Description
These Crock Pot Garlic-Sage Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes are a foolproof, make-ahead, ultra-rich version of mashed potatoes. This recipe takes the stress and fuss out of getting hot and creamy mashed potatoes on your holiday table! The flavors of sage, garlic, and brown butter take them over the top!
Ingredients
Scale
For the Browned Butter:
- 1 stick of unsalted butter
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed (leave whole)
- ½ cup fresh sage leaves
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
For the Potatoes:
- 5–6 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 stick of butter, cubed
- 3 cups chicken stock (use veggie stock if you want to keep this vegetarian)
- 1 (8 oz) block cream cheese, softened and cubed
- ¼–½ cup whole milk
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
For the Browned Butter:
- Add the butter to a skillet set over medium heat and cook until melted. Once the butter is melted, reduce the heat to low and swirl the pan constantly for a few minutes until the butter turns golden brown.
- Remove the pan from the heat and add the garlic cloves and sage. Season with the salt. Allow the butter to cool to room temperature with the garlic/sage steeping.
- Remove the garlic and sage before adding the butter to the potatoes (save for optional garnish).
- This step can be done while the potatoes are cooking in the crock pot.
For the Potatoes:
- Place the peeled and diced potatoes into a crock pot.
- Place the cubed butter over top of the potatoes, distributing it evenly.
- Pour in the broth along with a generous pinch of salt. Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 HOURS. The potatoes are ready when very fork tender.
- Drain off any excess broth and return the potatoes to the crock pot.
- Add in most of the garlic-sage browned butter (I like to save a little bit for drizzling over top when serving), cream cheese, ¼ cup of the milk, and a good bit of salt and pepper.
- Mash the potatoes with a potato masher until smooth. Alternatively, you can use a hand mixer to beat the potatoes. Add more milk, if needed, until it gets to a consistency you prefer. Season, to taste, with more salt and pepper.
- Cover and keep potatoes on the warm setting until ready to serve. Stir every 30-45 minutes to keep the potatoes creamy.
- Just before serving, drizzle with the reserved browned butter, crispy sage, and whole garlic cloves.
Notes
- If you make these far in advance (3+ hours), it is inevitable that the mashed potatoes will thicken up a little bit in the crock pot. I recommend stirring them every 30-45 minutes to keep them creamy and moist. If they dry out too much, mix in a splash of milk here and there.
- The longest I’ve had these stay mashed in a crock pot before serving is 4 hours. I am sure longer would be fine, as long as you are stirring regularly and monitoring the liquid level.
- The garlic-sage aspect of this recipe is totally optional (but definitely recommended). Feel free to use plain butter, or all garlic butter, or all sage butter, or any other flavor you want.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 hours
- Category: side dishes
Keywords: crock pot mashed potatoes, make ahead mashed potatoes, garlic sage brown butter, brown butter mashed potatoes, mashed potato recipes, foolproof mashed potatoes, Thanksgiving recipes, holiday recipes