Miso Mashed Potatoes are a rich and creamy side dish flavored with an umami-packed miso butter, garlic, and sage. Enjoy as is or with gravy or au jus. Add these crowd-pleaser potatoes to your weeknight dinner rotation and holiday menu!
These miso roasted potatoes are wonderfully creamy and flavorful. First, the miso paste naturally has salt in it, so you will not need to add much more salt to enhance the flavor. Second, the combination of the umami-packed miso, fragrant garlic, and creamy butter make for a rich and delicious mashed potato dish.
Serve it as a weeknight side with furikake salmon, lemon roasted chicken, or juicy garlic butter chicken breast or add it to your holiday menu. Be sure to make enough for seconds because these miso potatoes will be very popular!
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About Mashed Potatoes with Miso
- Taste - These potatoes are perfectly buttery and rich with a unique umami flavor.
- Texture - They are the perfect balance of creamy and thick.
- Effort - You just need to to boil the potatoes, make the miso butter, then mash and mix.
- Time - It takes about 20 minutes to prep the potatoes and 25 minutes to cook them.
What is Miso?
Miso is a Japanese ingredient made of fermented soybean paste. There are many types of miso, ranging from white to yellow to red. Red miso is saltier and more pungent than white miso.
Miso is the base of many Japanese soups, sauces, and spreads and tastes sweet, savory, and earthy all at once. We personally love to add a bit of miso to dishes that could use a little taste of umami, or the elusive fifth taste.
Ingredients
- Yukon gold potatoes - Yukon potatoes are the best potatoes for mashing because they have a rich flavor and when mashed are both buttery and fluffy.
- Olive oil - Use olive oil cook the miso milk mixture.
- Butter - Butter is essential to making the mashed potatoes creamy and rich. I recommend using European butter like Kerry Gold because it has a higher fat content and is richer than American butter.
- Garlic - Garlic provides the classic flavor that is not overpowering.
- Sage leaves - Sage adds a sharp and earthy aroma.
- Miso paste - Miso paste adds a unique savory flavor to the miso potatoes.
- Heavy cream - Heavy cream provides extra creaminess and richness.
Substitutions
- Red potatoes - Replace Yukon potatoes with red potatoes for a similar waxy potatoes that are both buttery and fluffy.
- Russet potatoes - Russet potatoes are oblong are very light fluffy when mashed.
- Stock - Cook the potatoes in vegetable, chicken, or beef stock instead of water to add richness to the mashed potatoes.
- Herbs - Use other herbs of your liking, like minced rosemary, chives, Italian flat leaf parsley, thyme, or a mixture.
Variations
- Extra Cheesy - Add 1 cup of grated cheese, such as gruyere or Parmigiano-Reggiano, for a cheesy twist.
- Roasted Garlic - Make roasted garlic instead of mincing it for extra rich and nutty garlic flavor.
- Sour cream or creme fraiche - Fold in a quarter cup of sour cream or creme fraiche to make the potatoes extra creamy.
- Fried Sage - Chop fried sage for a deep sage flavor. Sprinkle on top as garnish or fold into the potatoes.
- Honey Miso Mashed Potatoes - Add 1-2 tablespoons of honey to the miso butter mixture to increase the umami flavor and to add a touch of sweetness.
- Miso twice baked mashed potatoes - Use this recipe and add sour cream or creme fraiche and cheese for a miso-enriched version for our twice baked mashed potatoes. Garnish with crispy prosciutto for extra flavor.
Instructions
- Boil Potatoes - In a large pot, bring salted water to a rolling boil. Add peeled potatoes to the water and cook for 20-25 minutes or until tender. (Photo 1)
- Make miso butter - While the potatoes are boiling, place 3 tablespoon butter and olive oil in a saucepan on low heat. Once the butter has slightly melted, add the garlic, sage, and heavy cream. Once the garlic softens, stir in miso paste until it becomes homogeneous. Remove from heat, remove whole sage leaves, and set the mixture aside. If using minced sage leaves, leave them in the mixture. (Photo 2 and 3)
- Strain and mash potatoes - Once the potatoes are cooked, strain them and immediately use a potato masher or process the potatoes through a potato ricer over a large mixing bowl. (Photo 4)
- Add miso mixture - Slowly add the miso milk mixture, salt, and pepper to taste into the potatoes and blend until creamy. (Photo 5 and 6)
- Drizzle butter - In a small saucepan, melt remaining 3 tablespoon butter. Top the potatoes with butter and serve. (Photo 7)
Pro tip - Use a potato ricer to make the potatoes perfectly fluffy. It also requires less manual labor.
What to Serve with Miso Mashed Potatoes
Roasted miso mashed potatoes are a quintessential fall side. Serve them with your favorite fall dinner dishes, like Roasted Turkey Roulade or Roast Chicken Thighs and Vegetables.
If you want to make this side for Thanksgiving, check out these other perfect sides: Harvest Quinoa Salad with Arugula, Maple Roasted Kabocha, Sautéed Haricot Verts with Furikake, and Sautéed Mushrooms with White Wine.
Equipment
Miso mashed potatoes require common kitchen essentials. You need a potato peeler, measuring cup, skillet or non-stick pan, a medium pot or dutch oven, a potato masher, an electric mixer, a wooden spoon; and a serving bowl.
Storage
Store leftover homemade mashed potatoes in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat leftover potatoes in a pan or dutch oven over low heat or microwave them in a microwave safe container until warm.
Top Tip
- When adding salt to taste, add slowly. The miso adds a great savory flavor so you won’t need much salt.
- Since the skin is staying on, be sure to clean the potatoes well to remove any dirt or debris.
- Don't overcook the potatoes or they will have a gummy, pasty texture. Test for doneness by poking the potatoes with a fork.
- Don't over mash the potatoes or they can become sticky.
Recipe FAQ
There are two key factors that make for fluffy, creamy mashed potatoes: mashing method and fat content. Use a potato ricer for the best fool-proof fluffy consistency and fold in the ingredients until just combined to avoid gummy, pasty potatoes. From there, the heavy cream and butter mixture will make the potatoes creamy.
We recommend white miso (shiro miso) or yellow miso (awairo miso) for miso mashed potatoes. White miso has a sweet and subtle miso flavor, and yellow miso is slightly stronger in umami flavor. You can use red miso (miso), but note that the flavor is much stronger than white and yellow miso. We like Hikari miso paste because it is high-quality yet affordable.
Yes, you can prepare miso mashed potatoes up to 2 days ahead of time for the best results. You can reheat leftover miso mashed potatoes in a pan, pot, or dutch oven on the stove over low heat or microwave them in a microwave safe container until hot, mixing halfway through.
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📖 Recipe
Miso Butter Mashed Potatoes
Equipment
- 1 Skillet
Ingredients
- 3 lb Yukon gold potatoes cut in half or quarters, skin on or peeled
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 6 tablespoon butter divided
- 2-3 garlic cloves minced
- 3-5 sage leaves whole or minced, see notes*
- 1 tablespoon miso paste or more to taste, see notes**
- 1 cup heavy cream
- Kosher salt or sea salt
- Fresh ground pepper
Instructions
- Boil potatoes - In a large pot, bring salted water to a rolling boil. Add potatoes to the water and cook for 20-25 minutes or until tender.3 lb Yukon gold potatoes, Kosher salt or sea salt
- Make miso butter - While the potatoes are boiling, place 3 tablespoon butter and olive oil in a saucepan on low heat. Once the butter has slightly melted, add the garlic, sage, and heavy cream. Once the garlic softens, stir in miso paste until it becomes homogeneous. Remove from heat, remove any whole sage leaves, and set the mixture aside. If using minced sage leaves, leave them in the mixture.3 tablespoon olive oil, 6 tablespoon butter, 2-3 garlic cloves, 3-5 sage leaves, 1 cup heavy cream, 1 tablespoon miso paste
- Strain and mash potatoes - Once the potatoes are cooked, strain them and immediately use a potato masher or process the potatoes through a potato ricer over a large mixing bowl.
- Add miso mixture - Slowly add the miso milk mixture, salt, and pepper to taste into the potatoes and blend until creamy.Kosher salt or sea salt, Fresh ground pepper
- Drizzle butter - In a small saucepan, melt remaining 3 tablespoon butter. Top the potatoes with butter and serve.
Video
Notes
- *Use minced sage leaves for a stronger sage flavor or use whole sage leaves to later be removed for a more subtle sage flavor.
- **We recommend white miso (shiro miso) or yellow miso (awairo miso) for miso mashed potatoes. White miso has a sweet and subtle miso flavor, and yellow miso is slightly stronger in umami flavor. You can use red miso (miso), but note that the flavor is much stronger than white and yellow miso. We prefer Hikari miso paste because it is high-quality yet affordable.
- Refrigerate leftover miso mashed potatoes in an air-tight container for up to 3 days. You can reheat leftover miso mashed potatoes in a pan or dutch oven on the stove over low heat or microwave them in a microwave safe container until hot.
- If you want to make your mashed potatoes crunchy, leave the potato skins on.
- When adding salt to taste, add it slowly. Miso adds a rich savory flavor so you won’t need much salt.
Jen K.
Delicious! Thank you 🙂
Kathleen Higashiyama
Thank you for making our recipe, so glad you liked it!