Swap cream for 2 fridge staples to make mashed potatoes smoother and tastier
A cooking guru has shared a simple way to make mashed potatoes that are creamy, fluffy and delicious every time, and you just need two ingredients
Throughout the colder months, Brits often crave warming comfort food, and few dishes satisfy quite like a steaming bowl of creamy mashed potatoes. Whilst they're a hearty and flavoursome accompaniment to countless meals, mastering the perfect mash can prove challenging, with many attempts resulting in a gloopy, watery or disappointingly lumpy texture.
But, according to one culinary whizz, there's a straightforward method to guarantee your mashed potatoes turn out smooth and flavourful every single time, requiring just two key ingredients. What's more, chances are you've already got both food items sitting in your fridge.
This isn't the only recipe tip that's emerged recently for elevating your mashed potatoes. In October, another unexpected ingredient was revealed that could enhance the dish's taste significantly.
Max, who shares content as Meals with Max on TikTok, recently demonstrated through the Parsnip app his technique for achieving "perfect" mashed potatoes consistently, and it might be simpler than you'd imagine. For those who find the dish tricky, he acknowledged that getting it right poses difficulties for many home cooks.
He recommended beginning by cutting your potatoes into roughly uniform sizes. This ensures they'll cook at an even rate.
Max advised: "Now you can get the potatoes into a saucepan. Cover them with cold water and not warm water because, if the water is warm or boiling, the outside of the potato is going to cook quicker than the inside.
"A bit of salt, then get this onto the hob and we're going to bring it to a gentle boil for about 20 minutes until they just break apart with a fork. Then drain them and let them steam dry for a minute.
"I like to use a potato ricer because it helps to get it smooth and fluffy. Then you want to add warm milk and butter. This blends in smoothly and gives you a better texture.
"It should be fluffy, soft and creamy. Season with salt and lots of black pepper. Stir that through, and there you have some perfect mashed potatoes."
According to Max, these straightforward steps are all that's needed for creating velvety, lump-free mashed potatoes. Just two key ingredients can transform the final result.
The trick to velvety mashed potatoes
Whilst some cooks rely on cream to enhance both flavour and consistency in mashed potatoes, others insist that warm milk combined with butter is the winning formula. The two ingredients work together to create a silky-smooth finish.
Warm milk incorporates more easily and crucially prevents a gummy consistency. Using heated liquid is essential as cold milk lowers the temperature of the mash and demands additional mixing.
This extra stirring can overwork the potatoes, resulting in an unpleasantly sticky texture. Always incorporate the butter initially, as this contributes to achieving that luxurious creaminess.
Obviously, these ingredients will also enhance the overall taste of the dish. Max offered another valuable suggestion worth remembering for achieving flawless spuds.
Utilising a potato ricer will aid you in achieving the smoothest and fluffiest texture possible. This is due to it preventing the potatoes from being overworked, thus avoiding a gummy texture.