The best creamy mashed potatoes recipe using Caribbean red skinned sweet potatoes with roasted garlic, herbs and whipped into a velvety smooth mash.
If you’re tired of yukon gold, Laura, King Edward, Russet or even Irish potatoes then this recipe should be a great alternative. Sweet potato mash, is like the BIG sister to regular mash made with the aforementioned. It’s velvety, creamy, smooth, delicious, fluffy mashed potatoes with a hint of the Caribbean to boot! It makes the best appetiser or side for your dinner table.
Yams vs Caribbean sweet potatoes
When it comes to sweet potato in the Caribbean, we have our very own signature potato. It differs to what the Americans refer to as “yams” . There are two types – one with a golden exterior and the other more common has a red skin. Both of these potatoes have a white flesh that tends to darken to a slightly white hue when boiled.
It took me a while when I started blogging to adapt to the various global terminologies because in the English speaking parts of the Caribbean yam is a totally different root vegetable to what is it known as in America.
It’s very easy to make a mistake when following a recipe so I always like to differentiate between the two root vegetables.
My Caribbean potato farls are a great example of fusion food at it’s finest using Caribbean sweet potatoes.
Caribbean creamy mash potato is……..
- Paleo friendly
- Contains complex carbohydrates which are slow releasing making your tummy feel much fuller for longer.
- Contains a moderate amount of fibre to regulate bowel movements
- Low in fat
- So delicious you will want to eat the whole bowl alone
- Makes a great Caribbean style side or appetiser
- Naturally sweet thanks the sweetness from the potatoes
- Totally vegan friendly and gluten free too!!
How to make sweet potato mashed healthy and delicious
More often then not you will find quite a few potato mashed recipes topped or sprinkle with sugar. Sweet potatoes contain their own natural sweetness which I like to work with.
There is no additional sugar or sweetener added to the recipe. The only additions are herbs being thyme, a dash of pink salt, vegan butter, black pepper and roasted garlic.
Red skin mashed potatoes – As pictured I used 3 very large sweet potatoes for this recipe. One thing you will find with Island sweet potatoes is the size can be gigantic.
It’s very seldom that you across a baby sweet potato, rather the size and shape tend to be oblong or very round with a unusual long point.
Roasting the garlic – if you want to capture the TRUE essence and potency of garlic then roasting a small head of garlic is where it is at. I used a very small head with about 8 cloves, sliced off the base then drizzled in olive oil, foiled wrapped and roasted for 20 minutes.
If you’re head of garlic is large then 6 individual cloves, snipped and drizzled should do the trick.
Let’s talk sweet potato mash vegan style
You’re probably wondering how to yield that creamy texture right? I’m a sucker for adding milk (plant based to be precise) to my mash. Adding milk to your mash totally takes the mash to another level, like uber creamy!
If you are concerned about calories and/or fat content, no worries! You can skip the almond milk and simply whip the potatoes into mash without the nut milk. Simply use water instead and it will be equally as tasty.
Sweet potato mashed cooking time
It take about 25 minutes to boil and thoroughly cook. I say roughly because once the potato has been peeled it depends on how big you chop the potato.
The bigger the pieces the longer it takes to cook and if you cook your potato whole then it definitely takes quite some time to cook.
The potato will be soft and easy to prick, that’s when you will know it’s done.
Darkening and discolouration of sweet potatoes
The sweet potato flesh will darken once peeled. This is simply because of the starch being exposed to the air.
You can remedy this to an extent when peeling each potato to add them to a bowl with water mixed with pink salt or lemon. I find this slightly decreases the darkening but not completely.
The discoloration has no impact on the taste or texture of the mash, so don’t be alarm or overly concerned about it.
Notes
- Any leftover mash potato can be frozen
- Can use water instead of nut milk to keep the recipe fat free
- Serve sweet potato mash with legumes (vegan) or meat (non vegan option)
Other recipes you may like
Caribbean style stewed mackerel
Lamb kofta kebabs
How to make mashed potatoes from scratch (using steps)
Start by peeling each sweet potato with a potato peeler then chop into chunks.
Add the chopped sweet potato to a pot and bring to the boil until tender then transfer into a bowl
Have the roasted garlic ready to hand and remove the outer layer
Add the roasted garlic cloves along with the sweet potato and proceed to break down with either a masher or electric whisk.
Add the milk, butter, black pepper, pink salt and thyme to the mash
Caribbean creamy mashed potatoes
Ingredients
- 3 large red skinned Caribbean sweet potatoes
- 1 cup of almond milk
- 1 tsp of black pepper
- 5 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 1 tbsp of dairy free butter
- a small head of garlic roasted (see post)
- 1/8 tsp of himalayan pink salt
Instructions
- Use a potato peeler to remove the skin from the sweet potatoes. As each potato is peeled add them to a large bowl of water with either 1tbsp of lemon or 1 tsp of pink salt.
- Discard the water with the potatoes and rinse them thoroughly
- Roughly chop the potatoes into chunks
- Bring a large saucepan with water to the boil with the chopped potatoes.
- Reduce to medium heat and allow the potatoes to cook for approximately 25 minutes or until they are soft enough to prick with a fork.
- Once cooked drain them using a colander then add them to a bowl.
- Proceed to break down the potato into mash using either a potato masher or electric whisk.
- While the potato mashes proceed to pour in the almond milk along with the roasted garlic, butter, pink salt, black pepper and pick of the thyme leaves from the stem and add to the bowl.
- Serve accordingly.
Nutrition
Fantastic. Did this last weekend with roast chicken and loads of veg. I loved it that much that I think I will stop making ordinary mashed potatoes and just use this recipe instead!
That’s great news Marie. I’m so glad I have won you over with this recipe.
Yum, that looks simply incredible! The color is perfect. Can’t wait to taste it!
thank you!!