Salt and Vinegar Mashed Potatoes

Mashed Potatoes are everyone’s favourite comfort food and side dish, which is what makes it the most common side dish in many homes and on many occasions. But, boring mashed potatoes are a thing of the past!  Salt and Vinegar Mashed Potatoes are such a refreshing and welcome change! Made with malt vinegar and sea salt, these potatoes are a great side for almost any main!

This recipe was a no-brainer for me. You have all heard me say more than once that when it comes to snack foods, I will always choose salty snacks over sweet snacks. And, one of my favourites is salt and vinegar kettle chips. So, it should come as no surprise that Salt and Vinegar Mashed Potatoes are my newest obsession!

Even though mashed potatoes are common and easy, we don’t actually prepare them that often for our everyday, regular meals.  I love mashed potatoes, but they’re heavy and starchy.  But, on special occasions, heavy and starchy is just what the doctor ordered. In these particular instances, I opt for my Herb Butter Mashed Potatoes. But, what about those occasions that are not special, like a regular weeknight dinner, for example?

Salt and Vinegar Mashed Potatoes are made with malt vinegar and sea salt. Those are the two main ingredients that will give you that salt and vinegar kettle chip taste. However, are mashed potatoes even mashed potatoes if they don’t have butter? In this case, both butter and sour cream are used to help with the creaminess and smoothness factor. Also, the sour cream elevates the flavour of the vinegar! Let’s get into it!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare these Salt and Vinegar Mashed Potatoes. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Potatoes – Use white flesh potatoes for this recipe. Normally, I don’t peel potatoes when making mashed potatoes, but for some reason, these just look and taste better without the skin. Mostly, the skin leaves a texture that throws off the whole taste. Sounds contrary, but that’s just the way it is!
• Malt Vinegar – You must use malt vinegar in this recipe. I’m sorry, but no other vinegar flavours will work in terms of developing that kettle chip flavour.
• Butter – You can use salted or unsalted butter, but be careful to not over salt your mashed potatoes if you are using salted butter. Extra butter for garnish is always a nice touch too, but it is optional.
• Sour Cream – This helps to increase the sourness and tartness of the malt vinegar. It also helps to develop the creaminess that all mashed potatoes need!
• Ground Black Pepper
• Salt – In this recipe, I’m using both fine-grain sea salt, which is what we use for our everyday cooking, and, I’m also using flaked sea salt for garnish.
• Parsley – Freshly chopped for garnish.

ONLY MALT VINEGAR WILL DO

Now, let me be the first to tell you that I cannot stand the smell of malt vinegar! Just a few days ago, John.e was eating fish and he literally asked me if it was okay to use malt vinegar. You see, I have been very vocal about it over the years! (Just ask my ex-wife! She loved it and would use it quite often. I complained about it every time, which I think is the reason she used it so much! Ha!)

Years ago, I used to live in Kitchener, and there was this fish and chip place called Granny Bonn’s. It had the best fried fish I had ever eaten. We used to go there at least once a week. The fish was so good that I would force myself to ignore the smell of the malt vinegar, even though it was so strong, you could smell it from the street!

When I set out to make Salt and Vinegar Mashed Potatoes, I knew I had to use malt vinegar. Nothing else will do, because that is the only vinegar that will give you the smell and taste of what these potatoes are supposed to smell and taste like! Now, keep in mind that many years have passed since my last run-in with malt vinegar. Much to my surprise, the smell wasn’t as bad as I remembered! I’ve just written all of this to say that you must use malt.

HOW TO MAKE SALT AND VINEGAR MASHED POTATOES

Everyone who likes to cook, or has ever prepared a holiday meal, knows how to make mashed potatoes. But, just in case you are new to cooking or trying a different potato recipe, I’ll walk you through the process so that you have the best mashed potatoes ever!

Peel the potatoes and chop them into one-inch cubes. This will not only speed up the cooking time, but will also make mashing more manageable. Rinse the potatoes under cold running water to wash away the excess starch and transfer them to a pot. Add enough cold water so the potatoes are covered by one inch of water. Over high heat, bring the potatoes to a boil. Add a generous pinch of salt to the pot – about half a teaspoon – and stir. Lower the heat to medium-high and continue to cook the potatoes until they are fork tender – about 20-25 minutes.

Remove the potatoes from the heat and drain well. Transfer the potatoes back to the pot. Mash them using your favourite mashing technique. That could be with a hand-held masher or a potato ricer. I always use a hand mixer to mash potatoes; try it – they are always light and fluffy. Once the potatoes are mashed, add all of the remaining ingredients to the pot and either use your hand mixer to combine or stir well with a wooden spoon.

At this point, the mashed potatoes are ready to serve. You can plop them right onto individual plates or you can transfer them to a serving bowl and top them with extra melted butter, a sprinkling of flaked sea salt, and fresh parsley for garnish. To keep the potatoes warm, leave them in the pot and cover them with a lid. Keep the potatoes on a burner at the lowest heat setting. Stir regularly to avoid burning the potatoes or drying them out.

MAINS THAT WORK WELL WITH SALT AND VINEGAR MASHED POTATOES

Now that you have a big bowl of these very tasty mashed potatoes, what are you going to serve with them? Here’s how my thought process works: since the mashed potatoes are salty and tangy, with a slight sourness to them, you want to pair them with a main that will either mimic those flavours or be complimented by them.

So, for example, in our home, we love the combination of salmon with a splash of vinegar. I know that most people tend to lean toward fresh lemon with seafood, but growing up in Newfoundland, we paired lots of seafood with vinegar. My Blackened Salmon would be delicious with Salt and Vinegar Mashed Potatoes! If you have white fish, like cod or tilapia, try my Pancake Batter Fried Fish and pair it with these potatoes. It will be a delicious meal!

A simple roasted chicken would be great, and so would anything tangy, like this Oven Baked Barbecue Brisket. In fact, I would strongly suggest that you serve these potatoes with almost any barbecue-based main. They would most definitely be the talk of the town at a summer potluck or backyard BBQ too!