Low-Carb Mashed “Potatoes” - 4 ways

 

{Cauliflower and Potato Mash}

 

With the holidays fast approaching and the summer weather fading, comfort foods like mashed potatoes are more on people’s minds again. If you are on a low-carb eating plan, the “real thing” is pretty much out!

However, there are plenty of ways to give us some substitutions!

Do they taste like the real thing, you ask? No.  Only the real thing tastes like the real thing, I’m afraid. But they make some real good side dishes in their own rights that are reminiscent of mashed potatoes.

And  with the addition of some real potatoes, even though very little,  we do get a whole lot closer to the flavor and texture of the real thing. With all of them, getting them as dry as possible before proceeding further is key!

So maybe the question needs to be: Are these mash recipes creamy, delicious and indulgent and might they just make me miss “real” mashed potatoes a tad bit less? You betcha!

Ok, so let’s get started! My personal favorite is the cauliflower and potato mash as I really like the flavor of cauliflower, but  sometimes I rotate through the others too!

 

Cauliflower and Potato Mash

Ingredients:

5 cups of cooked cauliflower florets (I usually buy frozen florets and steam them soft in the microwave steamer bags for 10 minutes on high)

1/4 cup crème fraiche or sour cream (I prefer crème fraiche as the homemade kind gets pretty thick and helps to creamify the mash without "watering” it down!)

3 tbsp. unsalted butter

1 packed cup of finely shredded cheese of choice (I use Mexican blend)

1/4-1/2 tsp of seasoning salt of choice

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper (optional)

1/3 cup Bob’s Red Mill Idaho Potato Flakes *

1/4 tsp guar gum (only if your mash seems soupy)

 

Preparation:

Once your cauliflower florets are cooked/steamed, put them in a colander lined with a few layers of kitchen towel and let it absorb the excess water for a few minutes.

With the steaming method you won’t have too much of that, but if you are boiling your cauliflower, it will be much more wet, so it’s important to get that out first. Even press it down a bit with an additional kitchen towel and pad it dry. You want to get out all the water you can.

Next, add the dried cauliflower to your blender, add all the other ingredients and blend until smooth. Check to see the consistency, if it seems a bit soupy, add the guar gum and blend again until completely smooth. Adjust seasonings to taste.

You can now either serve it immediately or place it in a casserole dish, cover with foil and refrigerate until you need it. This can be made a day in advance. To reheat, bake in a 350-degree oven, covered, for 20-30 minutes, or until warmed through.

 

This makes 46 g of carbs, with 17 g of fiber, so 29 g of net carbs for the whole recipe. At 5  generous servings that is 6 g of net carbs each (with the Bob’s Red Mill Potato Flakes - other carb counts vary widely, so please adjust yours!)

* You can also omit the potato flakes and just go with a delicious cauliflower mash! I often do as I really like mashed cauliflower by itself. In that case, the carb count is 3 g of net carbs per serving.

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Jicama and Turnips make for very good mock mashed potatoes too, but they are usually more labor intensive. The Jicama requires a long time of pre-cooking and the turnips require a soaking prior to cooking to remove the “turnippy” flavor, but if you are really not into cauliflower, you can substitute other things.

 

Turnip Mash

Turnip substitution: Peel and  chop around 5 cups of turnips. Place them in a bowl, add 1 tsp salt and  1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream over them, then fill the bowl with water, so all the turnips are covered by the cream water. Let them soak for one hour, stirring once or twice to get all the turnips submerged evenly.

After one hour, discard the cream water and rinse the turnips. Now boil the turnips over medium high heat until fork tender. Drain them and then proceed with drying them and making the mashed potatoes as in the cauliflower recipe above.

 

The carb count for the turnip mash, with the potato flakes is 59 g of carbs, 15 g of fiber, so 54 g of net carbs. At 5 servings that is 10.8 g of net carbs per serving. Without the potato flakes, the turnip mash is 40 g of net carbs for the whole recipe and 8g of net carbs per serving.

 

Jicama Mash

If you are going to substitute Jicama, here is how to do it.

You’ll need about 5 cups of peeled and grated Jicama. Place in the crockpot with 3 cups of water (or stock) and some salt and cook overnight (10 hrs.) on low.

They should be fork tender by then. Drain and pat dry and proceed with the recipe as above.

 

The carb count for the jicama mash, with the potato flakes is 75 g of carbs, 35 g of fiber, so 40 g of net carbs. At 5 servings that is 8 g of net carbs per serving. Without the potato flakes, the turnip mash is 40 g of net carbs for the whole recipe and 5.6 g of net carbs per serving.