These creamy mashed potatoes without milk are simple, creamy, and satisfying. Instead of milk, it uses the starchy cooking water from the potatoes for a naturally rich, silky texture. Ready in 25 minutes and includes an oil-free option!
This recipe goes great with my creamy cashew nut gravy and this vegan mushroom gravy recipe. Also, check out my mashed potatoes with garlic recipe for another delicious option.
🔍 A Quick Look: Mashed Potatoes Without Milk
- 📝 Recipe Name: Mashed Potatoes Without Milk
- 🕒 Total Time: 25 minutes
- 👥 Servings: 6
- 🎯 Key Ingredients: Golden potatoes, tahini (or vegan butter), garlic, starchy cooking water (from the water for boiling potatoes)
- 🌱 Dietary Info: Vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, oil-free optional
- ✨ Best For: Holidays, meal prep, weeknight dinners, or hearty bowls
- 💕 Why You’ll Love It: Delicious, super creamy, & ready in 25 minutes. Always a crowd pleaser.
Jump to:
- 🔍 A Quick Look: Mashed Potatoes Without Milk
- Why This Recipe Works
- Ingredients & Substitutions
- Why Golden Potatoes
- Variations
- Best Tools for Creamy Vegan Mashed Potatoes
- Tested Tips
- How to Make Mashed Potatoes Without Milk
- Serving Suggestions
- Storage & Meal Prep
- Vegan Mashed Potatoes Without Milk FAQs
- More Thanksgiving Sides Recipes
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Comments
These everyday mashed potatoes are healthy, easy, and creamy. I often use tahini (sesame seed paste) instead of oil or butter — though either works well, especially for holidays or special dinners.
I first started experimenting with tahini and starchy potato water when I was eating oil-free, and I still love it for the naturally rich flavor it adds without dairy or heavy cream.
For holidays or special dinners, I swap in vegan butter to make them extra indulgent. Paired with my easy cashew gravy that comes together fast, this recipe makes a delicious weeknight side or cozy main for bowls.
Why This Recipe Works
- Instead of milk, I use the starchy cooking water from the potatoes — a trick for naturally getting a silky texture.
- Use tahini for an everyday oil-free version or vegan butter for a classic, indulgent finish.
- I use golden potatoes to keep the mash extra smooth. No need for a mixer or processor, just use a potato masher.
- You can keep the skins on for extra fiber and texture. You can also add in some roasted garlic for garlicky potatoes (I often throw a bulb of garlic in the oven during meal prep so it’s ready to go).
Potatoes are a nearly daily staple for me, whether it’s these vegan mashed potatoes without milk, baked potatoes with veggies, air-fryer crispy potato wedges, or my air fryer sweet potato wedges. So good!
Ingredients & Substitutions
Here’s what you’ll need to make this creamy mashed potatoes without milk.
- Golden potatoes: Russets work too
- Tahini: Or use vegan butter or olive oil for a more indulgent version.
- Starchy cooking water: Start with a smaller amount and add more as needed
- Garlic powder: Substitute with roasted or fresh, or skip if preferred.
See the recipe card for quantities.
Why Golden Potatoes
Golden (Yukon) potatoes have a naturally rich, buttery flavor that makes them taste creamy even before you add anything. They mash smooth and silky without milk, which is why I use them for almost every potato recipe.
Compared to other varieties:
- Russets are light and fluffy but can get gluey fast if you overmix or add too much liquid.
- Red potatoes hold their shape and have a bit more texture — great for rustic mashed potatoes or skin-on versions.
- Yukon (golden) are soft, velvety, and forgiving. They soak up tahini or vegan butter beautifully, like classic mashed potatoes.
Variations
- Garlic lovers: Roast a whole bulb alongside your meal prep and mash in a few cloves for a mellow, roasted garlic flavor.
- Herbed mash: Stir in chopped parsley, thyme, or chives right before serving for a bright, fresh twist.
- Oil-free: Skip the butter and drizzle in a bit more starchy water or broth for light, fluffy potatoes that still feel cozy.
- Cheesy: Double the nutritional yeast or stir in my 5-minute almond parmesan cheese or vegan provolone cheese sauce.
- Mild Heat: Add in a swirl or two of vegan creamy chipotle sauce, a pinch of cayenne or red pepper flakes.
- Lighter mash: Replace part of the potatoes with steamed cauliflower or add sautéed onions for a sweet, savory depth.
Best Tools for Creamy Vegan Mashed Potatoes
- Potato masher: I like to mash by hand for a classic texture, then use a fork at the end if a few small lumps remain. You can also use a ricer for extra-smooth results.
- Wooden spoon or silicone spatula for folding in tahini or vegan butter and adjusting texture as you go.
- Avoid food processors or blenders that break down too much starch, creating gummy, gluey potatoes. If you use a hand mixer, go gently to keep them light and fluffy.
Tested Tips
- Chop potatoes into uniform pieces so they cook at the same rate. This helps prevent a gluey mix of over- and undercooked bits.
- Salt your cooking water generously. Think pasta-water salty. It seasons from the inside out, letting you use less salt later.
- Cook until just fork-tender. Overboiled potatoes absorb too much water and can turn gummy.
- Use a ricer or masher, not a mixer, to keep the texture light and fluffy.
How to Make Mashed Potatoes Without Milk
Here’s what you’ll need to make this creamy mashed potatoes without milk recipe:
- Step 1: Add chopped potatoes to a pot, cover with water, and add bouillon cube. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until tender (12–15 minutes).
- Step 2: Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water (this is what replaces the milk!). Drain the potatoes and return them to the pot.
- Step 3: Mash lightly with a potato masher.
- Step 4: Add tahini (or vegan butter), garlic, salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast. Add splashes of the reserved water while mashing until smooth and creamy.
- Step 5: Enjoy!
Serving Suggestions
- Pair with easy vegan stuffing, cheesy dairy free hash brown casserole, my baked vegan mac and cheese recipe, vegan lentil quinoa meatloaf, and this vegan pumpkin pecan pie for a holiday spread.
- Pair with maple glazed tofu and my pressure cooker mac and cheese.
- Add to loaded mashed potato bowls with my soy burgers recipe or my tofu italian sausage recipe and top with cashew sour cream or my creamy cashew gravy recipe (so good!).
Storage & Meal Prep
- Fridge: Up to 4 days in an airtight container.
- Freezer: Up to 1 month; reheat gently with a splash of water or broth.
- Meal prep tip: Double the recipe and portion it into containers for quick reheats with gravy. I often make a batch of gravy for weekly meal prep, but you can make it while the potatoes are boiling (or steaming if you prefer!).
Vegan Mashed Potatoes Without Milk FAQs
Yukon Golds are my go-to — they’re naturally creamy and buttery without any dairy. Russets work too, but they’re starchier, so go lighter on the added water to keep them fluffy instead of gluey.
The starchy cooking water from the potatoes works perfectly as a milk substitute. It creates a naturally creamy texture and blends smoothly with tahini, broth, or plant milk for extra richness.
Yes! Make them up to 2 days in advance. Cool completely, then store in an airtight container in the fridge. When ready to serve, reheat gently on the stovetop or in the oven with a splash of broth or reserved potato water until creamy again.
That usually means they were overmixed. Skip the blender or food processor — they overwork the starch. Stick with a potato masher or ricer, and mash just until smooth.
Either works! Leaving the skins on adds fiber and a rustic feel. Yukon Golds work well either way, while Russets are best peeled for the smoothest texture. Just scrub them clean before cooking.
More Thanksgiving Sides Recipes
Did you try this recipe? Let me know what you thought by leaving a comment below and sharing it on Instagram, Facebook, & Pinterest! 💛
📖 Recipe
Easy Mashed Potatoes Without Milk
Ingredients
- 2.5 pounds golden potatoes, cut into quarters (or halves if small) for even cooking, peeled or unpeeled
- 1 vegan bouillon cube, or 1 teaspoon bouillon paste
- 2 ½ tablespoons tahini, or vegan butter, adjust to taste
- ½-1 cup starchy cooking water, reserved from the boiling water for the potatoes. Start low, add more as needed for texture
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder, see Notes for roasted garlic variation
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste, see Notes
- 15 turns black pepper, or to taste
- 1-2 tablespoons nutritional yeast, optional, for cheesy umami depth
Instructions
- Boil the potatoes: Add chopped potatoes to a large pot, cover with water, and add the bouillon cube. Bring to a boil, then simmer until tender (about 12–15 minutes).
- Reserve the liquid: Before draining, scoop out 1 cup of the starchy cooking water.
- Drain & mash: Drain the potatoes, return to the pot, and mash lightly with a potato masher. If any lumps remain, use a fork.
- Flavor and mash: Add tahini, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast. Add small splashes of the reserved water and mash until creamy.
- Serve: Garnish with fresh chives, fresh parsley, and green onion. Serve with cashew gravy or vegan gravy.
Video
Notes
- If using Russets, start with ¼ cup water, make sure not to overmix, and you may need a touch more butter or tahini.
- Tahini or butter: Use tahini for an oil-free everyday version, or vegan butter (I like Earth Balance) for a classic holiday flavor.
- Vegan bouillon cube: Start with one cube and taste the cooking water. If it tastes lightly savory, you're set. For a bolder flavor, add a second cube midway through boiling.
- Roasted garlic variation: Swap the garlic powder for 4-5 roasted garlic cloves. Mash them in during Step 4 instead of the garlic powder for a milder, sweeter flavor.
- Salt your cooking water: Think pasta-water salty - it seasons from the inside out.
- Don't overcook: Cook until just fork-tender. Overboiled potatoes absorb too much water and can turn gummy.
- For the best texture: Use a masher, then a fork to smooth any small lumps.
- Salt note: Taste before serving and adjust as needed. Bouillon and cooking water can vary in saltiness, so start with less and add more at the end if needed.
Nutrition
Julie Gaeta is a plant-based recipe creator, certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach (INHC) with advanced training in hormone health, trained yoga instructor, former restaurant owner, and mom of nine who’s been plant-based for over 20 years. She’s cooked approximately 4,382 pots of beans and reinvented comfort food more times than she can count. She’s completed multiple half marathons and a Tough Mudder because she can’t resist a new adventure — and apparently, she can’t vacation without cooking either, since her juicer (beets and greens, too) and pasta pot always come along. Julie’s work has been featured in HuffPost, Yahoo, YourTango, Mamamia, MSN, Redfin, Better Humans, and The Good Men Project. Through her blog, coaching, and weekly newsletter, she helps others simplify wellness, build lasting habits, and feel good again — one grounded, delicious choice at a time.
Julie Gaeta says
These are such an easy, everyday mashed potato that works with so many meals. My favorites are cabbage rolls and cabbage steaks. So good! They always turn out delicious, and you’ll never miss the dairy.