Greatest Low Starch Potato Substitutes

5 wholesome, scrumptious potato substitutes which are non-starchy with very related texture for all of your low-carb, gut-healing, or keto-inspired dishes.

As I used to be selecting up greens at our native farm final weekend, I seen a vegetable I hadn’t cooked in a really very long time….kohlrabi.

With my husband on the total GAPS food plan for greater than 5 years now (and starting to reintroduce meals efficiently!), I instantly checked my GAPS authorized meals checklist for this beautiful purple crucifer to make sure it was nonstarchy to satisfy his dietary wants.

Yay! I discovered it was a-ok, so I scooped some up for my house broth-making endeavors within the coming week.

Why Use a Potato Substitute?

There are a few the reason why you would possibly want to think about using potato substitutes repeatedly on the house menu.

First, avoiding starchy potatoes is a should in case you are consuming low-carb or following a keto protocol for a time to lose just a few kilos rapidly.

Secondly, when you’ve got any form of intestine points, it is very important skip white and candy potatoes (additionally very starchy) within the food plan.

Starch could be very arduous to digest for these with any kind of digestive points. It tends to digest incompletely when the intestine is imbalanced, leaving plentiful meals for pathogens to strengthen and crowd out the great flora.

In a nutshell, avoiding starch, not less than within the brief time period, is necessary to heal/seal the intestine wall and restore the integrity of the enterocytes and the probiotic flora that nourish them…the gatekeepers of our immune system.

For many who have hassle digesting starch or are in any other case consuming low-carb to drop just a few kilos, an excellent potato substitute that imparts an analogous texture is a should in my expertise to keep away from cravings that would derail the therapeutic course of.

Low Starch Potato Options

Earlier than I determine the 5 greatest alternate options to potatoes, I wish to make clear that potatoes are a wholesome, conventional meals.

Simply because it is advisable keep away from potatoes for some time as a result of digestive or different well being points doesn’t make them dangerous!

It simply implies that it is advisable go a unique path dietarily to get to a more healthy model of your self.

In our house, my husband doesn’t eat white or candy potatoes as a result of following the GAPS food plan.

Nevertheless, my kids and I eat them steadily.

So, when I’m getting ready a meal that features potatoes, I take care so as to add a facet dish of one in all these potato substitutes beneath in order that my husband can benefit from the texture of starch with out the precise starch.

Kohlrabi

Kohlrabi is a cruciferous vegetable that makes a beautiful sub for potatoes at any meal.

Simply be sure you at all times prepare dinner it!

Cruciferous greens are greatest by no means eaten uncooked as a result of excessive goitrogenic points that negatively have an effect on the thyroid and block the uptake of iodine.

The warmth from cooking deactivates roughly two-thirds of those substances in kohlrabi, rendering it extra digestible in addition to thyroid-safe.

My favourite approach to put together is to toss one or two right into a pot of simmering pot of home made meat inventory for a one-pot meal.

When your inventory and slow-cooked meat are prepared, so are your veggies!

Turnip

Turnips look a bit like purple kohlrabi, however are distinguished by a combined purple and white look.

As well as, turnips have the greens coming off the highest in a single spot. This compares to kohlrabi which has a single stalk rising out of a number of locations on the basis.

The turnip has a novel taste that takes some getting used to in accordance with my style buds.

My husband and one in all my boys completely love the flavour of turnips, however I’m not a fan. I discover the flavour extremely sturdy and a bit unpleasant even after cooking.

Whereas my husband likes to simmer them in a pot of home made bone broth, I choose to cut and roast them individually in butter. To me, the sturdy turnip taste simply turns into infused with broth or soups to unfavorable impact.

Briefly, turnips are undoubtedly a private choice! However, simply because I don’t look after them, don’t be postpone. You would possibly love them!

If you happen to prepare dinner for the entire household, one of many different decisions on this checklist might be a good suggestion to please everybody.

Rutabaga

A lot sweeter and milder than turnips and kohlrabi, rutabaga is my favourite potato substitute.

Authorized for all phases of the GAPS food plan, this nonstarchy root vegetable even appears to be like like a potato when peeled and able to prepare dinner.

You’ll be able to peel, chop and boil them till gentle after which mash with butter and milk to make low-starch mashed potatoes.

One other tasty choice is to peel, chop and roast rutabaga within the oven with butter, sea salt, and pepper till gentle for a baked potato-style facet dish.

Cauliflower

Cauliflower is probably the preferred low-starch potato substitute that’s most generally obtainable in supermarkets.

If you’re consuming low carb to heal leaky intestine, nonetheless, observe that cauliflower florets solely are permitted for all 6 levels of the GAPS Intro Weight-reduction plan.

GAPS Intro Weight-reduction plan levels 3-6 incorporate cauliflower stalks as effectively. (1)

Maintain this in thoughts should you want to use this tasty crucifer as your potato substitute of selection.

Cauliflower mash (simply chop, steam till gentle, and mash with butter, sea salt and pepper) might be the best-known dish for low carbers who’re avoiding white and candy potatoes.

Cauliflower rice is one other fave as a facet dish.

Be aware that like kohlrabi, cauliflower is a cruciferous vegetable. Thus, it ought to solely be consumed completely cooked to scale back goitrogenic substances that negatively have an effect on thyroid perform.

Celeriac

Maybe the least identified of the potato alternate options, celeriac is a superb choice to think about.

Like cauliflower stems, celeriac is reserved for the later levels of GAPS when some intestine therapeutic has occurred. (1)

Nevertheless, get pleasure from it anytime as a potato sub in case you are low-carb for weight administration functions solely.

As you might have guessed from the identify, celeriac is definitely the basis bulb of the celery plant.

Therefore, it’s extra frequent identify … celery root.

Thus, when you’ve got your individual backyard, rising celery is sensible. You need to use your entire plant from root to stem to leaves.

Regardless of the recognition of celery, celeriac is definitely pretty unknown to most individuals!

The wonderful thing about it’s that it’s suitable for eating uncooked too, not like different potato substitutes like kohlrabi and cauliflower, which must be absolutely cooked.

One other tip. Celeriac tastes loads like parsnips, which isn’t allowed at any of the 6 stages of Intro GAPS and even the common GAPS Weight-reduction plan as a result of its greater starch content material. (2, 3)

Thus, in case you are on this gut-healing food plan and miss parsnips in addition to potatoes, celeriac is certainly a good selection as an alternative choice to each!

References

(1) GAPS Intro Meat and Potatoes

(2) Common GAPS Weight-reduction plan meals checklist

(3) Intestine and Psychology Syndrome