Best Healthy Mashed Potatoes
Published 11/11/2021 • Updated 11/8/2023
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Just as flavorful and creamy as the classic, these healthy mashed potatoes are made with better-for-you ingredients like Greek yogurt and fresh herbs. Add them to your holiday dinner menu or whip them up for an easy weeknight side!
Mashed potatoes will forever be my favorite holiday side dish. I look forward to them at Thanksgiving and Christmas and often wonder why we don’t make them on the reg. They’re incredibly simple to make and don’t require any fancy ingredients!
This specific healthy mashed potatoes recipe is a twist on my mom’s mashed potatoes which she makes with tons of butter, sour cream, and a little cream cheese. I love using tried-and-true family recipes and finding ways to make them my own.
While we don’t love using the word “healthy,” this recipe really is healthier than classic mashed potatoes. To boiled potatoes, we add far less butter than normal, thick and tangy Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, and skip the heavy cream and cream cheese. A sprinkle of fresh herbs adds bright flavor. One taste of these Greek yogurt mashed potatoes and you’ll understand why we (and readers) love them!
Featured Comment
“This is my go-to mashed potato recipe. So easy, fool proof and so good.” – Katie
What You Need for Healthy Mashed Potatoes
These creamy, dreamy, and perfectly smooth Greek yogurt mashed potatoes come together with basic ingredients including:
- Russet potatoes
- Salt + pepper
- Greek yogurt
- Butter
- Fresh thyme + rosemary
- Milk
Substitutions for Healthy Mashed Potatoes
Feel free to try any of these delicious variations of or swaps for these healthy mashed potatoes:
- Potatoes: Instead of russet potatoes, try using 3 pounds of Yukon gold potatoes, Idaho potatoes, red potatoes, or fingerling potatoes. For a sweet potato variation, make our mashed sweet potatoes!
- Potato Prep: Feel free to boil whole potatoes instead of quartering them. They’ll take a bit longer to cook so keep an eye on them. And, if you’re not a fan of potato skin, peel the potatoes before boiling.
- Milk: Any kind of dairy or plain non-dairy milk works great. For thinner mashed potatoes, use the full cup of milk. Feel free to sub chicken broth or veggie broth if you want instead. For thicker mashed potatoes, mix in just enough milk until you reach the desired consistency.
- Roasted Garlic: Try adding some roasted garlic to these herby mashed potatoes. We suggest using about 6-10 cloves, mashing them, and stirring them in right at the end. (Instead of whole cloves, mix in 1-2 teaspoons of garlic powder, but it’s just not the same.)
More of our Favorite…
Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes
Looking for more healthy Thanksgiving recipes to fill your holiday table with? Check out all of our best turkey day recipes in one spot!
FAQ
For these healthy mashed potatoes, we love using russet potatoes because they get so creamy! But, you can really use any kind of potato – choose whatever kind you like best. A few others that would be delicious as mashed potatoes are Yukon gold potatoes, red potatoes, or Idaho potatoes.
Definitely! You’ll notice in our recipe, we don’t peel the potatoes. We love leaving the skin on for added texture, but it’s totally up to you! If you’d like to use peeled potatoes, peel them before boiling.
This really depends on how big the potato chunks are. We quartered our potatoes on purpose so they boil faster. Quartered potatoes take about 20-25 minutes to boil.
Yes! If you boil whole potatoes, they’ll take longer to cook. Keep an eye on them – they’re done when you can easily pierce them with a fork.
There are so many ways to use leftover mashed potatoes. Our two favorite ways? Potato pancakes and potato soup (just add milk or cream). Or, make a leftover turkey sandwich and use mashed potatoes in place of hummus or mayo!
Complete Your Holiday Meal!
Looking for more Thanksgiving recipe inspiration? Here are some of our most popular recipes!
Storage
When the mashed potatoes have completely cooled to room temperature, transfer them to an airtight container, and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
We don’t recommend freezing mashed potatoes. The texture and consistency of the potatoes becomes grainy and not that tasty. These healthy mashed potatoes are best enjoyed fresh (or reheated as refrigerated leftovers).
Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes
Free up valuable kitchen space during the holidays and make these Greek yogurt mashed potatoes a few days ahead of time. Let the mashed potatoes cool completely, transfer to an airtight container, and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
When ready to serve, warm the potatoes up in the microwave or transfer to an oven-safe baking dish and heat until warmed through. You may need to mix in a splash of milk or a dollop of Greek yogurt to thin the potatoes out a little bit.
Serving Suggestions
Wow your holiday guests and serve these healthy mashed potatoes as part of your Friendsgiving, Thanksgiving, or holiday celebrations. They pair wonderfully with any of our holiday recipes and are exceptionally delicious topped with our mushroom gravy and served next to our sous vide turkey.
Healthy Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3 lbs. russet potatoes, rinsed and quartered
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, divided
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup butter, plus more for serving
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced
- 1 cup 2% milk
Instructions
- Place the quartered potatoes into a large pot and fully submerge them with water. Add about 1/4 teaspoon of salt and stir.
- Bring the pot of potatoes to a boil over medium/high heat. Boil for 20-25 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork-tender.
- Once tender, strain the potatoes and place them back into the pot. Add the remaining salt, pepper, yogurt, butter, and herbs. Use an electric mixer (for smoother mashed potatoes) or potato masher (for chunkier mashed potatoes) to mash potatoes.
- Slowly stir in the milk, a little bit at a time, until you’ve reached the desired consistency.
- Top with additional butter, if desired, and enjoy.
Tips & Notes
- Storage: Store these healthy mashed potatoes in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
- Reheating Instructions: When ready to serve, warm the potatoes up in the microwave or transfer to an oven-safe baking dish and heat until warmed through. You may need to mix in a splash of milk or a dollop of Greek yogurt to thin the potatoes out a little bit.
- Potatoes: We kept the skin on the potatoes. If you prefer peeled potatoes, peel them before chopping. The bigger your potato chunks, the longer they will take to boil. These mashed potatoes are also delicious with Yukon gold potatoes!
Watch It
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Could these be frozen if I chose to make a double batch?
Easiest, most delicious and lighter feeling, classic mashed potato recipe!
This is my go-to mashed potato recipe. So easy, fool proof and so good.
Glad you love it!!
This will be my go to mashed potato recipe from now on. Just perfect!
Made these for friends-giving and they were a HUGE hit! SO delicious!! We used yukon gold potatoes and half the amount of butter, turned out beautifully.
Yukon Gold YASSSSSSSSS.
Sounds yummy. Will try