Greek Yogurt Mashed Potatoes is an easy and deliciously creamy healthy mashed potatoes recipe you can make ahead. Learn about the best potatoes for mashing, how to add lots of flavour, and why I love to make mashed potatoes with skin on for an extra nutritious side dish!
For the longest time, I felt like mashed potatoes wasn't really something anyone needed a recipe for. And then I had really good mashed potatoes for the first time and my mind was blown.
I asked our host what kind of voodoo he was practicing to make the most amazing, other-worldly melt-in-your-mouth delicious potato dish that had ever crossed my lips, and was subjected to a 30-minute lecture about the best potatoes for mashed potatoes, various mashing techniques, and the merits of leaving the skin on or taking it off.
But the tl;dr answer? Butter. Lots and lots and lots of butter. It reminded me of this episode of Top Chef I'd seen in which one of the contestants made a mashed potato recipe from some French restaurant which was half potato and half butter by weight. Half butter! By weight!
Friends, this is not that. I've taken what I learned about how to make the best mashed potatoes, and combined it with what I know about nutrition and food science in order to make this crazy delicious healthy mashed potatoes recipe: Greek Yogurt Mashed Potatoes.
What's in this recipe?
These Greek Yogurt Mashed Potatoes recipe has only a handful of ingredients! You're going to want to grab:
- Potatoes --> We'll discuss potato varietals below.
- Greek yogurt --> Surprise!
- Vegetable broth --> Building in flavour!
- Butter --> But just a little bit!
- Chives --> Not mandatory, but if you want to be fancy then throw 'em in!
- Salt and pepper --> Because of course.
How do you make healthy mashed potatoes?
Ok, here's the deal. We're going to replace all of the cream and most of the butter with Greek yogurt and a bit of vegetable broth. We're actually going to cook the potatoes in the broth, which adds flavour before we've even started mashing.
Ready?
Step 1: Dice up your potatoes and add them to a pot with the vegetable broth. The broth won't cover the potatoes, but that's ok. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer until the potatoes are fork tender.
Step 2: Drain the potatoes, but (this is important!) make sure you RESERVE THE BROTH.
Step 3: Mash your spuds. I use an old-school potato masher rather than a ricer, because I like to make mashed potatoes with skin on. More on that below.
Step 4: Once mashed, add the butter, Greek yogurt, and salt and pepper to taste. If you feel like your mashed potatoes are on the dry side, add a little bit of the reserved broth. It's full of flavour and nice and thick with potato starch, so it's the perfect thing to mix in.
Step 5: Top your potatoes with chives, green onions, or whatever else you're into (try our easy and simple Vegan Gravy), and serve!
Can I make mashed potatoes in advance?
You bet you can! Simply re-heat in the microwave or in the oven.
If they seem a bit dry on re-heating, you can add a little bit of your reserved vegetable broth back in. See? Moisture AND flavour. Boom!
What are the best potatoes for mashing?
Excellent question! While many people think that a floury potato varietal like Russet are the best potatoes for mashing, when I'm making healthy mashed potatoes I prefer to use a waxy varietal like Yukon Gold.
Why? The drier, fluffier Russet potatoes will soak up a TON of liquid, and you keep having to add more butter and more cream to get that perfect mashed potato texture. Waxy potatoes like Yukon Gold not only have a great, buttery flavour to begin with, they require less liquid and fat to be added to the mash.
Should I leave the skin on mashed potatoes?
This is a matter of personal preference, but when it comes to making healthy mashed potatoes I am firmly on team skin. I also really love making red skin mashed potatoes, but I couldn't find any on the day I took these photos!
When you make mashed potatoes with skin you leave a ton of nutrients in the dish as much of a potato's nutrition is concentrated in the skin. Leaving the skin on also significantly increases the dietary fiber in these Greek Yogurt mashed potatoes, which is good for your gut.
Also, I am lazy and seriously can not be bothered to peel a bunch of potatoes that are just gonna get mashed up. You do what you will.
What kind of yogurt is best for mashed potatoes?
Please go and find yourself some full-fat Greek Yogurt or other Balkan style yogurt for these healthy mashed potatoes.
Remember that we're replacing a butt-load of butter and cream here, and a full-fat yogurt is going to result in much more delicious mashed potatoes than low-fat or fat-free.
Other tricks for healthy mashed potatoes:
These Greek Yogurt Mashed Potatoes are my jam, but there are soooooo many other great recipes for healthy mashed potatoes (and other mashes) out there. Here are a few of my favourites!
- How to make mashed potatoes with a ricer
- Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
- Kale Mashed Potatoes
- Vegan Mashed Potatoes
- Celeriac Purée
- Cauliflower Mash
Hey Nutrition Lady, are potatoes healthy?
You bet they are! Potatoes are a great source of vitamin B6, which does all kinds of important things, like building new cells in your body. B6 is also needed for the creation of amines, like serotonin, melatonin, epinephrine, and norepinephrine that help to regulate mood, sleep, and stress, respectively.
Diets rich in vitamin B6 are attributed to lower rates of heart disease. Also, B6 is vital for the breakdown of gylcogen – the form in which sugar is stored in our body – into usable energy.
Potatoes are also a good source of potassium, copper, vitamin C, manganese, phosphorous, niacin, and dietary fiber. But! Most of the fiber content is in the skin of the potato, so leave the skin on (like in these Greek Yogurt Mashed Potatoes!) for all of the important benefits of ingesting fiber.
Good to know – potatoes are a member of the nightshade family (along with tomatoes, bell peppers, and eggplants), which some people have adverse reactions to. It’s also worth noting that potatoes are on the ‘dirty dozen’ list of foods to buy organic whenever possible.
Other healthy side dishes you might enjoy:
Roasted Romanesco
Miso Maple Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Cheesy Baked Spaghetti Squash Noodles
Lemony Roasted Tahini Cauliflower
Air Fryer Carrots
Green Beans Gremolata
Crispy Potato Wedges
Greek Yogurt Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- ½ cup full-fat Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives or green onion
- Sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Place the diced potatoes in a pot with the broth. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce to a simmer, and steam for about 15 minutes, or until potatoes are fork tender.
- Drain, and reserve the remaining broth.
- Transfer the potatoes to a large bowl. Roughly mash the potatoes using a potato masher.
- Add the butter, Greek yogurt, and chives. If the potatoes seem dry, you can add the reserved vegetable broth a couple of tablespoons at a time.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.
Notes
- Nutrition values are an estimate only.
- If you're making the mashed potatoes in advance, reserve the cooking broth to add when reheating so they don't dry out.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published March 12, 2019. It was last edited and updated on March 4, 2021.
Charlotte
I loved this recipe - so nice to use up things in the house, and in such an easy and tasty way.
Frances
This was our New years day potato--did in pressure cooker two pounds yellow potato just cut in half with the chicken broth on bottom and potato in steamer. Took about 9-10 minutes. Didn't add butter to whole thing--just can do individually to save calories. Saved chicken broth to use to loosen them up when we have them again. Used some seasoned Penzey Justice pepper blend and a bit of salt. Great recipe. Thank you.
Emily
Amazing! So good. We have soooo many potatoes at the moment, what a relief to find a quick and tasty way to use them up.
Claire
HOLY MOTHER OF MASHED POTATOES! Why aren't there literally 1 million comments on here about how good these are? I made these to top your Lentil Shepherd's Pie, which I will comment on separately. For now, let's focus on these beautiful taters.
These mashed potatoes are the creamy, delectable potatoes of my dreams. The broth method is genius. The broth concentrates and mixes with the potato starch so wonderfully; it almost becomes like gravy. I used a little over half my reserved broth then stirred a little into leftovers as needed. Listen to Katie, SAVE THE BROTH!
I can't believe I only put 5 Tbsp of butter into 5 lbs of potatoes. I also used non-fat greek yogurt (that's the only kind we ever have) and they were still so amazing. I thought I might have to add some more butter or olive oil, but no. They were perfect. I love the skin on for the texture, the flavor, the extra nutrition, and because like you I am lazy and ain't nobody got time to peel 5 lbs of potatoes.
I gave some leftovers to a pregnant, very nauseous friend who gobbled them up. They were the biggest meal she had been able to eat in several days and they made here feel like a person again. You hear that? These potatoes will give you life!
sustainable cooks - sarah
So good and creamy it was hard to believe there wasn't a crap ton of butter in these!