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Looking for vegetarian meals with mashed potatoes? Let me start by saying: smart move. Here are some of our very favorite vegan and vegetarian dishes that thrive alongside mashed potatoes or have them baked right in. And scroll down for a creamy, flavorful recipe for mashed potatoes without milk.
Vegetarian & vegan dishes that pair beautifully with the best side dish in the world
1. Burgundy Mushrooms (Mushroom Bourguignon)
Truth be told, I like mushroom bourguignon even better than its beefy brethren. Mushrooms’ savoriness and willingness to absorb flavors make them a beautiful base for this dreamy stew. The recipe is vegetarian, with easy vegan and gluten-free options.
2. Veggie Meatloaf (Vegetarian Nut Roast)
This hearty, savory veggie meatloaf has been a comfort food favorite at our table for many years. Adults and kids love it equally. Contains eggs and dairy.
3. Vegetarian Piccata with Cannellini Beans
If you love piccata but don’t do chicken, white beans make an equally satisfying version. It pairs beautifully with mashed potatoes.
4. Vegan Cauliflower Steak
Cauliflower steaks are incredibly flexible. To serve with mashed potatoes and gravy, you can season the steaks with poultry seasoning before roasting as indicated in the variations section of the post.
5. Jamie Oliver’s Vegan Shepherd’s Pie
This much-loved vegan bake has the mashed potatoes (half white, half sweet) layered right in. It’s pure vegan comfort food with a sophisticated enough flavor profile and presentation that it fits right in at a dinner party or holiday table.
6. Classic Stuffing
Around here, we are perfectly happy to make the occasional meal out of Thanksgiving-style side dishes. Here are our favorite vegan and vegetarian stuffing recipes. Try adding some creamed spinach, garlicky sautéed spinach, zucchini and onions, mushrooms, or green beans.
7. Colcannon Cakes
Colcannon and cheddar skillet cakes are made from the Irish classic dish that combines mashed potatoes and cabbage or kale. You can make them from scratch in about 45 minutes. Or you can start with either leftover mashed potatoes or leftover colcannon and have them ready in less than half an hour. Served with a green salad, they make a great vegetarian main dish with mashed potatoes.
Don’t forget the gravy
Vegetarian gravy has been one of our most popular recipes for many years. There are easy vegan and gluten-free options in the post. It’s wonderfully savory, easy to scale up or down, and make-ahead friendly. Don’t miss it.
Our favorite mashed potato recipes
Mashed potatoes may be the #1 most requested recipe in our household. Here are our favorite ways to enjoy them:
- For holidays: A big, consistent, fan-favorite batch
- Small-batch classic Yukon Golds
- Wasabi mashed potatoes
- Boursin mashed potatoes
- And see the recipe card below for a fabulous dairy-free, vegan recipe
Making mashed potatoes without milk
If you need a dairy-free mashed potatoes recipe, there’s no need to sacrifice one iota of flavor or texture. There’s also no need to use plant-based milks (I’m looking at you, almond milk) which, if we’re being honest don’t really complement the flavor of either potatoes or the dishes you’ll be serving alongside. Here’s the recipe we love.
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Mashed Potatoes (Dairy Free & Vegan)
Ingredients
- 2 pounds (900 grams) Yukon Gold potatoes
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon fine sea salt, divided
- 12 cloves garlic
- ¼ cup (60 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Fill a medium pot halfway with cold water. Stir in the tablespoon fine sea salt.
- Peel potatoes and cut into 1-inch pieces, adding to the pot as you go.
- Bring water to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer, uncovered, until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.
- Scoop out and reserve 1 cup of cooking water, then drain potatoes and return to pot.
- Meanwhile, peel garlic, smash cloves with the side of a chef’s knife, and mince.
- In a small pot over medium-low heat, simmer garlic in olive oil for a few minutes without browning.
- Mash potatoes until smooth.
- Pour in garlic olive oil and sprinkle with the remaining teaspoon salt and the pepper. Stir to incorporate. If potatoes are thicker than you like, stir in some of the reserved cooking water.
- Taste and adjust for salt and pepper.
Notes
- Yukon Gold potatoes or a similar gold-fleshed potato variety have just the right ratio of creaminess to waxiness to starch to yield unfussy mashed potatoes that everyone will love.
- Contrary to what you may have heard, it’s perfectly fine to make mashed potatoes in advance. The starches will relax a bit as mashed potatoes sit, and this is a perfectly good thing. If you’ve used a heavy pot, you can pop a lid on it and expect the potatoes to stay hot for quite a while as you finish up other tasks. If not, you can easily reheat mashed potatoes in the microwave. We love our good old Corningware lidded casserole for this purpose, but really any microwave-safe serving bowl will do.
- Leftovers will keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for a week and can be reheated per the microwave instructions above.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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