Swanson Cream Starter Review

Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes

made with Swanson Cream Starter

So part of my Crowdtap #DiscoverCampbells mission kit I received a carton of Swanson's Cream Starter. I was sort of at a loss at what to make because I've never used this type of cream before. I am not a fan of clam chowder - or any chowder for that matter, so I went online. I went to CampbellsKitchen.com and looked up some recipes using the Swanson Cream Starter. I found the website easy to navigate, but sadly not many recipes utilizing the cream starter. I opted for the very simple and very safe: Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes. Who doesn't love mashed potatoes? They're certainly a main staple in my household so I knew they would go over well.

The recipe is as follows -
Ingredients:

• 2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes (about 5 cups)
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 cup Swanson® Cream Starter Traditional or 25% Reduced Fat or Swanson® Cream Starter 25% Reduced Fat
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened 

Instructions

1. Place the potatoes and garlic into a 3-quart saucepan.  Add water to cover.
2. Heat over medium-high heat to a boil.  Cook for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.  Drain the potato mixture well in a colander.  Return the potato mixture to the saucepan.
3. Mash the potatoes.  Stir in the cream starter and butter.  Season with salt and black pepper.

This recipe is so simple that I know the kids could make this themselves. This is so simple that even the person with the worst cooking skills ever couldn't really mess this up. I made some baked meatballs with gravy and some corn to finish off the meal.

The carton was easy to open and easy to hold, so if you have issues with arthritis it won't give you any problems. The cream itself smelled pretty good, the thickness was good, and tasted good as well. I did get a little taste of the cream before I put it in the mashed potatoes. At that point there was still time to back out if I didn't like the smell or taste. The kids and I are those kinds of eaters - if it doesn't smell or look good, we ain't eating it.

The potatoes came out really good, really creamy and smooth. The only thing I'd do different would be to scale back the garlic as it was just too intense a flavor for the kids. They still ate it and said it was good, but just that it was too garlicky. I liked it and thought it was fine, so I would add half the amount of garlic first and then go from there.

Overall the cream starter is super easy to use and I'm looking forward to using it in many more different recipes. If you only buy it for mashed potatoes though, it'll be totally worth it, much creamier than when using milk.

 Disclaimer: I received this product  for FREE with the sole purpose of trying it out in my home. All opinions are my own and no further compensation was given.