Caribbean creamy mash potato

The best mash potato 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 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 mash healthy and delicious

More often then not you will find quite a few potato mash 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.

Sweet potato quantity – 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 mash 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)

How to make Caribbean creamy mash potato in 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

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