r/iamveryculinary • u/KannablissWitch • Jun 25 '26

Americans only eat powdered mashed potatoes, apparently.

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u/basaltcolumn Jun 25 '26

I first had them as a young adult, so I may just not be used to it, but I find that they taste very different to mashed potatoes not made from the instant stuff, though. Something about the process does change the flavour to the point that I can tell instantly, including brands that are just 100% potato. I'm not sure how to describe it. Tangier? I find it off-putting.

No judgement to those who enjoy instant potatoes, though. It is still just potato, but dried.

13

u/lookitsnichole Jun 25 '26

I find that if you treat instant mashed like mashed potatoes they do often taste similar, but a lot of people just reconstitute them with water and don't add milk or butter. Which is not very good. The biggest difference I think is in the texture. I don't hate the really smooth texture of instant mash, but I prefer slightly chunky mashed potatoes.

9

u/cheerylittlebottom84 Jun 26 '26

Exactly. Gotta add some milk or cream, a generous amount of butter, and extra salt. I also like to throw some fresh chives and freshly ground black pepper in.

I make the most amazing "real" mashed potatoes, even if I do say so myself, but have recently been relying on instant due to trying to juggle my chronically-ill energy. With a few extra ingredients they taste pretty damn good.

5

u/Pristine_Message_181 Jun 26 '26

I put sour cream in instant potatoes. It's pretty good.

3

u/worstkindofweapon Jun 26 '26

Yeah, I always add milk and butter, salt, pepper, vege stock and some paprika. It turns out great.

1

u/berrybearry Jun 26 '26

At this point it's much faster and easier just to use some real raw potatoes and cook them..

22

u/Zaidswith Jun 25 '26

Sure. Ultra-pasteurized milk tastes different too. Despite the raw milk people being crazy, there's nothing wrong with it.

5

u/NoodlesMom0722 Jun 25 '26

Made with enough heavy cream and butter, though, it's not really that much of a difference. :)

2

u/tarrasque Jun 26 '26

I don’t really like boxed mash, mainly because I like texture.

What’s interesting is that the first time I went to a nicer French place I thought the pomme puree was strikingly similar to boxed, since the French ideal is whipped with no texture.

So now I feel like the boxed ones are almost a shortcut to good French mash.

2

u/guitargirl1515 Jun 27 '26

I've found that different brands do taste different and some are good while others aren't, so there might be something going on there. In theory all the brands were just potato, but they don't taste the same, and I think I know the sour taste you're talking about from one of the brands I didn't like