Potatoes are a trendy side dish in the American diet. You almost can’t order a meal without a side of fries or mashed potatoes these days. However, they are one of the root vegetables with the highest amounts of carbs and starches in them. One cup of boiled, mashed potato contains about 30 grams of carbohydrates in it. A large unskinned baker potato can contain twice as many carbs!
The Alternative Options
Everyone loves eating these tubers with their meals because they are so flexible and tasty. You can roast, mash, bake, or boil potatoes with ease. It can be difficult to find non-starchy alternatives that work in so many ways.
But, you don’t have to cut root vegetables out of your diet altogether. There are several low-carb alternatives that you can enjoy!
#1 Radish
These root bulbs have one of the lowest amounts of carbohydrates at just 3.9 grams per cup of raw, sliced radish. You can roast radishes just like you roast potatoes and have a healthy vegetable side with your dinner. While they are quite spicy when raw, roasting radishes makes their flavor milder.
#2 Turnips
Another option is the simple turnip, which can be cooked and mashed or roasted like potatoes. These roots have about 8.4 grams of carbs per cup of raw, cubed turnip. Before cooking, turnips have a slightly bitter flavor, but boiling helps remove it.
#3 Rutabaga
This large, round purplish looking root is a part of the brassica family, along with turnips and cabbage! It actually has a slight cruciferous odor when raw, but cooking it sweetens the rutabaga and imparts some savory flavor too. Rutabagas are great alternatives for mashed potatoes. These root veggies contain about 12 grams of carbs per one cup, cubed raw.
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