Does Popeyes Use Powdered Potatoes For Its Mashed Potatoes?

When it comes to fried chicken and its accompanying fixin's, Popeyes is a popular choice among diners, with its distinctive Louisiana flavors. Even celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain couldn't resist that chicken from Popeyes. But while the brand is among fast food chains that use fresh, never frozen chicken, the same can't be said for its mashed potatoes. The popular menu item, though a go-to favorite for many, is not made from fresh potatoes — the spuds at Popeyes are mixed from dehydrated taters.

Many Redditors — both customers and self-identified Popeyes employees — point to this. "Popeyes mashed potatoes are literally just instant potatoes," one self-proclaimed former employee stated (via Reddit). "The powdered potatoes are extremely mid," posted another self-labeled former Popeyes worker (per Reddit). "I would like it more if there weren't fake potato granules in it that seem [like] they aren't properly dissolved," a customer stated on Reddit.

The Popeyes website confirms it. The nutrition information for the chain's mashed potatoes lists water as the first ingredient, followed by dry potato and other components. Fresh potatoes aren't listed among the dish's contents.

Popeyes prides itself on serving high-quality food and using real ingredients, so the use of reconstituted potatoes from a powdered mix may come as a surprise. One Redditor summed it up well: "[The mashed potatoes are] delicious, but they're kind of mid for [Popeyes'] amazing menu." But the challenges of serving freshly prepared potatoes in a fast-food setting may explain the choice.

The use of fresh potatoes poses logistical challenges for a fast-food business, which is why the majority don't serve them. There's a reason, for instance, that Wendy's is the only U.S. fast-food chain that consistently offers baked potatoes. The equipment required — convection ovens in the case of baked potatoes — can be expensive and space-consuming. It also takes a great deal of time to prepare scratch-made potatoes, which doesn't fit with the bustling service pace of a fast-food setting. For Wendy's baked taters, the cooking process takes an hour. Making from-scratch mashed potatoes would similarly require more labor and time than a fast food establishment like Popeyes may want to allot.

Breaking from the norm, fast-food burger joint Culver's actually does make mashed potatoes from scratch using real russet potatoes. Ironically, the chain's spuds are one of its lowest-rated menu items, with abundant online posters as well as media outlets criticizing the side for being bland, inconsistent in texture and flavor, having an unpleasant aftertaste, and being just overall a poor dish. So, clearly, using fresh potatoes isn't everything.

For Popeyes diners, does the use of dehydrated spuds really matter when all is said and done? For some, yes, it definitely does. For others, though, bring on the powdered potatoes — especially when the chain's Cajun Gravy is heaped on top. "Their gravy is what makes it good," one Redditor posted. "Bits of meat and nice and spicy. Not gonna lie though[,] I don't hate a potato flake mashed potato. Use them all of the time at home in a pinch."