If there was such a thing as movie theater mashed potatoes, these would be an excellent example of them.

The fake butter flavor is so over-the-top that the smell permeates through the sealed container. The amount of salt is higher than any reasonable person would put in mashed potatoes.

The texture can be good. 1 cup pearls, 2 cups boiling water, covered rest for 5 minutes, add 1/3c warmed milk, and whisk. That made for a nice texture.

I just can't get past that awful fake butter flavor, which is so overpowering that it ruins the rest of whatever meal you are eating.

These are terrific. Extremely versatile. I have not used them specifically for mashed potatoes. I have prepare the potatoes and mixed with cheese and fried onions, and an egg to make waffle cups to hold sausage gravy.
I have made different "flavors" of potato patties with bacon, with chopped cooked pork and with scallions.
I used a cup of the prepared and cooled potatoes as a binder in meatloaf.
I mixed some with rehydrated hash browns to make a homemade versions of "tater tots" in my new air fryer to try it out.

These are the most amazing mashed potatoes, I do catering and I will never peel & mash another 100 lbs of Potatoes again. I do cook some real potatoes and put in for the lump factor. If they sit too long I some times have to mix in some milk so soften them back up, but they are just amazing. Glad I found them.

Who has the time required to peal, boil, mash, etc. when instant is this good? My family definitely recommends these instant potatoes. The product has texture of home mashed taters & are buttery tasting. To make them extra good enough to pass as the real deal, I use half water and half milk and slather them w fresh creamery salted butter and a little black pepper. Not low cal, but really tasty! Thank you Subscribe and Save!

I don't really like to cook, so I love shortcuts. That said, most boxed potatoes taste like boxed potatoes. These are seriously amazing. You can even mix them a bit chunky. A little goes a very long way, too. I boil water in the microwave in a glass measuring cup and add any seasonings I want to the dry pearls before mixing in the water. These taste great without any additional seasonings, though, and you can get any consistency you want from thick and chunky to whipped and creamy just by the amount of water you use. Boiling water is key to best results and remember that with these less really is more. The odds are more in favor of you needing to add water to thin them out a bit than more potatoes to try thickening them the way you often have to do with typical boxed potato flakes.