • ½ cup milk (warm)
  • ½ cup heavy cream (warm)
  • Kosher salt + white pepper

Instructions

    1. ROASTED GARLIC: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375ºF. Chop off the tip of the garlic heads so the cloves are exposed and peel off as much paper as possible without breaking the garlic heads. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt. Wrap the garlic head in foil and roast for 55-60 minutes. When cool enough to handle, squeeze out the garlic from the peels into a small bowl; set aside for now.
    2. BOIL: Place the peeled potatoes in a large dutch oven. Add enough water to the pot so that it rises about 2 inches above the potatoes. Add a tablespoon of kosher salt, fresh garlic cloves, and thyme sprigs. Turn the heat on the highest setting and allow the potatoes to reach a boil. When boiling, lower the heat so that the potatoes simmer; cook for 15-20 minutes or until a fork pierces through without resistance.
    3. MASH OR RICE: Drain the potatoes, discard the thyme. You can discard the garlic or leave it in, for double the garlic - your call! Using a ricer, or masher, rice/mash the potatoes along with the roasted garlic cloves back into the dutch oven.
    4. MASHED POTATOES: Add the melted butter and stir to combine. Then add the sour cream, asiago cheese, warm cream, and milk. If the cheese isn’t melted into the potatoes, you can kick the stove onto the lowest heat setting. This will help heat the pan just enough so everything combines. Taste and season with additional salt and white pepper as desired. If you're serving with gravy, don't oversalt the potatoes! Remove to a serving dish and sprinkle with chopped chives and more butter.

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