Mashed Yuca is one of my favorite paleo and Whole30 side dish recipes. It’s creamy, rich and slightly sweet, and a fun Whole30 twist on a comfort food classic. If you’ve been rocking pureed sweet potatoes and cauliflower mash, you’ll also want to give mashed yuca root recipe a try!
We’re well into week three of January Whole30 – 23 days y’all! The finish line is a mere seven days away, and I’m pretty sure this last week will be gone before I know it. I’m so proud of us, and you should be too.
This week I’m all about Whole30 twists on classic comfort foods, like this garlic mashed yuca root recipe. Yuca say what?
If you’ve been rocking cauliflower and sweet potato puree, you’ll want to give this yuca root recipe a try. It’s creamy, rich, and filling, and so easy to prepare.
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What is Yuca Root?
If you’ve never heard of yuca, you’re in for a treat – truly. You might know it by the name cassava. Yuca is a root vegetable, similar to potatoes but more fibrous, widely used in South American and Caribbean cuisines. It’s a starchy root, and it’s what tapioca is derived from.
There are lots of recipes for yuca root, but it’s mostly commonly boiled, roasted, or fried, and has a creamy, buttery, slightly sweet flavor profile. This article from The Spruce will tell you everything you need to know about yuca (and more!).
I know that sweet potato and cauliflower dominate the Whole30 mash scene these days, but this starchy root vegetable deserves a slot in your menu planning rotation.
Reasons? Let’s dish:
- It’s economical. I don’t know about you, but cauliflower is on the more expensive side around here, even in peak growing season, and I’m regularly paying upwards of $4/head. For one side dish, that’s pricey (albeit, so delish). Potatoes and sweet potatoes are a better deal at around $1.50-$2/pound. Yuca, on the other hand, cost me $0.79/pound. Total for 4 servings? A little under $1.50.
- It’s widely available. You can find yuca root at most chain supermarkets, higher-end markets like Whole Foods, or latin markets. I’ve never had a problem finding it on my weekly grocery trips.
- It’s nutritious. A 1-cup serving provides you 70% of your Vitamin C, and a nice boost of Vitamin B, Potassium, and Magnesium. It’s a starchy veg, so it’s rich and filling.
- It’s easy to prepare. If you’re accustomed to cauliflower or sweet potato mash, you don’t need any new special tricks or equipment. The same principles apply – prepare, boil, season, mash. Fancy new paleo side dish, same ol’ prep!
- It’s delicious. Mashed yuca is the closest thing I’ve found to mashed potatoes without being mashed potatoes – and maybe even better. While I love mashed potatoes, I also like diversity. Options? Good. Mashed yuca is creamier, with a flavor profile that’s rich and buttery, and a little bit sweeter than russet, new, or yukon gold potatoes, but not as overtly sweet as sweet potatoes.
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How to Make Mashed Yuca
Let’s yuck it up y’all!
Grab a cutting board, a sharp knife, and your yuca root. Trim the ends, and then quarter. Please, be careful when cutting yuca root. The skin is thick and the flesh is quite firm, so you’ll need to apply more pressure than you think. If you’ve cut and peeled winter squash, yuca yields a similar resistance.
Inspect the flesh after you quartered the root. You’re looking for bright, white, firm flesh that isn’t bruised or discolored. Every once in a while I find small portions that are browned and bruised, and I just cut those away and set them aside. If the flesh of your yuca root is consistently discolored, it’s gone bad. It’s rare, but it happens.
Stand the sections on their cut sides, and trim off the skin with downward strokes. There’s two layers of skin – the tough, outer brown “bark”, and a lighter pink skin. Make sure you cut away both – they’re tough and fibrous and so not tasty.
Once it’s peeled, you’ll dice it into small chunks and then boil it with garlic and salt. I like to boil mine in broth for an extra hit of flavor, but water is perfectly acceptable. Use more or less garlic depending on your preferences.
After you’ve boiled the yuca root, you’ll treat it much the same as you would mashed potatoes or cauliflower. Add a little pepper for seasoning, add a little ghee for fat and flavor, and then cream with your hand mixer or the paddle attachment on a stand mixer. I don’t like the texture that results from using a potato masher. Whipped and smooth mashed yuca = creamier and tastier.
Taste for seasoning after you’ve whipped the yuca into a light and airy texture. It may need more salt, pepper, or both. Don’t be afraid to season as needed.
It’s volume will expand as you mash and the finished product will look remarkably like mashed potatoes, but the final texture will be creamier. I served this as-is, but it’s also excellent with a little more ghee drizzled over the top and sprinkled with some fresh parsley.
Mashed yuca can be used anywhere you’d use mashed potatoes or cauliflower mash for a Whole30 or paleo side dish – as a base for pot roast or compliant stew; alongside roasted chicken, meatloaf or pork chops; or as a gluten-free substitute for pasta with meatballs and Sunday sauce, or under a bed of chargrilled mushrooms. So many possibilities! When you check back in tomorrow, I’ll share what I paired this batch with. Happy yuca mashing!
Did you make this Garlic Mashed Yuca Root? I’d love to know how it turned out! Leave a comment and a rating below.
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Recipe
Garlic Mashed Yuca Root
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Ingredients
- 1.5 lb yuca root, trimmed, peeled, and cubed
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 tsp sea or kosher salt, plus additional to taste
- 2 c bone broth or water
- ½ tsp cracked black pepper
- 2 tbsp ghee, melted
Instructions
- Trim off the ends of the yuca root using a sharp knife, then cut the root widthwise into three or four pieces.
- Set each piece of yuca cut side up. Starting at the top and working in one fluid motion, slice the waxy exterior brown skin and interior pink layer from the yuca. Repeat with the remaining pieces.
- Rinse the skinned yuca root under cool running water to remove any dirt or residue that might have transferred during trimming, then dice the flesh into 1” chunks.
- Place the diced yuca and smashed garlic cloves into a sauce pan, along with 1 tsp salt. Add enough water or broth to cover the yuca by about an inch. Place the sauce pan over high and heat until the water boils. Reduce the heat to medium high and continue to boil until the yuca is soft and you can easily mash the flesh with the tines of a fork, about 20 minutes.
- Drain the liquid and return the yuca and garlic to the pot. Alternatively, transfer the yuca and garlic to the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Add the melted ghee and pepper to the pot or bowl. Using a hand mixer or the paddle attachment on your stand mixer, beat until the consistency is smooth and the yuca mash is light in color and fluffy in texture. Taste for seasoning, and add additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm. Yuca mash keeps in the fridge for up to 3 days, and reheats well in the microwave.
Nutrition Information
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Matt
This is the first time I’ve tried Yucca and I love it! You’re a genius!
Evelyn
I’ve never eaten mashed yucca and now I’m determined to try it!
Iuliana
I’ve tried mashed yucca for the first time tonight, using a recipe very similar to yours. Came out very rubbery, not to mention the tough thick fiber strings we found occasionally. Is there a quick way to dispose for those before mashing? Is that done before boiling or after? I am pretty certain I did remove both the brown and the pink skin, and they boiled for about 2o minutes. Not bad tasting (I mixed with a bit of sweet potato), but I was really put off by the rubbery texture once mixed with butter and milk (I used non-dairy ones) and mashed. How do I make it less rubbery??? TIA!
Danielle
Hi Iuliana – I’ve never really had a problem with a rubbery consistency, but there are few things you can try. Try mashing with a potato masher or running through a food mill (if you have one) to get a lighter consistency. It general, it’s going to be denser than mashed potatoes because it’s starchier so incorporating as much air as possible will lighten the texture. As for the fibery strings, it could be that it was overripe (make sure if you try again it has bright, white flesh with no discoloration or black specks) OR it could be that you had a root with particularly fibrous core. I’ve run into this before, where the center core is tougher on some. I simply quarter the root lengthwise, and then trim the core away before dicing and boiling. I hope this helps!
SouthBayPunx
Yuca root is poisonous when not cooked. Please make sure you are cooking your Yuca root all the way through. I like to cook mine longer. I peel them with my regular peeler. I cut them in half or into thirds and then split them down the middle. Boil for an hour or until they start to split. Remove the pieces from the water with tongs or a splotted spoon. You should be able to pull the root right out from the center. I always have thick roots in my Yuca so patience is key. I really love spicy garlic so if you decide it is time to go wild look for a cuban recipe with lemon and garlic, You can add as much as you want. And for a yummy sweet treat (Filipino) you can add coconut milk and brown sugar. There are so many recipes but the mashed is one of my favs.
Lauren Tavares
Once the yuca is cooked, you can remove the fibrous strands in the middle and then mash or fry.
Kate
I stumbled on this while looking for yucca recipes, but when on Earth do you live where yucca is cheaper than cauliflower by so much no less?! Seriously I pay 3x more for yucca than most other veggies.
Danielle
Hi Kate! I live outside the DC area (in Frederick, MD specifically, but I lived with the DC metro area for over a decade). Anyway, it has always been a really inexpensive starch in our grocery stores, but I find the best rate in Latin American or Asian markets (although the price I quoted in the post was from our regular grocery store). Interesting!! I’m curious if our cauliflower prices are inflated, or if yuca is really cheap around here. Do you have an ethnic market nearby? You might find a good rate on it there!
Kathy
In ohio it is $7.99 per pound. Very expensive! My root was 2 lbs. I can buy lots of cauliflower for that price! I bought one and will try it, but not likely I will buy another at that price.
Gisella
The fibers are in the middle of the root, you can pull them off before mashing.
Sally M
Yucca is a perennial shrub with long swordlike leaves and spires of white blossoms.
Yuca is a the cassava root which is in the spurge family.
They are NOT the same plant.
Your wonderful recipe is for Yuca.
Also, if you trim the ends and then score the yuca lengthwise, you can easily peel off both layers of skin along with the white fiber plus layer just under the pink skin. After that it is much easier the cut the root.
Danielle
Hi Sally – thank you for the tip on trimming the skin, I will definitely be giving that a try! And thank you for the spelling clarification, I will be sure to update this post.
Mary M
Amazing recipe! This is definitely a keeper. Even my picky eaters loved it. The garlic and the ghee add just the right touch to this. The yucca is creamy and delicious. Making it again tonight!
Danielle
So glad you enjoyed it, thanks for sharing Mary!
Kristian
I’m doing this right now, just one thing you should know is how easy it is to peel the yucca or cassava, just put your knife long ways and go a milimiter or two and pry, then just go prying and rolling like you are peeling a orange and it will come off in one piece. I hope I could explain it better.
Michelle
Lovely recipe and thank you for the tips!
Gwyneviere
Hi all I have access to is frozen cassava. I followed the recipe but the texture was very sticky and gluey. Flavour was great. I wonder if it’s because they were frozen? I did use a potato masher. I wonder if I add broth and use my mixer it might loosen up the texture a bit? Just wondering what to do with the leftover mash. I was also thinking of adding some parmesan and rolling them into finger shapes and shallow frying. ….hmmmmmm> Thanks for any tips you can give!
Aditya Pabba
Sounds like you made Fufu! https://www.africanbites.com/cassava-fufu-water-fufu/
famous foods
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famous foods
I give 5 star to this blog , Must read guys.
Heather
Yum! Tastes like mashed potatoes! Doing it in the stand mixer was a great idea! Thanks for sharing!
another juliana
Just wanted to mention that finally grated yucca makes lights-out latkes, the crisper ever. Potato pancakes with yucca swapped in for potatoes.
Pattie Byrnes
Delicious!!! My new fav! Warning though it almost killed my food processor. Its it very hard.
Doro STEPHENS
I paired it with roasted tofu that had been marinated in a soy sauce, maple syrup, ginger mixture. Yummy!
Greg Little
Good recipe. Doubled the garlic and the fat but I used coconut oil. Added 9 tbsp coconut milk and yeah. Really nice.
Carol
Delicious, despite the fibers. Didn’t I peel it enough or what? I know it’s a mistake on my part.