Mashed Turnips 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.

Baked, Boiled or Steamed. Use turnips any way you would use a potato, and then some. Try them baked or boiled in stews, soups and stir-fries, or lightly steamed with some butter, salt or lemon juice for flavor.

Place the turnips in a pot and cover with about 2 inches of salted water. Bring to a boil, adjust the heat and simmer until the turnips are tender when pierced with a toothpick or the tip of a paring knife, 20 to 30 minutes. Step three: Season and serve.

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.

You can't make turnips taste better because they are the best tasting food there ever could be. Roast them instead of boiling them. Serve with salt, pepper, and butter. You can use other spices or things like vinegar too if you like.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

What is the disadvantage of using baking soda to vegetables? ›

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.

Don't wash turnips until just before using them; moisture will degrade their quality. Instead, place them directly from the market into a large unsealed plastic bag and keep it in the fridge. They will stay fresh for at least a month.

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. Works like a charm! If you're vegan, use a good vegetable broth like Better Than Bouillon and a bit of smoked salt for fantastic flavor.

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.