A Simple Milk Swap Is All You Need For Better Mashed Potatoes

A good bowl of mashed potatoes beats all other side dishes. This is a plain and simple fact. The creamy, buttery, and, if Julia Child has anything to do with it, garlicky potato dish is a staple at the dinner table. However, that standby recipe you have might sometimes produce less than stellar results. Not to fret, we have just the swap to take your taters from meh to amazing. Rather than using milk as a mix-in to cream up your potatoes, use chicken broth instead.

Chicken broth adds a savory, meaty flavor that's dynamic enough to suit most any mashed potatoes recipe. Simply use the same amount of broth as you would milk, depending on how thin or thick you prefer the dish to be, and use unsalted broth so you have more control over your mash's level of saltiness. You can also use half milk and half stock if you still want a creamy texture but also want the chicken flavor.

Want to add even more chicken broth goodness to your mashed potatoes? Pull up a chair, we have a few ideas. For starters, you can boil your potatoes in broth before mashing, then ladle that broth into your mashed potatoes and mix from there. By boiling your potatoes in chicken stock, the flavor can suffuse into the potatoes before you even mash them. You can also add a chicken bouillon cube to your mash for an even more intense umami flavor boost.

Speaking of umami, you might also try simmering your chicken broth with added dried mushrooms prior to adding your potatoes. Simply let broth cook with mushrooms, then spoon the mushrooms out before adding in potatoes to boil. The added mushrooms give a bit more earthiness and complexity to the dish. Not into mushrooms? No worries, you can do this with any number of veggies, such as carrots and onions, each of which add a certain je ne sais quoi to your final mash. Just don't forget to finish it off with a generous number of butter pats and, perhaps, a little bit of mayonnaise for a zing of flavor.