The Best Vegan Mashed Potatoes Recipe - Build Your Bite (2024)

FAQs

What thickens 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. Stir in the thickening agent gradually, about a tablespoon at a time, until the potatoes have reached your desired consistency.

Sour cream adds a little bit of tangy flavor and a boost of richness to mashed potatoes. It's a fun change from the standard milk or cream and butter combo usually flavoring mashed taters. You can even try your hand at making homemade sour cream from heavy cream!

Potatoes are like pasta, in that they leach starches into their cooking liquid. In the case of pasta, you want to reserve some of that liquid to give sauce a luscious shine and bind it to the noodles.

What is the best non-dairy substitute for milk in mashed potatoes? In my opinion, the best substitute for milk when making them is vegetable broth. I find it adds flavor and moisture to the 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. For what it's worth, we recommend sticking with cornstarch—it has twice the thickening power of flour and it's safe for gluten-free diets.

Removing the potato starch both before and after cooking ensures fluffy, not gluey, mashed potatoes.

Sour Cream: The sour cream helps keep the mashed potatoes fluffy. Cream Cheese: This adds a bit of creaminess without being too overpowering. Heavy Cream: Increases the creaminess and helps thin out the potatoes a bit.

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.

Use whole milk for the creamiest results. Sour cream – Technically, this ingredient is optional. If you skip it, the recipe will still come out great. But for the best mashed potatoes, I highly recommend folding it in!

Should I melt the butter before putting in mashed potatoes? ›

Simmer gently until soft but not mushy. A “ricer" is great but fiddly. Use a hand masher, no need to melt the butter — the potatoes will do that — a little milk or, luxury, cream.

There's no need to cool potatoes at all before mashing them. It's actually easier to mash them while warm. It also means better taste! Also, if you're using butter in them, the heat allows it to melt into them.

Milk Alternative: Mashed potatoes without milk are actually super easy! Simply use your favorite plant-based dairy-free milk alternative. My favorite coconut milk is Native Forest (I use full-fat). You can also use unsweetened almond milk if coconut milk isn't your thing!

In fact, you can substitute sour cream for milk almost anytime the recipe calls for less than a cup of milk. One of the most common ingredients to use milk with is potatoes. Spuds love dairy, so if a recipe calls for milk, sour cream almost always works in its place.

What is the best milk substitute for mashed potatoes? Unsweetened, plain coconut or oat milk is the best milk to use. I used the So Delicious brand of coconut milk and get the green box (unsweetened and plain). It's nice and creamy and leaves no weird after-taste like soy and almond milk do.

Runny potatoes can happen for a few different reasons. Too much liquid: This is the most common reason. In the mashing process you may have added too much milk or broth. Boiled too long: Boiling your potatoes for too long can make them water-logged, which (you guessed it) can contribute to runny mashed potatoes.

Regular flour can also be used to thicken your potatoes as well, but I don't love using it because its raw flavor needs to be cooked out, and it more noticeably dulls the flavor of the potatoes themselves.

Figuring out how to thin your mashed potatoes is a simple to fix. You just add warm liquid (milk, cream, or broth) a little at a time until you reached your desired consistency.