Instant Pot Garlic Mashed Potatoes (Paleo, Whole30, Low FODMAP Option)

Pour water into the Instant Pot and place the trivet inside. Put potato pieces on trivet in a nest-like shape.

Trying to keep the full head intact, horizontally slice the top third of the garlic off with a sharp knife.* Make a small bowl out of tin foil large enough to fit the garlic and place the garlic inside so that just the top is exposed. Place garlic in the middle of the nest of potatoes you’ve created in the Instant Pot. Drizzle olive oil on the garlic, covering the entire top.

Put the lid on the Instant Pot and set the valve to “Sealing.” Press the “Pressure Cook” or “Manual” button and set the timer for 10 minutes.

Once the cooking cycle has completed, hit the “Cancel” button, quick release the pressure and remove lid. Using tongs, carefully take out garlic and place on a plate to cool. Either using a spoon or hot pads and the trivet (using great care to avoid hot, falling potatoes), transfer potatoes to a large bowl and set aside.

Pour the water out of the inner pot and wipe dry with a paper towel. Put the inner pot back into the Instant Pot. Once the garlic is cool enough to handle, hit the “Sauté” button and put in the almond milk, ghee, salt and pepper. Once ghee has melted, squeeze garlic out of its skin into the ghee. Gently whisk until garlic has somewhat broken apart and seasonings and ghee are thoroughly combined.

Hit the “Cancel” button. Using hot pads to maneuver the inner pot, pour ghee mixture into the bowl with the potatoes. Using a potato masher or immersion blender, mash or blend until desired consistency has been reached. Taste potatoes and adjust salt and pepper to your liking. Optionally, garnish with chives, extra ghee and/or freshly-ground black pepper and serve.

Low FODMAP option:
Omit head of garlic and olive oil from the recipe above. Skip step 4 and instead add 3 tablespoons ghee, 2 tablespoons garlic-infused olive oil, 1 cup almond milk, 2 teaspoons salt (or to taste), ¾ teaspoon ground black pepper (or to taste) to the large bowl with the potatoes prior to mashing.

Notes:
• If the head of garlic falls apart, don’t panic. Just place any rogue cloves upright (cut side up) in the tinfoil bowl with the rest of the head.
• Pouring off excess water from the pot and wiping it dry is an important safety step. If there is still water in the Instant Pot when you warm up the ghee (or any cooking fat, for that matter), it may cause the ghee to significantly splatter, leading to burns.