Mashed Potatoes Get A Fiber And Texture Boost With One Extra Vegetable

Mashed potatoes are the ultimate comfort food — fluffy, creamy, and buttery. However, this delightful side dish can also come with more calories and carbs than you may want. Yet, adding one vegetable can lighten up the dish substantially and boost nutrients and taste at the same time: cauliflower.

This cruciferous vegetable has been popping up in delicious recipes all over recently. Replacing a portion of mashed potatoes with cauliflower can lower the overall carbohydrates and calories in the dish, while also increasing vitamin C and K levels. Plus, it can add a little extra earthy and nutty flavor to the dish, while the amount of fiber remains about the same.

Doing so is surprisingly simple. Boil evenly sized pieces of potatoes and cauliflower florets together. Once the potatoes are soft, drain the water, and mash everything together. Since mashed cauliflower is already a side dish, it's relatively easy to mix in. However, cauliflower can take more time to mash than potatoes, so using a food processor or blender on low speed can quicken the process. Nonetheless, depending on how thoroughly you mash the cauliflower, it can add some interesting texture to the dish — which you may or may not want. Then, it's time to add in the extras: butter, milk, cream, cheese, herbs, salt, chives, etc. For an extra creamy mix, try adding more butter and less milk, or try out a delicious Italian version with cream and nutmeg.

Follow some pro tips to make the best mashed potatoes with cauliflower: use cold water when you start to boil your veggies, don't under- or overcook the potatoes, and preheat any dairy before adding to the dish to make it easier to mix in. Alternatively, if you've already followed a recipe for mashed cauliflower, you can simply mix in some mashed potatoes to recreate this dish.

Feeling creative? Try incorporating other veggies to give a flavorful boost to mashed potatoes — like spinach and garlic. Spinach adds calcium, iron, vitamin A, vitamin C, folic acid, fiber, and vitamin K, while garlic adds even more nutrients and helps you fend off a variety of illnesses. This combo also adds earthy, savory, and caramelized notes to the dish along with some bright spots of color. Or swap these out for other vegetables like collard greens, kale, shallots, or leeks. Upgrade your mashed potatoes even further by mixing in some caramelized onions, chives, or sauteed cabbage for a traditional Irish recipe.

If you like these mashed mixes, why not try out a few other vegetables beyond potatoes? For example, mashing carrots, celeriac, sunchokes, taro, or beets can result in an interesting, colorful, and tasty side dish.