You CAN Have Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes are low FODMAP in small portions of 75 g or about ½ cup – and yet, I was determined to figure out how to create a recipe for mashed sweet potatoes, where you could have a nice portion.
I bring you our super smooth and satisfying Low FODMAP Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Candied Spiced Pecans!
How Did We Do It?
There is a secret. That I am going to tell you now. And once I tell you, you are gonna think, OF COURSE! The secret is…mashed potatoes! As in regular starchy potatoes…
By using these potatoes, which have no detectable FODMAPs, as the bulk of the dish, and then adding just enough sweet potatoes so that the dish LOOKS like mashed sweet potatoes and TASTES like sweet potatoes – but is actually a fair amount of regular potatoes – we get to have the experience of Mashed Sweet Potatoes, but without the high FODMAP content.
Candied Nuts – Optional
All nuts can be high FODMAP in large portions, however, we can enjoy many (almonds, walnuts, pecans, pine nuts to name a few) in appropriate portions.
Candied nuts are a lovely sweet snack and we also like them tossed into salads and used as a sweet, crunchy counterpoint, such as topping this recipe.
You can see this dish plated with our Low FODMAP Horseradish Crusted Roast Beef, but it would go with roast chicken, turkey or pork!
Low FODMAP Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Candied Spiced Pecans
You CAN have mashed sweet potatoes - this recipe for Low FODMAP Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Candied Spiced Pecans shows you how to incorporate them safely into your diet.
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds (910 g) starchy Russet potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
- 1 pound (455 ) orange fleshed sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
- 1/4 cup to ½ cup (60 ml to 120 ml) lactose-free whole milk
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper, or white pepper, if you like
- 1/2 cup (50 g) Candied Spiced Pecans, ready to use, chopped, optional
Preparation:
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Place the chunks of potatoes and sweet potatoes in a large pot of salted water, making sure they are covered with water by at least 1-inch (2.5 cm). Bring to a boil over high heat; turn heat down and simmer, partially covered until potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife.
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Drain well in a colander then return all of the potatoes to pot. Place over low heat and stir them around, drying them out a bit; this will make them nice and fluffy. Remove from heat.
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Add about ¼ cup (60 ml) of the milk and all of the butter and begin to mash. I usually start with a hand-held potato masher and then switch to a large, sturdy balloon whisk. Taste and season with salt and pepper and add remaining milk if necessary to make satiny, smooth, creamy yet fluffy mashed potatoes. Sprinkle with Candied Spiced Pecans, if desired. Serve immediately.
Dédé's Quick Recipe Tips Video
Notes:
Tips
- Us orange-fleshed sweet potatoes for best results in this recipe. There are white-fleshed and even purple, but for the classic orange look, use the orange-fleshed varieties.
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more. For a more detailed explanation, please read our article Understanding The Nutrition Panel Within Our Recipes.
This is a sweet potato question, or a vegetables-in-general conversation, rather than specific to this recipe (though it was catalyzed by some sweet potatoes I cooked, which is why I ask it here): When I am measuring vegetables (or fruit) for a recipe, and I am trying to keep to Monash-acceptable serving sizes, should I be measuring the vegetable raw or cooked? For example, there is a big difference in volume between 75 g of raw sweet potato and 75 g of roasted sweet potato. Thanks so much!
Hi Maghgie, great questions. A few things here. First of all, in terms of the app, Monash always suggested to use the images in their app to help assess the entry and also always look at the fine print as well. And you are right, that ½ cup sweet potato actually means nothing from a recipe testing perspective. As a professional recipe developer I know that there are myriad ways to dice, slice, chop a potato and what I pack into half a cup might be very different from what Monash did in the lab. Which is why, in our conversations with Monash, they have ALWAYS told us (and to tell others) to go by their weight designations. They are not cooks, but they do work in laboratories. 75 g of raw sweet potato is 75 g of raw sweet potato. Now, how much does that make cooked? They don’t tell you that.
This is just one reason why we have always provided Metric and as well as Volume for our recipes; so that the recipes are accessible globally but also so that folks have built in double-checks.
Then, for many pasta entries and spaghetti squash entries on the app the lab tested amounts are for COOKED and this does NOT help you know what to start with raw, which is where our Test Kitchen comes in. Check out our article on Asian Noodles to see what I mean. I show you how much you need to start with raw in order to end up with the suggested cooked amount.
Additional comment: Many recipes are not developed or written well. This is a fact in and out of the LOFO arena. On the internet everyone writes recipes. But since we are following the LOFO diet you need specificity and I strive to bring that to you. So, when you get to the Candied Spiced Pecans part of the recipe, you will see that is says ½ cup Candied Spiced Pecans, chopped. The nut recipe calls for nut HALVES, which means you will be measuring halves and THEN chopping. This is a very different measurement than ½ cup chopped pecans, which would weigh more. Most folks do not notice details like that, but they make all the difference for a recipe to be successful, for calories, and of course, for FODMAP content.
I hope this helps you!