Boil Your Potatoes In Chicken Broth For A More Flavorful Mash
The simplicity of mashed potatoes hasn't stopped it from becoming a beloved dish starring in everything from weekend roasts to being a Christmas-time staple. Filling as it is, plain mashed potatoes need a heap of flavoring, usually in the form of gravy, but ingenious cooks have also utilized everything from wasabi powder to brown butter. Even classic recipes can benefit from some small tweaks from time to time; to make your mashed potatoes burst with flavor, consider boiling your potatoes in chicken stock instead of the usual salted water.
By doing so, you'll be able to infuse your potatoes with the savory, umami taste of the stock giving your taters a delightful, meaty flavor right out of the pot — a departure from the usual bland, starchy spuds that need a hearty amount of seasoning to be enjoyable. The meaty taste will remain even after you've lifted the potatoes from the pot and mashed them into a creamy puree. And it'll remain so, too, once you've added the milk to give it the rich, creamy taste that it's known for and drizzle your favorite topping over it. The final mashed potatoes are sure to be an absolute palate-pleaser!
Balancing the stock-to-water ratio is key
Chicken stock can have a pretty strong taste, so expect some trial and error before finding the perfect flavor balance for your stock-infused mashed potatoes. If you like your mashed potatoes rich and intensely flavored, go ahead and boil your starchy spuds in a full pot of undiluted chicken stock. However, if you prefer a milder taste, you can thin out the stock with some water.
There's no exact ratio here since each person's palate is going to be different. But a good starting point is using equal parts stock and water, then tasting and adjusting as needed. If your potatoes turn out a bit too strong, add more water. If they're a bit on the lighter side and lack the oomph you're looking for, throw in more stock to kick things back up.
Let's say, while you're tasting, you find that the flavor of the stock isn't doing as great a job flavoring the potatoes as you had hoped. You can certainly add more seasonings to the stock to get the combination of flavors you're looking for. For an extra shot of savoriness, you can lightly salt the stock pot or add other seasonings like adobo, sazón, or Old Bay.
For the vegans among us
For the vegans and vegetarians reading this, no worries, we're not leaving you behind! This trick will work for you, too. Instead of chicken stock, you can switch it out for vegetable stock. While it won't taste nearly as robust, the vegetable stock will still do a great job of giving your spuds a fresher taste.
The good news is that vegetable stock cooks just like chicken stock, so you can follow the instructions above just fine with the veggie stock. Just one small thing to keep in mind: because vegetable stock has a lighter taste, you might want to boil your potatoes directly in the undiluted stock. Adding water can overtly dilute it and make it turn watery. You won't get as much flavor from it in that case. And remember, you can always adjust by adding water to lighten the flavor or more stock to intensify it, so there's no harm in trying it the first time around!