The Best Instant Mashed Potato Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How to improve the taste of instant mashed potatoes? ›

Toss in some fresh herbs

Chives work great if you like a mild, oniony taste, but feel free to use parsley, dill, or thyme as well. If your instant potatoes already have some garlic mixed in (another worthy add-on!), try garnishing your spuds with tarragon or rosemary, which pair exceptionally well with garlic.

Instant mashed potatoes are convenient for busy food establishments like KFC — the only thing employees need to do is add water and mix. The peeling, cooking, and mashing, has already been done. The downside to instant mashed potatoes is that they aren't as fluffy and tend to be bland.

In order to fix lumpy or gritty mashed potatoes you may need to add more liquid to them such as melted butter and some milk. Make sure the water that you put into the potatoes is warm or hot enough to totally saturate the flakes.

Instead of regular milk, pro chefs generally use a generous helping of buttermilk and plenty of half-and-half or (even better) heavy cream in their potatoes. If you think the bartenders up front are pouring heavy, they've got nothing on the cooks in the back who are in charge of the mashed potatoes.

And, don't worry, your potatoes won't take on a strong chicken taste; it will just add savoriness to the final product. If you're not a fan of chicken broth, you can try substituting the water with milk or cream.

"Homemade" may not be an ingredient, but it's something you can taste. That's why we hand roll our biscuits and make our mashed potatoes and gravy from scratch all day long in each of our restaurants.

Our Mashed Potatoes loaded with bacon pieces, Colby cheese and green onions. *May be cooked to order. Consuming raw or undercooked meats, poultry, seafood, shellfish or eggs may increase your risk of foodborne illness.

Restaurants prepare the potatoes ahead by boiling and mashing just the potato, then just before serving, it is mixed into boiling cream (or milk or even broth or a combination thereof) to reheat it and make it nice and creamy.

Add Heft with Dairy. Heavy cream can make instant mashed potatoes taste indulgent. Half and half or even regular milk (whole is better than skim, but 2% will do) adds extra creaminess. To give your mashed potatoes a light tanginess, go with buttermilk or sour cream.

When too much starch gets released, the potatoes become gummy, gluey, and unappetizing. Overworking the potatoes can happen in a couple ways: either by simply handling them too much, or by using a food processor, blender, or similar tool, which mixes the potatoes too aggressively.

What thickens instant mashed potatoes? ›

Add a Thickening Agent

This is the most common way to thicken mashed potatoes. You can use what you have on hand: Flour, cornstarch, or powdered milk are all solid options that are probably already in your pantry. Potato flour and potato starch would work as well.

For additional flavor, add some fresh herbs, such as chives, parsley, thyme or rosemary to the mashed potatoes after mashing them. You can also add some buttermilk, cream cheese or sour cream for a bit of a tangy, creamy flavor. Another great addition to mashed potatoes is to use flavored butter.

Garlic – For savory depth of flavor. Unsalted butter – For richness and buttery flavor. Milk – It smooths the starchy potatoes into an incredibly creamy mash. Use whole milk for the creamiest results.

Taste before serving: I like to add a scoop of Better then Bouillon chicken base for great flavor, or add more salt and pepper, sour cream, or melted butter, until you reach the flavor you want. nt to add more salt and pepper, or an extra scoop of sour cream, or a little melted butter.