These Garlic and Leek Mashed Potatoes are incredibly easy to make, with real garlic, aromatic leeks sauted in butter and sour cream!
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I can’t believe it’s November, which means Thanksgiving is right around the corner. From Thanksgiving, it’s a quick slide into Christmas, New Years and 2019. Which basically sends me into a spiral of panic that the year has slipped by. I think I still write 2017 on my checks. Actually 2016. Wait. Does anyone actually write checks anymore? Maybe I haven’t actually written a check since 2016. That probably a better explanation.
Regardless, Thanksgiving is my absolutely favorite time of year. It’s an excuse to make and eat copious amounts of food. My partner AJ and I have a hard and fast rule that we ALWAYS make Thanksgiving dinner, no matter what the situation is. We came up with the rule after a disastrous Thanksgiving early in our relationship, one that had us being invited to a dinner by a friend to someone we didn’t know’s dinner party. Then, on the day of Thanksgivings, being uninvited because said friend misunderstood his initial invitation was only for him. This lead us to eating some sort of sad fast food sandwich on the floor of my studio apartment.
So yeah, Thanksgiving is now our meal to host. We’ve made dinner just for the two of us. We’ve made dinner for a party of 20. We’ve done dinner in our tiny one-bedroom apartment (trying to cram 11 people into our living room is…challenging). We’ve even hosted dinner in Los Angeles at a friend’s house, where we visited many moons ago over the long weekend. But we always make dinner.
And one dish that is a constant in that dinner is mashed potatoes. It’s not the sexiest dish on the table. But it’s a classic for a reason. And my new current favorite version has me sautéing leeks with butter before adding them to the garlic infused mashed potatoes. I can’t wait to make these again for Thanksgiving, or really for any meal. They’re that good.
Garlic and Leek Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3 pounds yellow flesh potatoes like Yukon Gold
- 8 medium cloves garlic peeled
- 4 teaspoon kosher salt divided
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter 115 g or 1 stick
- 1 large leek or 2 small leeks
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 3/4 cup heavy cream additional cream if you like your potatoes more loose
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- Additional salt and pepper to taste
- 3 tablespoons melted butter
- Parsley chopped for garnish
Instructions
- Clean and chop your potatoes into 1-inch chunks. If you like your mashed potatoes skinless, you can peel your potatoes beforehand but I find yellow flesh potatoes have a pretty thin skin, so I don’t bother to do that. Place the potatoes and the garlic cloves in a large stockpot and fill with water, so it covers the potatoes by 1-inch. Add 3 teaspoons of salt to the water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat to let the water simmer, and cook potatoes for 10 to 15 minutes, or until a fork pierces the potatoes easily.
- While the potatoes cook, clean the leek by slicing it lengthwise and fanning them out under running water to remove the dirt and sand. Chop the white part and 1-inch of the green part of the leek. Add them to a pan with the butter and turn the heat to medium high. Cook the leeks until they soften and start to a look a little translucent, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Once the potatoes are done, drain them in a colander, then place them back into the hot pan they cooked in.
- Add the leeks (with all the melted butter), sour cream, heavy cream along with the remaining 1 teaspoon salt and pepper. Mash the potatoes with a potato masher and add more cream, salt and pepper to your own taste.
- Scoop into a large serving bowl, drizzle with the melted butter and garnish with chopped parsley.
Marisa Franca says
This is just like my mamma used to make. She didn’t use the leeks but she did use plenty of garlic and onion. These potatoes don’t need gravy to make them palatable. They are super tasty on their own. Are you going home for Thanksgiving or are you and AJ having friends over? Have a happy Turkey Day!
Mimi says
Oh no! there’s nothing worse than having a bad holiday food experience, especially when food expectations are high! Good plan.I love these potatoes. Garlic? Always. But leeks? Brilliant.
Carlin Breinig says
Thanks so much for this recipe, I have made it twice this week. First time Tuesday at a library with 26 teens helping. With a double recipe plus a little, nothing left for me to taste! Not even a smidge. And it’s not like they just ate potatoes, they had chicken dressing, cranberry relish and pumpkin trifle too. Teens can eat!
So I made the potatoes for me, for Thanksgiving and had as much as I wanted with leftovers for breakfast or whatever, so Good!
Irvin says
Yay! I’m so glad it was loved. Woo hoo! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones!
Joe says
Why boil the garlic and not saute with leeks? Is it preference or a specific reason?
Irvin says
You can totally saute the garlic with the leeks, but I boil it with the potatoes because that means I don’t need to chop or mince the garlic. It softens when you boil it with the potatoes and mash easily into the dish. Cooking the garlic with the leeks means you need to chop them, as whole garlic cloves take longer to cook and the leeks will be overdone by the time the garlic is finished cooking.
Joanne Poling says
Why not do both!? Sauté with onions AND add to the potato water. This is a fool proof recipe that my family can never get enough of.
fireboy and watergirl says
Teens can eat!
Clara says
OMG! This was soooo good. I try not to eat mash potatoes because of the carbs but my oh my, after having a mouthful, I just couldn’t stop. And we only used the sour cream, so I can only imagine if we had also used the heavy cream (double cream?)…yum
Don says
Any tips on making these ahead of time?
Soozi says
I am going to try this year….I’ve decided to do a 3-1 mix of white potatoes and sweet potato…..make as I usually do and add the garlic/leek mixture….may or may not need gravy!!….I like creamy mashed potatoes so I’ll be using my stand mixer and adding mayonnaise instead of the sour cream and heavy cream….I know, it sounds awful but my family has designated me the mashed potato maker each year because of the texture and taste….works for us!!
solar smash says
I have never tried adding leek to my mashed potatoes! I will definitely cook it like that next time.
Emily Niennow says
These garlic and leek mashed potatoes sound divine! It’s hard to believe Thanksgiving is almost here. Time flies when you’re having fun, right? I feel like I just blinked and the year is gone. It reminds me of how quickly the orders pile up in Papa’s Pizzeria – you’ve got to be quick to keep everyone happy. Just like mastering this recipe, it’s all about getting the timing and ingredients just right for ultimate satisfaction.
wallm says
Wow, this recipe sounds absolutely amazing! I love the idea of adding leeks to mashed potatoes—it’s such a creative twist! Garlic is always a must for me, but the combination with buttery leeks and sour cream sounds heavenly. I can’t wait to try this for Thanksgiving! By the way, if you’re into cool and unique design tools, check out the Gothic Text Generator—it’s perfect for creating fun text styles for recipe cards or dinner menus! 😊
NooedyAn says
Wow, this recipe sounds amazing! I love the idea of adding leeks to mashed potatoes – what a creative idea! I can’t wait to try this! @ テトリス
walterMlo says
OMG! This was soooo good. I try not to eat mash potatoes because of the carbs but my oh my Спрунки
walterMlo says
OMG! This was soooo good. I try not to eat mash potatoes because of the carbs but my oh my Sprunki
Naoboom says
This is exactly like what my mom used to make. She didn’t use leeks, but she used lots of garlic and onions. These potatoes are delicious without the gravy. They’re super delicious on their own. Are you going home for Thanksgiving, or are you and AJ having friends over? @ Sprunki
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Bettyann Peck says
This recipe sounds delicious, and i’m trying it now.But need to know if I can substitute the golden yukons with russet potatoes! any thoughts would be appreciated
Zachary Hull says
love this!!
Joe Hendrix says
These mashed potatoes sound amazing for Thanksgiving! I totally get that panic about the year flying by. It makes you reflect on so many things, sometimes even random thoughts like ‘should I tske autism test?’ – nothing to do with these potatoes!!
Joe Hendrix says
These mashed potatoes sound amazing for Thanksgiving! I totally get that panic about the year flying by. It makes you reflect on so many things, sometimes even random thoughts like ‘should I tske autism test?’ – nothing to do with these potatoes!!!
Joe Hendrix says
These mashed potatoes sound amazing for Thanksgiving! I totally get that panic about the year flying by. It makes you reflect on so many things, sometimes even random thoughts like ‘should I tske autism test?’ – nothing to do with these potatoes
Carlin says
This is a thanksgiving tradition now, love these! And leftovers are great for your croquettes.
ana says
Made this and it was divine. Absolutely no notes. The only thing I changed was roasting the garlic.
If anyone is interested: Lop off the top of the garlic to expose the top of each clove, drizzle with oil, s&p, wrap in tinfoil, toss in 400f oven for 30 mins until golden and then squeeze them out into the taters afterwards (let it cool a bit, or use tongs and a fork to scoop them out of each pocket). Sooo good.