These gochujang mashed potatoes are creamy, delicious and loaded with spicy Korean-inspired flavor! Bonus: they're totally dairy-free!

All kinds of celebrations this week. Valentine's Day just happened. Chinese New Year on Thursday. Fat Tuesday today. So many reasons to party! You'd almost think it was 1999.
I'll be honest - I had a more "fat" Fat Tuesday recipe that I thought I was going to share with you guys today. The recipe ended up needing some tweaking, and one Fat Tuesday recipe in a week is about as much as I can handle, especially after Valentine's Day sweets.
So this year, mashed potatoes are indulgent enough for Fat Tuesday, even though these particular mashed potatoes are probably on the lighter side compared to most. They don't need a whole lot of richness - the abundance of flavor more than makes up for that.
Gochujang. That's my secret ingredient, and it's right there in the name of this recipe. I know I'm going to get a million questions on this stuff, because I always do when I include it in a recipe. Suffice it to say, it is a magical flavor party of Korean red pepper deliciousness in your face. Do yourself a favor and get some.
Gochujang is probably my favorite hot sauce, if it can even be considered a hot sauce. Because it's fermented, it has a very distinct flavor, and it's thick and pasty, so it's not really something you can just throw on everything, as I tend to do with hot sauce. It's so delicious though, that I might have to make it my mission to find a way to throw it in everything. This is what crossed my mind a couple of weeks ago as I served a batch of this to my brother and his girlfriend. Whenever I serve anything Korean I tend to push people to pile on the gochujang, because I know they'll thank me for it. Anyhow, I got to thinking about what random dishes I could season up with the stuff, and the next day, these potatoes were born.
They're great. If you've ever had bibimbab, think that, but in mashed potato form. Spicy, but not over-the-top spicy (husband confirmed), and totally delicious.
Gochujang Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. red skinned potatoes quartered
-
¼
cup
gochujang
or to taste
- 2 tbsp. rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp. soy sauce or tamari
- 1 tbsp. grape seed oil or other neutral flavored vegetable oil, or vegan margarine
- 1 tsp. sesame oil
- ½ to 1 cup unflavored soy or almond milk
- sesame seeds fresh cilantro and/or chopped scallions, for topping
Instructions
-
Place potatoes in large saucepan or stock pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
-
Drain potatoes and return to pot. Mash to desired consistency using a potato masher or electric mixer. Add gochujang, vinegar, soy sauce or tamari, oils, and as much milk as needed to achieve desired creaminess.
-
Serve sprinkled with sesame seeds, cilantro and/or scallions.
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