Instant Pot Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

Today’s recipe for Instant Pot cauliflower mashed potatoes makes the creamiest, most tender mashed potatoes you’ll ever taste. There’s also a whole head of steamed cauliflower folded in to lighten up this Thanksgiving favorite!

Note: This blog post is the first in a series of recipes I’ll be running in the lead-up to Thanksgiving. Stay tuned for more great Thanksgiving recipes!

In the lead-up to the Thanksgiving dinner we’re hosting in London this year, I’ve been looking for new recipes on classic side dishes. I’m especially interested in any recipes that cut down on cooking time because this year we’re hosting a record number of friends in our little flat.

Quite frankly, with the number of guests and the food I want to prepare, I have to make sure everything cooks with military precision. No wasted minutes over the stove. No burners left unused. It’s a serious mission to feed all these people hot, delicious Thanksgiving food, and I will not fail. (I may cry, but I won’t fail.)

And boy, do these Instant Pot cauliflower mashed potatoes deliver. The first time I made mashed potatoes in an Instant Pot, I wondered whyyyy I’ve been making them in a pot with boiling water all this time. It’s so Neanderthal to do it that way when you have an Instant Pot that cuts the cooking time for your potatoes by at least half, if not more.

Not only that, using the Instant Pot is foolproof. Instead of constantly checking the potatoes bubbling away on your stove, testing and re-testing to see whether they’re soft enough to mash, the Instant Pot takes the guesswork out of it. Set the Instant Pot on the amount of time, and that is literally it. Once the Instant Pot‘s timer goes off, the potatoes are perfectly crumbly, ready to be mashed into smooth, tasty perfection.

The very best part of making these Instant Pot cauliflower mashed potatoes is that you don’t occupy precious stove space with boiling potatoes. You can use it for more important things, like making a pecan pie filling or simmering some turkey broth for gravy. See? We can totally do this Thanksgiving thing.

Instant Pot Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

35 mins

Serves: 6

Ingredients

2 lbs (1 kg) russet or Maris Piper potatoes, peeled and quartered into large chunks
1 head of cauliflower, washed, stem cut away and chopped into large florets
¼ cup (55g) unsalted butter
4 ounces (115g) cream cheese, softened at room temperature
1 garlic clove, peeled
2 teaspoons salt, divided
1 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

Note: if you don't have an Instant Pot, you can make this recipe just as easily on the stove! Just put the potatoes and cauliflower in a large stock pot, cover with water, and boil everything until the potatoes are tender enough to be cut with a butter knife.
Place the potatoes and cauliflower in your Instant Pot's inner pot. Add one teaspoon of the salt and cover with water (about 4.5 cups).
Put the lid on your Instant Pot and set it to the "steam" function for 10 minutes.
While the Instant Pot is cooking, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the garlic clove and let the garlic cook in the butter until it's browned. Remove the garlic clove and discard.
When the Instant Pot is done cooking, let the Pot switch to the "Keep Warm" mode for 10 minutes, then release the steam. Open the Instant Pot, drain the potatoes and cauliflower and return everything to the inner pot.
While the potatoes and cauliflower are still hot, mash the potatoes and cauliflower together with a potato masher (a large fork will also do the job, but not as well). Add the cream cheese, butter, pepper and the remaining teaspoon of salt and mix well. Serve immediately or transfer to a 9x13 pan and cover with foil to keep warm in the oven (set to 150 degrees or the warmer function on your oven).