Simple Dairy Free Mashed Potatoes with Gravy

So last night I decided to surprise my boyfriend with a nice home cooked meal. One of my favorite comfort foods is mashed potatoes with gravy. Most mashed potato recipes contain a lot of milk and other dairy products but luckily it is very easy to convert to dairy-free!

Fried pork chops with mashed potatoes and gravy.

All of the ingredients used to make the potatoes.

Ingredients (Mashed Potatoes):

• 6 potatoes
• 4 Tbls butter - Earth Balance is a good dairy-free option
• 1cup almond milk
• salt
• pepper
• garlic salt

Directions (Mashed Potatoes):

Potatoes washed and ready to peel.

1. Wash and peel your potatoes. Make sure to cut off any dark spots you see.
2. Cut potatoes into equal pieces and boil over medium-high heat for about 15 minutes or until they are soft.
3. Drain potatoes in a strainer and place them in a bowl with the softened butter.
4. Mash potatoes and butter together. Slowly add almond milk. You may add more milk if mixture seems too dry. Mash until you get the consistency you want.
5. Season with salt, pepper and/or garlic salt. I waited to do this until after they were served. My boyfriend likes his potatoes plain and I like them garlicky.

Ingredients (Gravy):

• 2-4 Tbls pan drippings
• 2 Tbls flour
• 1 cup Almond milk

Directions (Gravy):

1. Remove 2-4 Tbls pan drippings and place in saucepan.
2. Add flour and whisk continuously until mixture thickens.
3. Stir in almond milk. May add more if mixture too thick.

This meal was very delicious and the potatoes were so easy to make. Usually, I think of mashed potatoes as very time-consuming but this took almost no time at all. My main dish was fried pork-chops so I used the pan drippings from that. If you do not have pan drippings to use, broth can be substituted. 

One thing that some people do not know is that while butter is dairy, it has very little lactose due to how it is made. Many people who are lactose intolerant can tolerate regular butter. Some people will use margarine instead but many times it too will have lactose in it. If you want to be strictly dairy-free, Earth Balance has some good vegan products. Butter was one of the last diary items for me to cut out and after going completely dairy free I feel amazing!