Dehydrated mashed sweet potatoes {coconut free, AIP, Paleo}

It’s been a couple years since I posted my Sweet Potato Mashers recipe. Over time I’ve decided I like it better without the coconut milk; I still like the coconut aminos and coconut oil in the mashers, but I’ve made those optional in this recipe because some people need to be coconut free.

This recipe has coconut options, but if you leave all the coconut out, it comes out great. I’m eating some as I write this… yum!

Below is some information I share in my original mashers post; I think it’s interesting enough to warrant putting it here too.

Are they yams or sweet potatoes?

Did you know that what we call “yams” and what we call “sweet potatoes” here in the U.S. are actually all sweet potatoes? Yup! Our red-fleshed “yams” are in the same family as true sweet potatoes (family Convolvulaceae), and are not actually true yams (family Dioscoreaceae). And for the record, neither is related to regular potatoes, which are nightshades (family Solanaceae) – and not allowed on the Autoimmune Protocol because they are highly inflammatory.

What the heck? The confusion started some time ago when softer red sweet potato varieties were first grown commercially in the U.S., and producers needed to differentiate them from the hard variety people were used to seeing. So they started calling them “yams”. True yams are native to Africa, Asia, and other tropical areas, and are fairly uncommon in the U.S., unless you look in an international or specialty market. But enough yammering on about the differences… (ba-doom-chh) … if you want to geek out on yams and sweet potatoes (it is some pretty cool reading!), here are four great resources:

• Basic
• Involved
• Rad mini-novella
• Botanist-nerd-treatise

Sweet Beta

Sweet potatoes are low in sodium; a good source of fiber, vitamin B6 and potassium; a great source of manganese, and Vitamins A and C.

One large sweet potato has roughly 180 calories, 4g protein, 2g sugar and 37g carbs. Not bad for a such tidy little package. And red or white, they do taste great.

The red variety (what we commonly call “yams” in the U.S.) has a sweeter taste and fluffier, lighter texture when baked, while the white variety is firmer, and creates dishes that most closely mimic regular spuds.

Either variety can be made into mashed potatoes; the red ones are nice for a sweeter dish (add cinnamon, maple syrup and a touch of salt) and the white ones work well for more traditional mashers with garlic and salt. If you want, add a bit of coconut oil or ghee, and grab a spoon! I eat mashers for breakfast and dinner. Why not?

Dehydrated Mashers

Dehydrated mashers are super easy to make, either in your oven or a dehydrator. You’ll notice there is some flex room in my instructions below; mashers are an inexact science, and think about it – it’s kindof hard to mess up mashed potatoes, isn’t it? The recipe below is geared for the white sweet potato variety; if you prefer the red kind, adjust for a sweeter recipe. Oven instructions are mixed in below.

In my experience, rehydrated mashers are never quite as smooth as the fresh version, but on the trail, that doesn’t bother me one bit. A nice hot bowl of mashers with your favorite additions, and it’s heavenly!

Dehydrated Mashed Sweet Potatoes {coconut free, AIP, Paleo}

Makes four 1/3- to 1/2-cup servings (rehydrated)
Each dried serving weights about 1 oz. and measures roughly 3 scant TBS.

Ingredients

4 cups cubed white sweet potatoes (roughly 2 large spuds)
1 tsp sea salt
.5 tsp garlic granules or powder
1 cup water for blending
water for steaming
optional: .5 tsp black pepper (NOT AIP)
optional: 1 Tbs coconut aminos

Bring For In-Camp Preparation:
extra sea salt or Herbamare (AIP-friendly)
optional: 1 Tbs coconut oil per serving

Instructions

Prepare

1. Clean and dice the spuds to 1” square pieces. I like to leave the skins on – more nutrients!
2. Steam until soft enough that a fork goes into a piece easily.
3. Drain water and let cool a bit.
4. Place spuds, salt, garlic (and optional coconut aminos) in a large food processor (or bowl). Leave out the 1 cup water.
5. Mash thoroughly till smooth, or:
6. Slowly add 1 TBS of water at a time, until the spuds start to really move in the processor bowl. They should be just loose enough to move, but thick enough you’d need a spoon to get them out of the bowl. If they end up runnier, don’t panic – they’ll just take longer to dehydrate, and take up more trays.

NOTE:
If you leave the skins on, I recommend running the mix through a food processor to break the skins up into small pieces – this way they will rehydrate better. Mixing by hand in a bowl won’t be as effective.

Dehydrate

1. Prep trays for dehydrator (here’s my awesome dehydrator):
Lay out parchment paper or Paraflexx sheets on 2 to 4 dehydrator trays (depends how runny you made it; start with two).

I find it helpful to fold the paper in thirds first, to create two creases – this makes it lie down flat and not roll up as you attempt to spread the mix onto the trays.

If using square trays, cut the paper just long enough to curve under the tray by about .5 inch; this keeps the air flow in the dryer from blowing the paper back over onto the mix, and the edges won’t dangle down and scrape off the mix on the tray below.

If you have room in your dehydrator, set the trays on every other level, to maximize air flow.

If using a round dehydrator, use your fruit leather sheets or cut circular pieces of parchment paper to fit just larger than the tray size.

Oven: Lay parchment paper out on large cookie sheets. Use the triple fold method above to create creases so the paper stays flat.

2. Pour about 1 cup of mix onto the center of each tray (if using round trays, pour it in a circle), and use a flexible spatula or large spoon to spread it out evenly and really thin – to about 1/8 inch thickness or less. MAKE SURE to spread it really thin – this makes it much easier and faster to grind after it’s dried. The edges will dry faster than the inner part, so make the edges thicker.

Pull out any chunks; they will not dry at the same rate as the rest.

IMPORTANT: Make sure the paper does not buckle (liquid on parchment paper always tries to buckle the paper); if it does, the mix will dry around it, and when you break the dried mix off the paper, small pieces of paper will go into the mix. Then you get a surprise when you eat dinner! Eiww.

3. Dry the mix:

Dehydrator: Dry at 135° for 8 to 12 hours (timing depends on how wet your mix is).

Oven: Set on lowest temperature setting. Drying time will vary depending on your stove. Leave the door propped slightly open so moisture can escape. Check the trays once in a while to make sure you’re on top of drying time.

Dry until mix is completely dry and crumbly. If in doubt, dry for more time.

TIP: If your mix is still tacky after many hours, you might have laid it down too thickly. Don’t worry, you just need to flip it over. Lay the paper layer on the countertop sans tray, place the tray upside down on the layer of mix, flip the whole thing over, and peel the paper off to expose the wetter side. At this point the mix should be firm enough to not need paper underneath it. Put it back in the dehydrator and continue drying. This can also be done in the stove by turning the mix out onto a new sheet of parchment paper, or directly onto the cookie sheet upside down.

4. Remove from dehydrator/oven and let cool completely. After cooling, double check that it’s fully dry. It should break, not bend. If not, put back in for an hour, and repeat the cool/check process.

 Grind

1. Get a big bowl. Remove the spuds from the sheets by folding the paper in half, and crumbling the spuds into the bowl. They may come off in sheets:

2. Break up the large pieces as much as you can – this makes it easier to load into the blender or food processor. Careful, they can be sharp!

If you come across any leathery spots, set them aside for later. If you find any soft spots, put them back in the dehydrator.

NOTE: As mentioned above, if your paper buckled under the mix, it may have dried stuck into the mix, and when you break the dried mix off the paper, small pieces of paper will go with it. Keep an eye out for these and remove.

3. Make sure your blender or food processor is bone dry.

I prefer to use a glass blender; those dried pieces are sharp! when they start out and I don’t like the idea of grinding plastic in from my food processor (plastic bowl). Call me over-preventative, but hey, the fewer plastics we have in our bodies mimicking estrogen, the better.

Place the mix in it, and grind. DO NOT do this if you aren’t sure the mix is totally dry. You’ll gum up your blender and it’s a mess to try to dry the mix further at that point.

For smooth mashers, grind to a powder. For lumpy mashers (my fave!) grind to cous-cous size.

If you came up with some leathery pieces, break them up as well as you can, and grind the heck out of them. Add what powder you can to the mix; some of the leathery stuff may just be too hard to grind.

TIP: If you are a smooth masher aficionado, after grinding, sift the mix through a wire mesh sieve to separate out the lumpies. Grind them finer and add to the mix.

4. Separate into 4 servings, and package up in ziploc bags.

5. Label with ingredients and date, and store in a cool, dark location until trip time.

6. Write/print the in-camp preparation instructions and store where you’ll remember them.

7. Remember to bring the salt, Herbamare (AIP-friendly), optional pepper (NOT AIP), or coconut oil, for camp.

In-Camp Preparation

These directions are per serving; quadruple if you brought the entire batch
1. Heat 1/2 cup water (per serving) to a boil.
2. Place spuds in a heatproof cup or pot, add half the water, and stir.
3. Add just enough more water to make the spuds soft.
4. Add optional coconut oil, stir thoroughly, cover and let sit for a few minutes.
5. Add more hot water if desired.
6. Add salt, Herbamare (AIP-friendly), optional pepper (NOT AIP), or coconut oil to taste, and serve.

Click below for easy print-out version of campsite instructions