There are countless delicious ways to cook a simple potato: baked, gratinated, baked, boiled, roasted – I could probably go on as long as the beloved Forrest Gump sidekick Bubba continued about shrimp. One of the most delicious and universally loved dishes you can make with those starchy tubers has to be mashed potatoes.
That buttery, starchy side is the perfect addition to all kinds of comfort foods: fried chickenbraised short ribs or turkey on Thanksgiving. But let’s be honest: making your own mashed potatoes can be very time-consuming and tedious. So if you want to get a plate of creamy, spoonable spuds on the table with minimal time and effort, consider instant mashed potatoes, an easier alternative.
Instant mashed potatoes usually consist of dried potato granules or flakes that you combine with boiling water, although some varieties also call for milk and butter. Today, customers can choose from several instant potato brands, but is one superior to the rest? I recently tried to answer that question by trying all the brands I could find at various grocery stores near me: Idahoan, Betty Crocker, Mountain Harvest, Great Value (a Walmart store brand), and Chef’s Cupboard (a private label brand). Aldi). ).
Some of these brands offer a bewildering range of different flavors of mashed potatoes, but I opted for the regular versions to assess them as accurately as possible. I prepared them all on the stovetop according to package directions and rated each product for taste and consistency.
I prefer homemade mashed potatoes, so I didn’t Real I like all the instant options. Yet one brand was a cut above the rest. Here is my ranking of instant mashed potato brands, from my least favorite to the absolute best.
Chef’s Cupboard Buttery Mashed Potatoes
Zoe Strozwewski / Eat This, Not That!
Nutrition (per serving, about 1/2 cup cooked potatoes):
Calories: 110
Fat: 2.5 g (Saturated fat: 1 g)
Sodium: 450 mg
Carbohydrates: 20 g (fiber: 1 g, sugar: 1 g)
Egg white: 2 gr
This private label aldi instant mashed potatoes just ask for boiling water. A four-ounce package cost me $1.05.
The appearance: Chef’s Cupboard Mashed Potatoes started out as an abundance of tiny potato grains, almost like finely ground Parmesan cheese. However, once combined with boiling water, they became quite smooth and lump-free.
The taste: Intensely buttery, and not in a good way. To be clear, I’m usually a big fan of buttery mashed potatoes, but the flavor of these was way too strong and exceeded the flavor of the real potatoes. And despite the overwhelming butter flavor, the potatoes were otherwise strangely bland and absolutely begging for a few extra pinches of salt and pepper. Even the texture, while somewhat smooth, was a bit gummy.
RELATED: I tried 10 popular Progresso soups and the best was earthy and well balanced
Classic Idahoan mashed potatoes
Zoe Strozwewski / Eat This, Not That!
Nutrition (per serving, about 3/5 cup prepared potatoes):
Calories: 110
Fat: 2.5 g (Saturated fat: 1.5 g)
Sodium: 490 mg
Carbohydrates: 20 g (fiber: 2 g, sugar: 1 g)
Egg white: 2 gr
Idahoans Classic mashed potatoes only ask for one added ingredient: hot water. A four-ounce bag cost me $1.69.
The appearance: Like the Chef’s Cupboard potatoes, these instant potatoes also came in very fine granules that I rehydrated in boiling water. When they were done, they looked surprisingly thick and were the closest to real homemade mashed potatoes of all the options I tried. However, time was the Idahoan’s greatest enemy. The texture became increasingly drier and lumpier the longer they cooled.
The taste: Many of the problems I had with the Chef’s Cupboard potatoes were also very much present with the Idahoan potatoes. They had an overly strong buttery flavor, while also being woefully underseasoned. And while the consistency was actually quite close to homemade mashed potatoes, I wished these were creamier. The slightly improved consistency has made me rank Idahoan over Chef’s Cupboard, but I still can’t see myself repurchasing this one unless I’m quite desperate for a quick side dish.
Affordable instant mashed potatoes
Zoe Strozwewski / Eat This, Not That!
Nutrition (per serving, about 1/2 cup cooked potatoes):
Calories: 140
Fat: 7 g (Saturated fat: 4 g)
Sodium: 230 mg
Carbohydrates: 18 g (fiber: 1 g, sugar: 2 g)
Egg white: 3 gr
Great value Instant mashed potatoes are prepared with water, milk, optional salt and margarine or butter. A nine-ounce box cost me $1.32.
The appearance: Unlike the finer potato granules I got from Idahoan and Chef’s Cupboard, Great Value’s dried mashed potatoes came in larger, visually distinguishable flakes. I wondered if the flakes would make a lumpy mashed potato, but they actually combined quite smoothly with the hot liquids.
The taste: Acutely bland and gummy. I thought the fresh butter, milk, and salt would make these extra flavorful, but they ended up being one of the blandest options in the entire taste test. I even tried adding a few extra pinches of salt to brighten the flavor, but that didn’t help. Despite all my complaints, I felt compelled to place this one in the middle, just because I prefer soft mashed potatoes to potatoes that taste unpleasantly buttery. Just be prepared to process them with your own seasonings and flavor enhancers if you ever opt for Great Value brand instant mashed potatoes.
Mashed potatoes from the mountain harvest
Zoe Strozwewski / Eat This, Not That!
Nutrition (per serving, about 1/2 cup cooked potatoes):
Calories: 150
Fat: 7 g (Saturated fat: 4 g)
Sodium: 370 mg
Carbohydrates: 19 g (fiber: 1 g, sugar: 2 g)
Egg white: 3 gr
Mountain harvest Mashed potatoes are prepared with water, salt, milk and butter or margarine. A 13.75 ounce box cost me $2.99.
The appearance: Before being rehydrated, Mountain Harvest’s instant potato flakes looked nearly identical to the Great Value flakes. Once combined with the water, milk, salt and fat, they turned into a creamy, very spoonable puree with a slightly glossy top.
The taste: Upon first bite, these tasted almost identical to the Great Value potatoes. And unfortunately that means they were pretty bland if prepared according to package directions. Ultimately, I ranked them higher than the Great Value version simply due to the fact that an extra pinch of salt improved the flavor immensely. So even though they aren’t as tasty, they were easier to work with than the Great Value version.
Betty Crocker’s Creamy Butter Puree
Zoe Strozwewski / Eat This, Not That!
Nutrition (per serving, about 2/3 cup of prepared potatoes):
Calories: 190
Fat: 10 g (Saturated fat: 6 g)
Sodium: 510 mg
Carbohydrates: 20 g (fiber: 1 g, sugar: 2 g)
Egg white: 3 gr
Betty Crockers Creamy Mashed Potatoes with Butter can be made with just water or a mixture of water, milk and butter. I went the milk and butter route, and a 4-ounce bag cost me $1.39.
The appearance: Betty Crocker’s instant dried potatoes came in finer grains, similar to the Idahoan and Chef’s Cupboard potatoes. After combining with water, milk and butter, the resulting puree was smooth, creamy, glossy and slightly fluffy.
The taste: Not great, but undeniably superior to the rest. While the other instant mashed potatoes either lacked seasoning or tasted unpleasant, I found Betty Crocker’s version to be quite creamy, buttery, and well-seasoned. I did have an issue with the consistency of the puree, which was a bit gummy and grainy. However, I still thought these were quite useful for something that cost me less than $1.50 and only took a few minutes to prepare. So while homemade mashed potatoes will always have my heart, Betty Crocker will be my go-to from now on if I ever need instant mashed potatoes.
Sign up for our newsletter!
Why trust Eat this, not that!?
Eat this, not that! is committed to creating high-quality content that you can trust is accurate, well-researched, routinely reviewed, and updated with the latest information. Our writers, editors, and medical and/or certified experts consider this an unwavering promise we make to our readers in the pursuit of delivering impactful and meaningful content.