Mashed Turnips
Mashed turnips offer a delightful alternative to traditional mashed potatoes, boasting a creamy, fluffy and buttery texture that are begging to be smothered in gravy or more butter.
about 1/2 cup
6
Servings
122
Calories
9.6g
Fat
1.2g
Protein
5.5g
Net Carb
7.5g
Total Carbs
This mashed turnip recipe offers a low carb alternative to the classic mashed potato dish. With a few additions, including a unique method to neutralize the bitterness from the tuber, you’ll be making this potato replacement over mashed cauliflower every time.
Turnips are in the tuber family just like potatoes. Unlike a potato, it is considered a non-starchy vegetable so it has less carbohydrates compared to a russet potato.
How to remove bitter taste from turnips?
Turnips can be bitter. It’s a common complaint and why they aren’t very popular. However, there are a couple of tricks you can to do eliminate this unpleasant flavor.
- Use small turnips – Smaller turnips tend to be sweeter compared to the larger turnips. Larger turnips taste bitter.
- Add a potato – Don’t worry, we aren’t mashing a potato in this recipe. Adding a half a potato to the diced turnips while they are boiling helps to absorb the natural bitter flavor from the turnip. Once the turnips are softened, the potato gets tossed.
- Dry cook – The cooking liquid can contain much of that bitter flavor. After the turnips are cooked, drain the liquid. Then return the turnips to the pot and dry cook them over the stovetop to cook off any remaining moisture.
- Add fat – Adding butter and heavy cream to the mashed turnips helps to counteract the bitter flavor from the turnips. If you find your turnip mash still tastes bitter, add more fat.
- Add sweetness – A tablespoon or two of sweetener will decrease the bitterness from the turnips. This works similar to adding sugar to bitter chocolate – you don’t taste the bitterness at all after that!
How to make mashed turnips
- Prepare the turnips. Peel turnips using a paring knife or vegetable peeler. Then dice into small pieces. The smaller cuts will soften faster when boiled.
- Boil until softened. Add diced turnips to a large pot. Pour in chicken broth and add enough water to cover the turnips. Drop a half a sliced russet potato into the turnip water. Bring to a boil, then let simmer until turnips are softened. Drain and remove the potato. Return turnips to the saucepan and cook over medium heat until remaining moisture and liquid is cooked off.
- Mash ’em up. Add cooked turnips to a blender or food processor along with butter, cream, pepper and salt. Blend until smooth and creamy.
- Garnish. Top with more butter, chopped parsley and cracked pepper. Or pour on your favorite gravy.
Mashed Turnips Recipe Video
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Mashed Turnips Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds small turnips - 1/2 of a medium-large russet potato, skin on
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- salt to taste
Mashed Turnips Directions
-
Prepare the turnips
Peel the skin off the turnips with a vegetable peeler or paring knife. Discard the skins. Dice the turnips into ¾ inch pieces.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds small turnips
Quick Tip
The smaller the dice, the faster the turnips will cook. Smaller turnips tend to be sweeter and less bitter. -
Boil the turnips
Add the diced turnips to a large saucepan. Place the potato half on top of the turnips. Pour in chicken broth. Then add enough water to the saucepan to cover the turnips and potato. Season with a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and let cook until turnips have softened enough for a fork to easily pierce through. (about 20 minutes)
Ingredients
- 1/2 of a medium-large russet potato, skin on
- 1 cup chicken broth
Quick Tip
The potato will absorb the bitter flavor while the turnips cook. -
Dry cook
Drain the cooking water and discard the potato. Return the cooked turnips to the pot and place back on the stove top over medium heat. Dry cook the turnips over the stove top until most of the remaining moisture is gone.
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Mashed & buttery
Transfer turnips to a food processor or blender. Add butter, heavy cream and pepper. Pulse until pureed until smooth and creamy. Season with more salt if needed.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Quick Tip
If mashed turnips still taste bitter, add more butter, cream and/or a tablespoon of sugar free sweetener. For the creamiest turnip mash, use a food processor or blender, but can use a potato masher or fork if necessary.
Totally delicious, and so much fun to make and eat! This really is silky smooth, and maybe it’s just the small turnips we get here in the UK, but they did not seem bitter to me at all – next time I might just skip the potato. The amount of butter and cream is just perfect, and I added a little parsley on top for some oomph. Next time I’ll try the other suggestions of garlic (maybe even black garlic!), and maybe even paprika? Thanks for a great recipe, Annie, this one is a keeper!