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So what is Thanksgiving without mashed potatoes, right? I’ll stand up for every American right now and say Oh man! We NEED a tub of creamy, buttery, fluffy mashed potatoes to complete the Thanksgiving Day fare.
But what about Bacon Garlic Mashed Potatoes, though? Like, Oh My Gosh! You have the potato, which is probably the most versatile vegetable out there, and then you add roasted bacon and garlic, and what do you have?
You have perfection; that’s what you have. Perfect Potatoes. I made this dish for the first time last Christmas, and I surprised myself at how wonderful these potatoes came out. They were creamy and perfectly salted, and the bacon drippings gave the potatoes a dreamy, smoky flavor.
The crispy bacon bits in each bite were that special bonus that made this dish genuinely unforgettable. They were the best-mashed potatoes I’d ever made. My guests were happy, too, cause I’d boiled around 15 pounds of baby red potatoes, but it was the fastest dish to disappear!
I start with thin-cut, uncured bacon (I prefer Nitrite-free meats) and half a head of garlic and roast them with sprigs of thyme in the oven until the garlic has browned and the bacon is perfectly crispy.
While I have my bacon and garlic roasting in the oven, I select red potatoes because I like their sweetness and are moister than Russet or Idaho. Whenever I buy potatoes, those are the only ones I love to use.
I peel most of the potatoes but leave a little skin on each and boil them in abundantly sea-salted water with slivers of garlic cloves. They should cook until they are perfectly tender and fall apart when pricked with a fork, and there’s no resistance.
Once the potatoes are cooked, I drain the water, then return them to medium heat and simmer them in milk, salt to taste, and white pepper stirring the potatoes to mix them with the milk. Once the milk has been reduced and absorbed, I remove it from the heat.
I crumble up the bacon, pull apart the roasted garlic (Oh My Gosh! I could munch on these forever), slide the thyme from its stem, and mix them all into the potatoes.
Finally, I pour the bacon and drippings into the potatoes. Mash the potatoes to your liking. I like them as smooth and creamy, but if you want them lumpy, you can mash them to your taste.
You can garnish it with some bits of bacon and diced green onion.
Oh my gosh, you guys, these are show-stopping mashed potatoes! I hope you enjoy these potatoes as much as our family does and they turn out to be a regular on your Thanksgiving To-Do List!
GARLIC BACON MASHED POTATOES
- PREP TIME: 35 mins
- COOK TIME: 30 mins
- TOTAL TIME: 1 hour 5 mins
- Recipe type: Vegetable
- Cuisine: American
- Serves: 6 minutes
INGREDIENTS
- 5 lbs of Red Potatoes
- 16 cups of water for boiling
- Two tablespoons sea salt to boiled water
- One head of garlic, peeled, ½ sliced
- One package of bacon, medium-cut (uncured, nitrite-free)
- 3-4 sprigs of thyme or two teaspoons of dried thyme
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup heavy cream
- Two teaspoons of white pepper
- bacon drippings
- green onion for garnish
INSTRUCTIONS
- Add bacon (preferably nitrite-free), half of a head of peeled garlic, and 3-4 sprigs of thyme to a baking pan and roast for 35 minutes at 350 degrees until the garlic has browned and the bacon is perfectly crispy. (Rotate the pan 15 minutes into cooking.)
- While the bacon and garlic are roasting in the oven, peel the red potatoes, leaving a little skin on each.
- Add salt, slice the remaining garlic, add to water, and bring to a boil at high temperatures. The potatoes should boil until they are perfectly tender and fall apart when pricked with a fork. Once the potatoes are cooked, use a colander to drain the water.
- Return potatoes to medium heat and simmer them in milk, cream, salt to taste, and white pepper stirring the potatoes to mix them with the milk.
- Once the milk has reduced and absorbed fully, remove it from the heat.
- Crumble up the bacon, pull apart the roasted garlic and slide the thyme from its stem. Add to potatoes. Drizzle the bacon drippings over the potatoes and mash the potatoes to your liking. Mix well, making sure to incorporate thoroughly.
- Garnish with green onion or leftover bacon.
NOTES
You can make the bacon ahead of time and add some bacon drippings to the water used for boiling the potatoes.
