Protein is all the rage these days. There are so many vegetarians and vegans that we now have to produce higher-protein versions of non-meat foods or they’ll use their vegan powers against us. Luckily for us, Idahoan is rising to the call with three new “+Protein” variants of their classic instant mashed potatoes. Idahoan was nice enough to send over all three flavors; it’s time to get swole with starch.
Pros:Store-bought mashed potatoes and foods with added protein both have a certain mouthfeel I’m not the biggest fan of, but all three flavors were actually quite pleasant—a genuine surprise. Only the biggest Idahoan superfans would even notice these are different from the standard version. If you’re looking to add protein to your diet without changing your palate, this is a great way to go.
Cons: Each serving of Idahoan +Protein has 6 grams of protein; each serving of Idahoan’s standard instant mashed potatoes still has 2 grams. It’s not the most significant difference. You could eat the whole bag for 24 grams of protein…at the expense of 80% of your daily sodium.
Pros: This adds a strong garlic flavor—if you were concerned about Buttery Homestyle being a little bland, this will not disappoint. It’s also worth mentioning that these are super easy to make. You just add the mix to two cups of boiling water in a bowl, stir, and wait. This is basically the easiest way to get mashed potatoes (just behind ordering KFC on DoorDash).
Cons: The garlic flavor was strong, y’all. And at 26% of your daily sodium per serving? One scoop was more than enough for me.
Pros: Who knew adding sour cream, cheese, onions, and chives to mashed potatoes would make them better? Oh, everyone knew that? Huh. Anyway, this flavor is the best of the bunch for sure. If you’re grabbing any of these to supplement your protein intake, I’d start with this one.
Cons: It isn’t necessarily bad, but the choice to leave bacon out of these “Loaded Baked” mashed potatoes did raise my eyebrow. I guess these really are for the vegetarians.
Rating:
8/10
Sporks
Which protein mashed potatoes would you slam before a workout?
Griffin Parker is a writer, award-winning charity auctioneer, and "influencer in the beverage space" according to a few PR agencies. Please do not ask him about the cotton candy business he started right out of high school. When he's not contributing to Sporked or running the @SodaSeekers news pages, you can find Griffin espousing the virtues of Dayton-style pizza, Cincinnati-style chili, and Dolly Parton's Fabulously Fudgy Brownie Mix.
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Griffin Parker
Ariana Losch
Gwynedd Stuart
Joe Rumrill
