One of the things my doctor included when she read me the Blood Sugar Riot Act was to stay away from potatoes. (Don’t laugh - between potatoes, pasta, flour, and pretty much all desserts, I’ve dropped 25 pounds in six weeks.) I have been trying various vegetables in place of potatoes for french fries, although I don’t fry them (I coat them in olive oil and then either air-bake them or microwave them), and can’t seem to find one where I can get them to the right combination of warm and solid. I tried microwaving sliced turnips, but they came out flaccid and tasteless.
Anybody out there have any suggestions? Note that “coat them in bread crumbs” is not an option.
Sweet potatoes are the only thing I know you can do the same as potatoes and they come out great. We cut them into sticks, toss them with oil and salt and bake them on cookie sheets.
nothing is going to replace potatoes in fries that is not fried. you can substitute things like cauliflower in potato salad or cauliflower for rice but I don’t see anything to replace the bland inside fluffy interior and crispy exterior if it isn’t fried.
If you’re tending to the keto diet, I believe root vegetables like turnips and parsnips may also be on your banned list - check with your doctor. Have you tried mushrooms? Or simply have a steak large enough that you don’t need vegetables.
Green beans is the first thing I thought of, but that was in their deep-fried form. It’s definitely a no-go as far as microwaving goes (it’s just gonna be a soggy, limp bean), but perhaps air frying would work. And I’m not generally a fan of green beans. But green bean fries, I’ll take any day.
Jerusalem artichokes aka sunchokes have a lower glycemic index than potatoes, and can be used in place of them in a lot of recipes. Don’t know how well they’d air fry, though, and they can be hard to find.
If you want to try growing them, they’re prolific and invasive.
What about rutabaga? They aren’t pretty on the outside, but the flesh is yellow-orange and I personally like it. They do seem to be more “watery” than potatoes.
If people can make fries with parsnips, they probably could with these.
Try roasting chick peas until they are crunchy. Use your favorite chex-mix coating, or any commercial tahini or teriyaki sauce. Chickpea is high in protein and fiber, but it scratches the same itch for sure.
Or consider Chakri, which has a small amount of wheat flour but is mostly gram. The spiciness will keep you from eating too much, and the protein is very satisfying.
Yuca was going to be my suggestion too- it’s a whole lot like potato. To the point, where you might just think it’s a different variety or something, if you didn’t know it was yuca ahead of time.