Creamy Vegan Mashed Potatoes (GF) - Rhian's Recipes (2024)

FAQs

How do you thicken mashed potatoes without flour? ›

The flavor and texture of instant mashed potatoes don't suit everyone, but they can save the day and can work wonders in this case. Whisk a little cornstarch into the warm potatoes, only a teaspoon at a time, until the potatoes thicken to your liking.

Sour cream adds a little bit of tangy flavor and a boost of richness to mashed potatoes. It's a fun change from the standard milk or cream and butter combo usually flavoring mashed taters. You can even try your hand at making homemade sour cream from heavy cream!

Use Heat to Your Advantage

You can also thicken your mashed potatoes by continuing to cook them on the stove. Heat draws the excess moisture out of runny potatoes, leaving you with a denser finished product.

You can use what you have on hand: Flour, cornstarch, or powdered milk are all solid options that are probably already in your pantry. Potato flour and potato starch would work as well. Stir in the thickening agent gradually, about a tablespoon at a time, until the potatoes have reached your desired consistency.

One of the easiest ways to thicken milk is by boiling it on the stove. As it heats up, the liquid parts of the milk will start to evaporate. Remember to keep stirring the whole time! If you want to make condensed milk, add sugar before you heat it up.

Arrowroot and cornstarch are gluten-free alternatives to thickening with flour. They'll also keep your sauce clear and cloud-free. You'll need about 1 tablespoon for every cup of liquid in the recipe. Mix the cornstarch with equal parts water to create a slurry and pour it into the pot.

Sour Cream: The sour cream helps keep the mashed potatoes fluffy. Cream Cheese: This adds a bit of creaminess without being too overpowering. Heavy Cream: Increases the creaminess and helps thin out the potatoes a bit.

Instead of regular milk, pro chefs generally use a generous helping of buttermilk and plenty of half-and-half or (even better) heavy cream in their potatoes. If you think the bartenders up front are pouring heavy, they've got nothing on the cooks in the back who are in charge of the mashed potatoes.

Regular flour can also be used to thicken your potatoes as well, but I don't love using it because its raw flavor needs to be cooked out, and it more noticeably dulls the flavor of the potatoes themselves.

There are several reasons that you may have runny mashed potatoes but here are a few of the most common reasons your potatoes may be runny! What is this? Excess moisture. If you have excess moisture in your potatoes, like too much milk or melted butter, you can get soggy potatoes.

What to do when you put too much milk in mashed potatoes? ›

Choose a thickening agent that works for you.

There are several ingredients that you can add to your potatoes that will quickly thicken them. They include flour, cornstarch, powdered milk, instant potato flakes, potato starch, arrowroot, tapioca, or parmesan cheese.

When too much starch gets released, the potatoes become gummy, gluey, and unappetizing. Overworking the potatoes can happen in a couple ways: either by simply handling them too much, or by using a food processor, blender, or similar tool, which mixes the potatoes too aggressively.

Add Egg Yolks For Richer And Creamier Homemade Mashed Potatoes. Eggs are an almighty staple with multifaceted culinary powers that can thicken, flavor, emulsify, and bind ingredients in countless recipes from baked goods to soups to sauces.

Try draining the cooked water off in a sieve or colander and then placing back on the stove to cook out some of the extra moisture, just a couple of minutes. Mash with a masher (or a ricer which makes great non lumpy spuds). Always add melted butter or the liquid when it is warm and do this a little at a time.

How to do it: Substitute 3/4 cup unseasoned mashed potatoes for every 1/4 cup potato flour called for in your recipe. Reduce any added liquid in the recipe by 50%, subsequently adding more flour or liquid if necessary to make a soft but not overly sticky dough.

If you skimp on the butter and cream, the side dish will suffer as a result, turning out unappealingly dry. If this occurs, the outlet recommends correcting course with more fat: Adding more liquid in the form of melted butter, extra-virgin olive oil, cream, or full-fat milk.

You can thicken a broth, soup, or stew by using potato water rather than plain water, again avoiding using flour if you are eliminating gluten. Some people even like to turn potato water into a broth by adding celery salt, black pepper, and a little bouillon. Don't toss the potato water–look for ways to put it to use.