I tried the Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes last night while wathcing Monday Night Football. Grilled up a couple of steaks, steamed some green beans and had a helluva meal. Welcome back Fall Cooking! Welcome back Mashed Potatoes!

And yes --- they taste as good as homemade to me! I love the smooth texture and the real garlic flavoring. Yup. Yup.

I am very disappointed that they changed the potato recipe.  They do not taste like homemade.  In fact I can barely stomach them.  The old recipe was the reason I chose Betty Crocker instant potatoes.  I will be looking for another brand of instant potatoes because of this change.  Or to get a real homemade potato taste, I can always just make real potatoes.  Really, really disappointed in the new improved taste.

I agree with you 100%!  The new homestyle potatoes are disgusting!  I almost threw up!  It taste just like baby food  but worse!  The garlic is too strong the taste of it is just overbearing! The old recipe was the best and that's why I loved Betty Crocker!  Now I have to cut up potatoes for dinner.  That's a hassel when you are trying to cook dinner for the family with a busy schedule. Please bring back the old recipe!

I agree with the 2 people above who do NOT like the new mashed potato recipe. We used to LOVE all the flavors of these mashed potatoes, I even served them for Christmas dinner a couple years ago. But this new recipe is TERRIBLE!!!. They are gummy and mushy and taste awful. I will be looking for some other brand to make in the future-sorry Betty.

I'm telling you... those are the VERY BEST potatoes we've ever eaten in our home!  My KIDS LOVE 'em! My daughter despises mashed potatoes and now, I have FINALLY found mashed potatoes that she LOVES!! She won't eat homemade... but she'll eat Betty Crocker potatoes!  Thank you SO MUCH Betty Crocker! Those are the yummiest potatoes we've eaten off the shelves!  They taste just like (but better!!) I cooked them right on the stove!  My 17 yr old son, who thinks he knows everything of course, thought they were homemade and swears that he "hates instant potatoes" and told me "If you ever try to make me eat instant potatoes, I'll know the difference and won't eat them!" Guess what??  He's been eating Betty Crocker's "Red Skin Mashed Potatoes" for almost 4 months now and absolutely LOVES them!! Does he know?? NOPE!! Will I tell him?? NOPE!!  If he asks?? Yes... but until then, he will never have to know.  That's why I love Betty Crocker!  Everything tastes homemade!

Thanks again Betty Crocker! You're #1 in this household! We

The Ivey Family

We asked Betty Crocker's Facebook fans and this is some of their comments:

Aaron Mullins: I LOVE Betty Crocker mashed potatoes!
September 1 at 9:42am

Wendy Denise Rash: I've tried these and others as well ... My kids and I both can tell the difference ... It's just what you get used too ...
September 1 at 9:50am

Stacy Pearson: They are so easy to make and my picky kids love them. I do prefer real potatoes but the cheesy ones are a great weeknight side dish!
September 1 at 9:52am

Danelle Pugh: you so can tell but I still like them when I am running short on time but I do not make em often I am more into homemade everything.
September 1 at 9:57am

Krista Marushia: There is a big difference; when you want kind of lumpy mashed potatoes, only homemade will do. Lumps in instant mashed potatoes are powdery not potato-ey.
September 1 at 9:57am

Betty Wheeler Tart: I like both instant and homemade. The instant are a great time saver when you just don't have time for homemade.
September 1 at 9:57am

Tammy Currier-Melpolder: dislike instant potatoes, I've tried BC ones and they don't taste good.
September 1 at 9:58am

Ella Green: instant ones do the trick if i am in a hurry or just want a small bowl of comfort food :)
September 1 at 10:06am

Laurel Dunn: I love them, but i have to cook Gluten free too and wish they were Gluten free :( I think they taste great, especially the cheese. For a busy mom it is great, but make them Gluten free!!! Please :)
September 1 at 10:09am

Leona Johnson: I make everything from scratch but these are pretty tasty!
September 1 at 10:10am

Emily Bockman Loria: I always make mashed potatoes from scratch because I don't like instant plain, but I do use them for a thicker stew.
September 1 at 10:11am

Diane Matusevich: I have never liked instant until I tried Betty Crockers. My family LOVES them! ;)
September 1 at 10:16am

Sheri Bonner Files: When my family could not tell the difference, I did the math and decided it was not worth peeling potatoes anymore. LOL
September 1 at 10:59am

LaMerle Humphreys: There is nothing like the real thing (making them, can be fun on the holidays etc.) but so close, some of them you have a really hard time knowing what is real.

Agreed. The new mashed potato recipes are really awful. Whatever they did, the modified them to require less milk and more water instead, I guess perhaps to appeal to people in the recession? I don't know. Whatever they did, they're awful now, and with the prior recipes, my husband preferred them to real mashed potatoes. Now I have to find a new brand to use. Ugh!

My kids will only eat homemade mashed potatoes if I gave them boxed there would be a revolt. This is how how I make my mashed potatoes after they are cooked  and drained I add a stick of butter. dry ranch style dressing and evaporated milk enough to make them smooth and creamy.

I do not think Betty Crocker Potatoes taste as good as the real ones because they don't have the chunky pieces I like.

I think switching to the new no-boilover recipe was the worst. The old Creamy Recipe was the best Mash Potatoes in the world now its thick and no matter how many times I try to tinker with the milk /water ratio to make it come out like the old recipe I fail.  My husband loved,loved,loved the old recipe and hates and threw away the new one. I went on the internet to look for a new brand and found this post,  For a customer that used used to but 4 boxes each grocery shopping trip I am sorry to say you're losing my business. Please can the No Boilover!

My family and I are highly disappointed in the new Betty Crocker mashed potatoes.  I agree with some of the other shoppers that they are disgusting!  My kids would down the old potatoes and I would never have to say a word.  We had these new ones and my daughter asked me to go shopping at a different store because the potatoes are gross.  I have 3 more boxes of them and will be returning them tomorrow.  I always told everyone that Betty Crocker mashed potatoes were the best and now I will have to tell them otherwise.  I can not believe you would change them.  I can not say it enough that they are HORRIBLE.  VERY VERY DISAPPOINTED!!!!!

I used to like the Betty Crocker potatoes – not as good as home made, but an acceptable substitute for when I was in a hurry.  I tried the new ones and I had to throw out the whole thing.  They tasted terrible and I couldn’t eat them.  I threw out the other packages as well.  There are other instant potatoes

that are still edible that I will use instead for when I need a quick substitute for home made.

NO I DON'T LIKE BECAUSE THEY DON'T TASTE ANYTHING LIKE REAL ---     I USE HUNGRY -JACK AND THOSE I LOVE . I ALSO MAKE POTATOE PATTIES WITH THE LEFT OVER MASHED  POTATOES .

The "now taste more like homemade" potatoes do not taste like homemade at all.  I am very very disappointed that they changed the potato recipe. The "improved taste" is very unappealing. Please consider reinstating the old recipe...it was a thousand times better!

I've been making your Garlic mashed for close to 20 years now.  A few years back, I believe you reformulated, and I adjusted by using less water - they were just too soupy(using your quantities), but still had an acceptable taste and consistency. Let's just be clear -- NO instant potatoes can compare with homemade. 

Last night I made your "new" version for the second (perhaps third?) time.  Can I just say . . . .YUCK !!! 

The first (and perhaps 2nd) time I made them, I thought I had just done something wrong, but last night, I followed the recipe carefully.  When, once again they turned out gummy and sticky, and lumpy and, and . . . . . YUCKY, well I knew it wasn't me.  This morning I thought I would take another look at the box, and then I noticed that you are now advertising that they have a homemade taste.  Well . . . .not to me they don't, and I don't know of any cook that would strive to make their mashed potatoes gummy!  My family used to eat all of a package. Now, there's plenty left over.

They're so bad, that I'll be looking for a substitute. And I may even return what I have in my pantry.  Yes, they're that bad!

Oh, and I just wanted to let others know that I in order for me to let my feelings know on this forum, I had to REGISTER!  and was asked for all kinds of personal information.  Must not really want opinions,  I'm just getting frustrated with so many companies reformulating their products to YUCK that I felt the need to let my thoughts be known - not that it'll make any difference I'm sure.  You'll have feel that in the financials, and who knows, if enough people have enough distaste for this reformulation, perhaps you will.

The new mashed potatoes recipe is HORRIBLE. I used to love the old version... and turned on all of my friends and family to it. Now... I'll have to tell them to stop buying it. There is an extremely noticable difference between the old and new, and not for the better. The new Four Cheese flavor that I tried was very bitter, with no discernable flavor of actual cheese, and not creamy at all. I had to spend 30 minutes doctoring it up to even bring it up to slightly edible for my family, and i'm planning on throwing away the remaining pouch. I certainly won't buy it again.

Please PLEASE please bring back the "Classic" Recipe!

No instant potatoes, by any manufacturer, taste like my garlic and herb mashed potatoes. Something is lost when the dehydrated flakes are re-hydrated that just can't compare to freshly-cooked real potatoes.

Sorry, Betty!

I finally got to try the sample of instant potatoes that was sent to me, Thanks again. I choose the baked garlic. I took them to a pot luck at our church and they were one of the foods to disappear first, so I guess everyone like them. I thought they were creamy and not powdery like some instant potatoes. The garlic was a little strong, but I like garlic. Better then haome made?!?, No, I don't think so, we at least not mine,, but I would buy them!! Thanks B.C.  Granna2