TikTok users reinvent mash potatoes with Lays chips

The origins of mashed potatoes are largely traced back to France in the mid-1700s but they have become a staple in many cultures including American, English and Irish.

Now TikTokers are getting bold as they take on this culinary classic with their own twist. Several users of the Chinese social network think they have found a good way to reinvent it and you’ll never guess what they use as the main ingredient …potato chips!

One packet of chips. A pot of boiling water. Five minutes of cooking. And that’s it. Some TikTokers are having fun revisiting the recipe for mashed potatoes, in a version that is more decadent in terms of calories. Their trick consists of rehydrating potato chips and then enhancing the concoction by mixing in butter and cheese.

Whether it’s a box of Pringles or a bag of Lay’s, these amateur chefs have been trying it out with all sorts of different chip brands and flavours to prepare this side dish in a fun and whimsical way. Barbecue, onion, dill pickle ..some TikTokers even vaunt this technique as a trick to get a flavoured puree.

Variations on this recipe have trended on TikTok throughout 2021, and they’re continuing to go viral on the video-based social network in this new year. Some of the most popular videos on the topic have been viewed over five million times.

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While this recipe may be inspiring many home cooks, mashed potatoes have enjoyed a more high-end renaissance over the last decade, in large part thanks to the late Michelin-starred international French Joel Robuchon. The chef had made mashed potatoes a true monument to French cuisine. He advised using only firm-fleshed potatoes, such as rattes, and never to peel them before cooking.

It was also necessary to add 250g of very cold butter for 1 kg of potatoes. The creaminess is perfected with milk and a blender is a no-no. To obtain the desired delicate texture, the legendary chef recommended passing the mashed potatoes through a sieve. 

While there is nothing very innovative in culinary terms about this recipe of mashed potatoes based on chips that is all the rage on TikTok, as the cooks are just rehydrating a potato that has lost its water during first cooking in the deep fryer, it testifies to the interest for mash-ups in all areas, here in a most literal sense.

TikTok is full of cooking recipes and hacks, and mashed potatoes is a recipe that lends itself well to a variety of real tricks. The latest one is to mash potatoes against a grill in order to remove the skin easily and avoid the chore that is peeling.