The Secret Ingredient You Need For Tangy Mashed Potatoes

Mashed potatoes are a traditional side at any Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, but did you know you can enjoy them literally any time of the year? While you're reveling in your newfound freedom to make mashed potatoes with zero special occasion involved, you can also play around with the traditional recipe (aside from boiling them in chicken stock) and give them a delightful tang.

You'll achieve this by adding in blue cheese, that love-it-or-hate-it moldy cheese that melts down beautifully into your smashed taters and gives your tongue something to celebrate (even if you, yourself, have nothing). In fact, if you have someone you love who doesn't love blue cheese, serve them this side and see if you can't change their mind because it's tangy, but not overpowering.

You can buy the already-crumbled blue cheese that comes in plastic containers, typically near the deli cheeses. But for best results, buy a block of blue cheese (you don't have to splurge on a fancy kind, but you're welcome to), bring it home, and crumble it yourself before adding it into the mix.

Blue cheese isn't the only ingredient that can make your mashed potatoes tangy, so if you or whoever you're making them for absolutely cannot stomach even the barest hint of blue cheese, you have options. One alternative, and perhaps the most common, is sour cream. Not only does it add flavor to the taters, its texture helps make them super creamy and luscious.

The next ingredient is rather surprising and a touch controversial: It's horseradish. Yes, this peppery root plant which is best known in its creamy prepared state (and spread on sandwiches) can also perk up your mashed potatoes. You'll need a nub of horseradish and a fine grater — a microplane rasp grater is ideal.

Finally, for super-rich, as well as tangy, mashed potatoes, consider adding some cream cheese to the pot. It adds another dimension of flavor, especially if you forego the plain cream cheese and add in a flavored block, like scallion, chive, and onion, or garden vegetable (Boursin cheese in your mashed potatoes achieves a similar result, minus the tang).