Creamy herbed mashed parsnips and potatoes made quick and easy in the instant pot. The perfect decadent side dish for your holiday table or an easy side dish any night of the week.
Why I am excited to share this recipe
I have been dying to find an excuse to make mashed something in my instant pot and with Thanksgiving, only a week away now is the perfect time to get my mash on!
As the ever-skeptical instant pot user, I was convinced that all of the instant pot mashed potato recipes were lies 😉 I had to roll up my sleeves and see for myself if the Instant pot could pull off a creamy delicious mash. Off I went to the farmers market for several pounds of potatoes, I was determined to try at least three versions. I spied some gorgeous parsnips while there and decided on the spot that this recipe would be a potato and parsnip mash.
What are Parsnips?
Parsnips taste like an earthier carrot or a cross between a carrot and a potato. They are a starchier vegetable and the perfect companion to mashed potatoes. Parsnips help to cut through the richness while adding a punch more flavor. Let's face it potatoes are bland, and also So. Damn. Delicious. Potatoes plus parsnips are delicious times a billion.
Potatoes and parsnips in hand I was ready for the instant pot mashed potato showdown. I tested three recipes, 1 traditional recipe that required draining and 2 no-drain recipes.
My three instant pot mash trials were
- Add potatoes to the Instant Pot with water, pressure cook, drain, add milk/butter, etc., mix.
- Add potatoes to Instant Pot with cream and butter, pressure cook, stir/mash/ mix.
- Add potatoes to the Instant Pot with a very little bit of water, pressure cook, add milk/butter, etc., mix
The winner, by far, was:
Add potatoes to the instant pot with a very little bit of water, pressure cook, add milk/butter, etc., mix
Turns out, the instant pot does a bang-up job of creating creamy perfectly cooked potatoes and the best part ever NO DRAIN! Listen, you have to understand the level of skepticism I naturally have for random kitchen hacks. I refuse to accept a sub-par final product to just eliminate one pesky task, such as draining a pot of potatoes. This works though! When I first opened the pot it looked a little suspect, I even drained and reserved the liquid because I thought it was too much. I ended up adding it all back in and the result was a creamy dreamy masterpiece.
Ingredients for this tasty recipe
- potatoes
- parsnip
- fresh thyme
- butter
- almond milk
- cream cheese
- salt and pepper
- (you can sub the cream cheese and butter with vegan butter for a vegan version)
More Instant Pot Recipes
Instant Pot BBQ Turkey Meatballs
Instant Pot Perfect No-Stir Polenta
Instant Pot Mulled Cranberry Apple Cider
Instant Pot Steamed Artichokes
It definitely doesn't hurt that I melted together butter, cream cheese, fresh thyme, and almond milk on the stove. I let that sit together and get super happy over very low heat while the potatoes and parsnips were cooking.
Then I simply removed the thyme sprigs from the mixture and poured it into my instant pot, whipped all the goodness together using a hand mixer (but a potato masher or wooden spoon would also work) and voila! Instant pot creamy mashed parsnips and potatoes.
You can easily make this a day ahead and reheat with just a little bit more cream before serving. This better be on your Thanksgiving table, I promise it will be on mine!
Another instant pot recipes for the book! I'd love to say I am an official convert, but I still have some other recipes to master before the official declaration, stay tuned 🙂
Instant Pot Creamy Herb Mashed Parsnips and Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3 lbs yukon gold potatoes
- 1 lb parsnips
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 1 1/2 cup water
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup milk (I used almond milk)
- 5 sprigs fresh thyme
- extra butter and thyme for garnish
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Wash, peel, and chop potatoes and parsnips into 1″ chunks. Place in the instant pot with salt and water.
- Place the lid on the instant pot and make sure the pressure release valve is set to sealing. Using the manual setting cook on high pressure for 10 minutes.
- Perform a quick pressure release, carefully, when the 10 minutes is complete.
- While the potatoes and parsnips are cooking, place a small saucepan over low heat on the stove top. Add cream cheese, butter, milk and thyme sprigs. Cook on low heat until well melted. Remove thyme sprigs and set aside.
- Mash the potatoes using either a potato masher or a hand mixer. Add the cream cheese mixture (you may not need it all) and black pepper, mash until creamy, taste for salt (you may want more). Top with fresh thyme and additional butter (optional).
Notes
- For Vegan Version – use almond milk or oat milk and vegan butter and eliminate cream cheese
- I use a 6 quart Instant Pot, if you have a larger version you may need more liquid to bring the instant pot to pressure
- Do not fill beyond the 8 cup mark.
