Mashed Turnips (Mashed Potato Substitute)

Need an alternative to mashed potatoes that's paleo, low carb, and keto friendly? Give mashed turnips a try. They have a bit more flavor than other options.

Article Index

• Why you'll love it
• Ingredients
• Tips
• Instructions
• Serving Suggestions
• Variations
• FAQs
• Related Recipes
• Recipe

Why you'll love it

For our Thanksgiving meals, I've always made a batch of cauliflower mash or keto cauliflower mashed potatoes. I often like to add in some garlic, celery root, or even spinach.

Over the last couple of years, I've been using more turnips as a low-carb potato or root vegetable substitute. However, it does have more carbs than cauliflower.

You can cook turnips on a low-carb meal plan as long as you eat them in moderation. If you're on a strict keto diet, radish is a better choice because it has almost half the carbs.

Since Thanksgiving, Christmas and the month in-between is a time to indulge, why not give mashed turnips a try? This side dish cuisine is a nice change from the usual mashed cauliflower.

Ingredients

These roasted turnips have just a few ingredients that are easy to find at the grocery store. Here's more information about what you'll need.

Turnips

You'll need around 1.5 pounds of fresh turnips. The smaller the turnips the better, since the larger ones can be a little bitter.

Coconut milk

To make this paleo-friendly, make sure to use dairy-free options. For a buttery flavor, I like to add butter-flavored coconut oil. To add creaminess without dairy, I use coconut milk.

Almond milk is another great option. Alternatively, you could use heavy whipping cream instead.

If you are doing keto and don't mind dairy, you can add in some sour cream or heavy cream instead.

Coconut oil

To make the mashed turnips thicker, use either butter-flavored coconut oil or ghee. You can use regular butter if you can have dairy.

Although ghee is derived from cow milk, it's often used in paleo cooking. That's because dairy proteins and sugars are removed when butter is clarified to make ghee. This makes it less inflammatory than butter.

Spices

Spice up the turnips just like you do when making mashed potatoes! Add some kosher salt and ground black pepper, and top with some chives.

Please note: Check out the recipe card at the bottom for a full list of ingredients used to make this low-carb recipe.

Tips

• Use an immersion blender. If you don't have a food processor, an immersion blender is easier to clean up.
• Peel with a vegetable peeler. A turnip bulb is really easy to peel, especially with the correct tool.
• Cut turnips into small pieces. Smaller turnips tend to cook quicker than larger pieces.

Instructions

It's incredibly easy to make turnips into creamy goodness. The most time-consuming part is cutting them up!

Boil turnips

Prepare turnips for mashing much the same way you do potatoes. Peel them first. Then, boil them until they are fork tender.

Mash turnips

Then, mash them up with a little low-carb milk and butter-flavored fat. The mashing can be done with a fork, a potato masher, an electric mixer, or a food processor.

Keep mixing and whipping it until they reach your desired consistency.

Serving Suggestions

The best thing about mashed turnips is that they go with almost any meal you make for lunch or dinner. They are also the perfect things to add to your weekly meal prep.

If you're following a paleo or low-carb eating plan, these mashed turnips make a great side dish served with roasted meat and keto gravy.

This is the perfect keto side dish recipe to serve with roasted beef tenderloin or some air fryer pork chops.

The ingredients are all suitable for even a strict autoimmune protocol (AIP) paleo diet if you don't add any ground pepper seasoning. You can even use it to top a keto shepherd's pie!

Variations

There are so many ways to make cooked turnips. Here are a few different changes you can make to the recipe. If you switch it up, let me know in the comments.

• Turn up the flavor. Mix in some roasted garlic. This will give them a richer and deeper flavor.
• Make it creamy. Add full-fat cream cheese if you aren't following paleo.
• Top with sour cream. This is another dairy product, so only add it if you aren't paleo.

FAQs

Here are some questions people often ask about making mashed turnips. If you don't see your question in this list, please leave it in the comments.

Related Recipes

If you love mashed turnips, here are some more keto side dishes you should make next! They are some of my favorite delicious recipes - and I'm sure you'll agree!

• Sugar-Free Cranberry Sauce with blueberries is a sweet and tart side dish with amazing flavor.
• Low Carb Green Bean Casserole is a gluten-free side dish you can make all year long.
• Cauliflower Mac and Cheese is a kid-friendly side dish that adults will dig into as well.
• Keto Squash Casserole is a delicious and low-carb way to serve yellow squash.
• Healthy Keto Sweet Potato Casserole only has 4 grams net carbs in each serving - it's a delicious take on a classic Thanksgiving side.

Follow us on FACEBOOK, PINTEREST, and INSTAGRAM for even more tasty keto-friendly recipes!

Recipe

First published November 5, 2018. Last updated September 6, 2022, with new images and additional recipe information.