The Ingredient Ina Garten Adds For Fancy And Flavorful Mashed Potatoes

Ina Garten wants you to know there's a new butter on the block — a special ingredient that you should be adding to your mashed potatoes to create a decadent and luxurious side dish. During an episode of her show, the Barefoot Contessa demonstrated that to make fancy and flavorful mashed potatoes, she still uses her unsalted butter to add to their creamy texture, but to really add to their taste, she finishes them off with a little parmesan and three ounces of room temperature white truffle butter.

Garten cautions in her truffled mashed potatoes recipe that while you want to allow the truffle butter to melt, you don't want to let the truffles cook. This is because heat will destroy all those beautiful smells and flavors that are associated with this ingredient. But just because white truffle butter can enhance the flavor of your mashed potatoes, doesn't mean you want to go overboard because a little goes a long way.

White truffle butter is also versatile. Garten told Food Network, "It really turns up the volume on everything from simple scrambled eggs to elegant fettuccine." She went on to say she always keeps it on hand, stating, "I order like six of these and keep them in the freezer." 

And if you are wondering what brand Garten uses, she revealed on her website's Q&A she has two go-to options: "Urbani or D'Artagnan white truffle butter." Both Urbani and D'Artagnan are on the pricy side, so if your budget can't handle the price tag, consider trying truffle oil or garlic butter instead. These ingredients will also help to amp up your mashed potatoes. However, Garten warns in her Q&A that truffle oils vary in quality. And if you are wondering if you can use black truffle butter in lieu of white truffle butter, Garten says their flavor is much more "subtle" and she, personally, prefers the intensity white truffles add to mashed potatoes.