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Garlic-Miso Butter Mashed Potatoes

3.9

(41)

GarlicMiso Butter Mashed Potatoes recipe
Photograph by Emma Fishman, Food styling by Susie Theodorou, Prop styling by Sophie Leng

“A couple of spoonfuls of miso adds a little extra umami and saltiness to these spuds, a subtle bridge between the roasted garlic and dairy that nobody will quite be able to put their finger on. And yes: These potatoes are actually mashed. I’m not going to stop you from pulling out a ricer or food mill if supersmooth is your thing, but I personally like a bit of texture—a few bits of intact potato remind you that you’re actually eating, you know, potatoes.” —Brad Leone, video host

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What you’ll need

Recipe information

  • Yield

    8 Servings

Ingredients

2

heads of garlic

1

Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

1

cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2

Tbsp. white or yellow miso

Freshly ground black pepper

4

lb. medium Yukon Gold potatoes

cups heavy cream

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Preheat oven to 350°. Cut ½" off top of each head of garlic to expose just the tops of the cloves inside. Place on a 12"-square piece of parchment paper or foil. Drizzle with oil and season with salt. Drizzle 1 tsp. water over.

    Step 2

    Bring edges of parchment up and over garlic and fold together to make a packet and seal. Place on a small rimmed baking sheet and bake until very tender, 60–75 minutes.

    Step 3

    Let garlic sit until cool enough to handle, then squeeze out cloves into a medium bowl. Add butter and mash together into a paste with a wooden spoon or stiff rubber spatula. Add miso and mix well. Season garlic-miso butter with salt and pepper; set aside.

    Step 4

    Peel and quarter potatoes. Place in a large pot and pour in water to cover by 1"; season generously with salt. Bring water to a boil over medium-high, then reduce heat and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are very tender (a tester or paring knife should easily slide into flesh), about 20 minutes from the time water starts to simmer. Drain potatoes and let sit 5 minutes to dry out; reserve pot.

    Step 5

    Bring cream to a simmer in reserved pot over medium-high. Remove from heat and return potatoes to pot. Set aside about 3 Tbsp. garlic-miso butter for serving and add remaining garlic-miso butter to pot. Using a potato masher (or use a potato ricer or food mill if you prefer a silkier texture), smash potatoes until mostly smooth; taste and season mashed potatoes with salt.

    Step 6

    Transfer mashed potatoes to a large shallow bowl. Top with reserved garlic-miso butter and season generously with more pepper.

    Do Ahead: Mashed potatoes can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill potatoes and reserved garlic-miso butter separately. Reheat potatoes over medium, stirring often and adding ¼ cup milk or water to thin if needed.

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Reviews (41)

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  • I have made this recipe twice. Both times it turned out like soup. Did BA even test this one before publishing it? The first time making it I was in a hurry and thought perhaps I didn't let the potatoes dry enough after boiling them. Second time around dried the potatoes for a hour, same results - potato soup. IF I ever make this again I'd say 1/2 the butter mixture and maybe 1/2 c. cream.

    • Don M

    • NC

    • 11/25/2022

  • I made these for thanksgiving last year and, like others have mentioned, they were way way way too watery. They tasted amazing, but I want something more firm in a mashed potato. This wasn't quite potato soup as some have mentioned, but I'm going to try again this year and halve butter and cream.

    • David M

    • Miami, FL

    • 11/19/2022

  • I read the reviews beforehand and adjusted the amount of cream to put in and ohhhh boy, the taste was so good with the garlic. Would probably put in less butter next time for the sake of my belly fat though

    • Rebecca

    • Japan

    • 1/10/2022

  • Made these for Christmas dinner and, as others have noted, the flavor-profile is great but the recipe is a mess. I halved the butter and used only 2 Tbsp of cream; the potatoes were delicious but still bordering on too creamy. On reheating today they turned very soupy — much more so than any mashed potatoes I’ve ever made before. It’s just speculation but I wonder if the amylolytic enzymes in the miso work to break down the potato starch over time.

    • Andrew

    • Anaheim, CA

    • 12/26/2021

  • At first glance I knew I wanted to make these for their flavor profile. After a more in-depth look, I instinctively knew that there was way too much butter and cream, (hadn't even looked at the reviews until afterward) both of which I reduced drastically. I always keep roasted garlic paste in the fridge and had just happened to make a new batch the day prior, so I was ready to go. Topped with thinly sliced scallion greens, the potato mash made a great companion to our Braised Asian-Style Pork Shanks.

    • Russell Hartman

    • Langhorne, PA

    • 12/6/2021

  • I made the epic mistake of making this for Thanksgiving. It.was.awful. I followed the recipe precisely, but if I had wanted soup, I’d have made soup. Frantically adding a ton of flour (unfortunately no potato flour on hand) and whipping furiously, it was *just* fit to serve. My potatoes were perfect, but the rest of the ingredient portions were way off. I suggest BA removes this one until they’ve tested it properly.

    • JudyG

    • Berlin, Germany

    • 12/4/2021

  • I made these for Thanksgiving and they turned out fantastic. At first when I put everything together it seemed like it was going to be too liquidy, but then I stirred the potatoes like mad with the masher, whipping them into a frenzy and suddenly they came together to form the perfect texture. You really need to put some muscle into it to get the potatoes fully incorporated with the cream and butter. But the end result was amazing.

    • JoannKBC

    • Los Angeles, CA

    • 12/3/2021