This Irish colcannon inspired sweet potato mash comes with sauteed kale, cabbage and garlic, which give it plenty of flavour and lovely crunchy textures. This is a healthy and nutritious sweet potato dish that can be served as a side with pretty much anything. It’s paleo, gluten-free and Whole30-friendly.
This Irish sweet potato mash recipe came about when I was trying to cook up something fun for St.Patrick’s Day celebrations. We were making my hearty beef stew and I needed a side dish. This seemed kind of appropriate.
One of the most famous Irish dishes served on this day is colcannon – Irish mash potatoes with cabbage and/or kale and butter. Colcannon means ‘white-headed cabbage’ and there are many variations of this dish that have additions of leek, bacon, shallots and other flavourings.
How To Make Irish Sweet Potato Mash
My healthy mash is made with sweet potatoes cooked and mashed, then blended with sauteed onions, savoy cabbage, kale and a little twist of garlic and lemon zest. It’s well seasoned and moistened with ghee and butter. For another kale and sweet potato dish, check out this recipe.
It can be made ahead of time as it keeps well in the fridge (3-4 days).
What Goes With Sweet Potato Mash
Mashed sweet potatoes are such good comfort food and this colcannon version goes superbly well with any type of sausages, meatballs, steaks, burgers, pot roast or a stew.
It’s a great vegetarian dish, too. You can serve it as a main with a big side of veggies and some plant-based protein. Check out more of my vegetarian recipes here.
You can enjoy it on St.Patrick’s Day or any other day you feel like something different to your regular mashed potatoes.
I’ll leave you with this Irish quote ‘May you live all the days of your life’ – Jonathan Swift.
Full Recipe
Find the full list of ingredients, instructions, and a nutritional breakdown below. If you have questions or cook this recipe, please let me know in the comments, and make sure to rate this recipe so it’s easy for others to find.
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Ingredients
- 2 large sweet potatoes peeled and diced into cubes (about 4-5 cups of diced sweet potatoes, 600 g)
- 1 teaspoon vegetable stock powder or 1 litre of liquid stock, good quality
- 1 large onion thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon ghee or butter, if tolerated
- 2 cups kale roughly chopped
- 2 cups savoy or white cabbage, finely shredded
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 garlic cloves diced
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- A pinch of nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 25 grams ghee about 2 tbsp or butter, if tolerated
Instructions
- Place sweet potato in a medium saucepan with enough water to cover them. Add the stock powder or use liquid stock instead of water. Bring to boil and cook for 10-15 minutes until soft when poked with a fork.
- Heat a large frying pan with a dollop of ghee and sauté the onions for 3-4 minutes. Add kale and cabbage and another dollop of ghee. Season with a 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. The cabbage and kale will start to wilt and decrease in size. Add garlic, lemon zest and a few tablespoons of water and cook for a further 4-5 minutes. Set aside.
- Finally, strain the potatoes and place them in a food processor or use a potato masher to mash them into a smooth puree. Season with a good pinch of nutmeg, black pepper and add the butter. Process until well incorporated and smooth and transfer to the frying pan with the the cabbage. Stir together and taste for salt. Serve with a little extra lemon zest and back pepper on top. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
MORE HEALTHY MASH RECIPES
Check out this Spiced Sweet Potato Cauliflower Mash
Or, my Parsnip Cauliflower Mash With Garlic Butter
SAVE THIS PALEO SWEET POTATO MASH RECIPE TO PINTEREST
Looks simple and delicious – thanks for sharing! Pinned to our “paleo meals” pinterest board.
-Adam
ohhhh yes – this looks great. thank you for this recipe!!!
made this with kale and white cabbage, added a preserved lemon and it was fabulous, thanks for the recipe
Love the preserved lemon addition!!! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
I loved this, but my husband thought it was a bit too sweet. I made it with ½ yams, and ½ sweet potato. Next time…yes, there will definitely be a next time, I will increase the garlic and maybe add one russet potato to it. Regardless, he had two big helpings. Thank you for the great recipe.