If you are wondering how to make mashed potatoes creamy without milk, then you’re not alone.
This article outlines 4 techniques you can use to promote creaminess in mashed potatoes without actually using milk.
Without wasting much time, let’s get to it.
Mash the potatoes using a potato ricer
So the first tip is to employ a ricer when mashing the potatoes.
It is no brainer than once a mashed potato has a lot of lumps in it, it loses the ability to make a really creamy dish because the large lumps would become a hindering factor to that.
Lumps are annoying to deal with, and eliminating them from any batch of mashed potatoes is the first step towards getting a better coating of cream or liquid around the finer masher (of potatoes) which promotes creaminess.
And the best way to prevent lumps in mashed potatoes is to use a ricer when mashing them as opposed to using a masher or mixer.
Prior to using the ricer, make sure to cook the mashed potatoes to the perfect doneness to allow for a smooth “ricing”.
Cut the potatoes in larger chunks as opposed to smaller chunks
When you are seeking to make your mashed potatoes creamy, it is already certain that you don’t want to make them mushy. But one of the ways potatoes can turn mushy when mashed is when you cut them into smaller chunks as opposed to larger chunks.
In smaller chunks, there is a lot of surface area and water is absorbed all the way to the core. Mashing them straight from their boiled state has the chance of making a waterlogged mashed potato that would not be as creamy as mashed potato that has just the right firmness to it.
In larger cuts of potatoes, less water is absorbed which means less chances of making a waterlogged mashed potatoes.
Butter
Butter contains fat in it which gives the feeling of creaminess in the mouth. So if you’re not already using butter in your mashed potatoes, which would be surprising, then it’s time to start using it.
When you’re choosing butter, always go for high quality butter which will give you the best flavor possible and, choose butter with a high fat content too.
Also, you want to soften the butter and not completely melt it as it incorporates and gives creaminess better that way.
Use cream
Now, by far the best way to add creaminess to your mashed potatoes is by using cream in the various varieties it comes in be it sour cream, Crème fraîche, heavy cream etc.
Using cream in mashed potatoes adds more bulk and creamines than milk can ever.
This is because cream contains more fat than milk, a lot of fat which gives it its fatty flavor as well as richness.
Cream comes in many different varieties, and those with more fat content in them taste the best. This is why mashed potatoes made with heavy cream will taste better than those made with cream having lighter percentage of fat in it.
However, with more fat content comes more calories. So you need to be watchful of that if that is something that bothers you a lot.
In case you’re wondering how fat does the magic of giving the feeling of creaminess, you can understand that using the following interesting piece of scientific information.
So basically on our tongues, we have receptors that can bind fat and let us know of their presence in the food we eat. And how they let us know is by causing neurochemicals such as beta-endorphin and dopamine (responsible for relaxation and elation) to be released from the brain which makes us feel good as we take the bite.
Whenever you have food that has a lot of fat content in it such as mashed potato, the cream coating the bits of starch molecules in the mashed potatoes is detected in the tongue and in response, the neurochemicals are triggered to make us feel the creaminess of the mashed potatoes.
How do you make mashed potatoes creamy again?
So if for some reason you made mashed potatoes creamy and they ended up losing the creaminess, then it’s quite easy to make them creamy again. Add more cream, but be careful not to add too much that ends up ruining how the mashed potatoes taste. You can add milk when you need to thin the mashed potato out.
Is milk or cream better for mashed potatoes?
Both milk and cream are really good additions to a mashed potato. Of course, however, the type of cream or milk you use will determine how flavorful your mashed potatoes turn out.
If you use milk with a lot of fat content in it, like whole milk, then you would have a flavorful mashed potato, as compared to when you skimmed milk or those that have a lot of the fat content removed.
The same thing with cream.
But if one must be chosen between the two, then it would have to be cream due to its more fat content which makes it more flavorful and thicker.
Other tips for making a good mashed potato
Making creamy mashed potatoes is one thing, then making a creamy AND tasty mashed potato is another. Here are some quick tips that would help nail the right flavor on your mashed potato ever darn time!
Use salted water for boiling
Using salt water to boil potatoes for mashing is a great way to add flavor to the potatoes and eliminate their internal blandness which can be terrible when tastes in the form of a lump in mashed potatoes.
When using salt however, be very careful of how much you add and pay good attention to how the mashed potatoes taste even without seasoning yet, as you want to make sure the mashed potatoes hit the right amount of salt content and are flavorful.
