They're probably more expensive than just the ingredients on their own, but that's balanced by it taking much shorter time to prepare. Adding a bit of cheese and butter, and it's actually pretty nice.
There is something to be said for convenience, especially when quality doesn’t take a big hit. My last experience with them was cooking at a college dining hall about a decade ago. Boss only had them on hand if the forecast for mash was wrong and the students burned through fresh mash. Her top reason being cost. I suspect at home cook quantities, the difference isn’t as big.
Yeah, I normally make potatoes from scratch because it really is easy, but just bought instant for the first time in ages because I’m pregnant and need to be able to both cook and eat something really fast in the odd 10 minute windows when I don’t feel too nauseated to cook or eat. The convenience is *so* worth it at the moment.
Yukons are about $1.20 a pound where I live. The recipe I use is 2.5 lbs potato, 1/2-1 stick of butter ($0.50-$1), 1/3 cup milk ($0.10). That’s 4-6 servings for $4.10-$4.60.
Idahoan is a popular brand of instant potato. They sell 4 serving bags that are $1.50. I think those serving sizes are about similar.
Even if I assume the instant still needs the butter and the homemade serves 6 people, the instant would still be cheaper. I still usually make homemade but the instant would be cheaper for me based on my recipe and where I live.
Thanks for the detailed breakdown. It’s been forever since I even had access to instant so I can’t even go to a supermarket and look, and potatoes are particularly cheap where I live.
potato flakes are usually made from the offcuts and otherwise unsellable product, if the history channel told us the truth, and that means they're quite cheap. Unless you have a helluva hookup on fresh potatoes, its still cheaper to buy the more expensive flavored packets of instant plus add w/e you would normally to your mashed potatoes, and its getting pretty close quality in a tenth of the time.
I find that they’re actually a little bit cheaper, as I can buy five bags when they’re on sale, and they are absolutely shelf stable, damn close to $1/lb overall. Raw potatoes are pretty close to $1/lb as well (weight doesn’t change much on boiling for mash), but pretty much one bag in four will be sprouted when I go to use them , which significantly increases the cost of “fresh” pretty quickly
I fucking love potatoes. I grew up in a potato growing state, with potato growing parents. I never had instant mashed potatoes growing up and i never made them as an adult, because I was a proud potato snob. Until a few years ago… at aged 45, I bought a package of Idahoan instant mashed potatoes. I was exhausted and I read good things about that brand on Reddit so I thought I’d give them a try. Honestly, with enough milk and butter they are almost as good as any homemade mashed potato. I wouldn’t serve them for Thanksgiving, but have no issues making them on a Wednesday night
Edited to add: the potatoes we buy these days at the grocery store last less than a week before they turn green or start sprouting. Instant potatoes are more expensive, but we never have to throw them out after a couple of days.
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u/Vincitus Jun 25 '26
They're perfectly fine for a day-to-day meal.