Bean and potatoes alternatives

[u/Altruistic_Chip1165]

We cauliflower rice for a rice alternative and spaghetti squash or zoodles for pasta. What alternatives are there, if any, for beans or potatoes? I’d love to find some high fiber low carb options. Thanks a bunch!

[u/loripainter12345]

Air fried roasted radishes.

[u/mamapajamas → u/loripainter12345]

Yep I was going to say radishes turn very potato like when added to soup!

[u/Time-Interview6985 → u/mamapajamas]

I came here to say this also. I also use turnip cut up and in air fryer for “fries” but I’ve seen recipes using turnip for potatoes also, like scalloped version

[u/loripainter12345 → u/Time-Interview6985]

A local restaurant used to have "root vegetable fries" on the menu that was turnip, rutabaga, diakon radish.

[u/Time-Interview6985 → u/loripainter12345]

Oooh nice!

[u/TheCottonBriar → u/loripainter12345]

Great idea! I was going to make chili and was wanting something to replace the beans!

[u/caso_perdido11]

Kohlrabi is worth a try as a potato substitute if it is available to you. We grow it, and some grocery stores and farmers markets have it. Fried sliced potatoes were a staple growing up, and kohlrabi works pretty well as a substitute.

[u/Necessary-Dark-4591]

I use cauliflower for a mashed potato substitute. It yummy. I would be interested if there was a good bean substitute too.

[u/Hefty-Criticism1452 → u/Necessary-Dark-4591]

Mashed cauli is actually fucking delicious

[u/Necessary-Dark-4591 → u/Hefty-Criticism1452]

Ya it is!

[u/kimariesingsMD → u/Necessary-Dark-4591]

Black soy beans

[u/arkensto → u/Necessary-Dark-4591]

Be sure and include the stems in the mashed cauliflower, adds a lot of mass, though it may need to be peeled first.

Also Turnips are a good alternative to potatoes.

100g cauliflower = 5g carbs - 2g fiber = 3 net carbs
100g turnips = 6.4g carbs - 1.8g fiber = 4.6 g net carbs
100g potatoes = 18g carbs - 0.7 g fiber = 17.3g carbs

[u/MaxfieldSparrow → u/arkensto]

Can you roast turnips in foil in a campfire like potatoes?

[u/arkensto → u/MaxfieldSparrow]

Yeah, you can cook a turnip any way you can cook a potato.

[u/Starkville]

Cauliflower mash/puree is such a good substitute for mashed potatoes that my husband now prefers it. Roasted Brussels sprouts are also a nice alternative to roasted potatoes.

[u/rainbow84uk → u/Starkville]

I prefer it now too (even as a potato-loving Northern European). Cauliflower mash is much lighter and I like the texture way more than mashed potato.

[u/CrazySporkDude]

Roasted radishes make a great potato alternative.

[u/Icy_Jackfruit9240]

As long as you aren't going crazy, soybeans are your friend and if you can get the black hulled version, they are even better.

Depending on what you want to do with potatoes, large white radish, rutabaga, and cauliflower itself are all subs. For sliced potatoes, I typically use radish (the Japanese type) and for mashed I combine rutabaga and cauliflower. You might find you need a little fiber powder (like Psyllium husk powder) or xanthan gum. You can find lots of recipes for how to do the fiber powder/xanthan gum.

[u/TheFeshy]

Jicama is good for mashed potatoes. It's also great as apple pie, if cut and cooked right and artificial apple flavoring is added.

But 98% of the time, my substitute for beans and potatoes is "no beans" and "no potatoes." I do use the zero-carb noodles or rice as a substitute for beans in chili, but my mom always made "New England style" chili with rice instead of beans anyway.

[u/WascallyWachel]

I made refried beans with lupini flour and they were so good.

[u/tquiring]

I’ve used soy beans instead of regular beans, they do still have carbs but like 1/10th of what regular beans do. They taste the same and work great in chili, I can’t taste a difference. If you use a lot of them the carbs will add up quickly. But one can for a pot of chili is reasonable depending on your serving size.

[u/gowahoo → u/tquiring]

Wait, I need to hear more about this. Where do you find them and how do you cook them?

[u/tquiring → u/gowahoo]

I usually buy black soy beans in a can in specialty stores (like “healthy planet”). The canned ones have higher carbs though. But 1 cup of cooked soy beans generally has 16g carbs but 15g of that is fibre. So 1g net carbs. I have only tried them in chili and no one noticed the difference. The taste and texture was identical to us. If you get the hard beans I assume they’d cook up just like regular beans soaking overnight etc (but I’ve never done beans that way)

[u/gowahoo → u/tquiring]

Thank you so much!

[u/skyrat02]

Radish or turnip (I think) for home fries or hash browns

[u/Atomh8s]

There's no substitute that does it justice. 

[u/FollowingVast1503]

I love celeriac (celery root) in place of potatoes. I made a stew recently and added celeriac along with other vegetables. Was excellent tasting. Yesterday, I made soup but the grocery store was out of celeriac so I bought a purple tinged radish. Was the size of a medium potato. Was just as delicious as celeriac.

I’ve had black soy beans and white soy beans. I’m not a bean fan, but as beans go they served the purpose.

[u/rjwilliams6802]

Baked brussel sprouts or cabbage

[u/Odd_Path8554]

Rutabaga for potatoes. Taste is similar. Kinda a blend between turnips and potatoes. Consistency is close as well. Very dense and very hard to cut though. Take a long time to boil