This 1 Ingredient Gives You the Creamiest, Most Flavorful Mashed Potatoes

Everyone has their favorite dish at Thanksgiving. For some, it’s the turkey or stuffing; for others, it’s the pumpkin pie or candied yams. For me? It’s the mashed potatoes—especially now that I’ve found a one-ingredient upgrade that takes an already great dish to delicious, new heights.

Mashed potatoes are a Thanksgiving classic—and while they’re easy to make and essentially impossible to screw up, there are always ways to make them better with new ingredients. Some people opt for adding bacon, others go for simple garlic, but this year (and every year from here on out), I’ll be using Boursin.

How to Make Boursin Mashed Potatoes—and Why You Should

In case no one has introduced you to the glorious world of Boursin cheese, let me be the first. Boursin is a soft cheese spread made with Gournay cheese that has flavorful herbs, spices, or other ingredients mixed directly into it. The most popular Boursin is the Garlic & Fine Herbs flavor—but there are different varieties (including dairy-free) that make for tasty appetizers straight from the wheel and easy recipe upgrades.

To make Boursin mashed potatoes, you simply add your favorite Boursin cheese flavor to your regular mashed potato recipe. I’d opt for the Garlic & Fine Herbs, Caramelized Onion & Herbs, or even the new Black Truffle & Sea Salt flavor, but really, you can’t go wrong with any of the cheeses.

The Boursin will replace any cheese, sour cream, cream cheese, or other creamy ingredients you’d typically add. But you’ll still want to include your milk, butter, and seasonings (including garlic if you don’t go for the Garlic & Fine Herbs cheese).

Boursin recommends one box of cheese for its four-serving recipe, so you can increase or decrease that amount accordingly, depending on your crowd size.

Simply crumble the Boursin up and throw it in the steaming pot of potatoes, milk, and butter to melt into its creamy form and add a rich depth of flavor to your mashed potatoes. Then, serve up the best-tasting side dish anyone has ever had and wait for everyone to beg you for the recipe.

From there, it’s up to you if you want to share your new secret weapon or not. We won’t judge you if you want to keep it our little secret—but, don’t worry, we’ll never gatekeep a helpful Thanksgiving hack.