Creamy Mashed Turnip Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you make mashed turnips not bitter? ›

Add fat – Adding butter and heavy cream to the mashed turnips helps to counteract the bitter flavor from the turnips. If you find your turnip mash still tastes bitter, add more fat. Add sweetness – A tablespoon or two of sweetener will decrease the bitterness from the turnips.

One turnip website from the United Kingdom notes that if you boil them, add a little sugar to tame the scent and add baking soda to reduce bitterness.

As a product of this group, the turnip is known for its high nutrient count and its low calorie density, which makes it a perfect food to add to your healthy eating plan. In one medium-sized turnip there are just 34 calories, 4 grams of fiber when cooked and 1 gram of protein.

Turnips can sometimes taste bitter due to the presence of certain compounds, including glucosinolates and phenols. These compounds are natural plant chemicals that can contribute to the flavor and nutrition of the vegetable, but in some cases, they can also create a bitter taste.

Add baking soda.

Salt is one of my favorite ways to cut the bitterness in turnip greens. I then add about 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to the broth and simmer for the last 20 minutes.

A variety of herbs and spices can be added to the mashed turnips. Try a tablespoon of finely chopped sage or rosemary, a clove or two of roasted or sautéed garlic, or a pinch of paprika or ground ginger. If your turnips came with the greens, don't throw them away.

Creative Ways to Eat More Turnips

Turnips are a healthy alternative to potatoes; they're lower in calories and have fewer carbs. Smaller, sweeter turnips can be sliced into wedges and eaten raw like an apple. Raw baby turnips can be sliced or diced and used in salads.

Any root crop (potatoes, carrots, radishes, parsnips, turnips) needs a fine- textured, well-drained soil to grow properly. If the soil is too heavy, the crop will rot. If the soil is too lumpy or rocky, the roots will be tough, fibrous and misshapen.

This is a bad practice, however, and you should avoid adding baking soda when boiling any type of vegetable. It has various unwelcome effects, such as softening the vegetable, altering the vegetable's flavor, destroying thiamine content, and hastening the loss of vitamin C.

Turns out cooking food with baking soda (a.k.a. sodium bicarbonate) can indeed damage a number of nutrients, such as vitamin C, vitamin D, riboflavin, thiamin, and one essential amino acid.

What is the healthiest way to eat turnips? ›

Boil or steam turnips and add them to mashed potatoes for extra vitamins and minerals. Grate them raw into salads or slaws. Roast them with other root vegetables like carrots and sweet potatoes, and bring out their natural sweetness.

Does Turnip Spike Insulin? Turnips have a low glycemic index and do not typically cause a significant spike in insulin levels. They are a root vegetable that is relatively low in carbohydrates and high in fiber, which helps regulate blood sugar levels.

They play a significant role in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's DASH diet, which medical experts have designed to bring down blood pressure. Turnips also provide potassium, which may help lower blood pressure by releasing sodium from the body and helping arteries dilate.

It's not essential to peel turnips before cooking. If this skin appears to be thin enough you can leave it on and cook as is. However if the skin feels thick and leathery, you can peel it off with a sharp knife or vegetable peeler. Both the roots and leaves, also known as turnip greens, are safe to eat.

Cook the rutabaga cubes in boiling salted water and the ½ teaspoon sugar. This will help take out some of the bitterness. Cook until the rutabaga is very tender.

What Do They Taste Like? Turnips and rutabagas are both members of the cabbage family, so they each have a flavor characteristic of other members of that family, including cabbage, radishes and cauliflower. And while raw turnips have a spiciness similar to that of radishes, rutabagas by comparison are sweeter.