The Easy Trick That Guarantees Flavorful Mashed Potatoes

Even the fluffiest mashed potatoes can fall a little flat on the flavor front. If you're used to just adding a little butter, milk, and salt, there is one upgrade that can seriously improve the taste of mashed potatoes, and it couldn't be easier. Nutritional yeast may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of mashed potatoes, but anyone on a plant-based diet already knows that nutritional yeast is the vegan staple that makes everything better. Potatoes are no exception. Just a sprinkle in the mash adds some real savory, nutty, and cheesy flavor that gives the whole thing a little extra depth. 

Nutritional yeast won't overpower the mash with any particular flavor, it is subtle enough to just add some nuance and lift everything up. Adding it doesn't require any extra cooking steps either, so it's really easy to slip into your mash routine. Just stir a tablespoon or two of nutritional yeast into your potatoes once they have been broken down and mix so that the flakes blend into the milk and butter. The flakes themselves will dissolve in the heat but the flavor will be there, subtly enhancing everything.

Nutritional yeast fills in a gap that mashed potatoes naturally have. Potatoes are inherently mild-tasting, even when you add salt and fat, but nutritional yeast is one of the best umami-boosting ingredients you can put on anything. Umami enhances how savory flavors are perceived on the tongue, and nutritional yeast's ability to do that comes down to how it's actually made in the first place. Nutritional yeast comes from the same family as brewer's and baker's yeast. However, nutritional yeast is deactivated as it's produced so it loses those leavening and fermenting abilities. Instead, as it deactivates, it releases glutamic acid, the compound responsible for umami, giving it those flavor-boosting powers.

Whether you're going to leave the mash plain or build it out with tricks like adding brown butter for some extra savoriness, nutritional yeast can be used in tandem. In fact, it pairs really well with basically every other addition you can think of — from cheese to cream and gravy, deepening those flavors without making the dish heavy. And just a small amount can make a difference, so if you only want a subtle boost, add a little sprinkle and continue to mix in more to make your mashed potatoes deeper and cheesier. But if you ask us, there is no such thing as too much nutritional yeast.