Japanese Mashed Potatoes with Mushroom Gravy
There’s no cream, oil or butter in these easy mashed potatoes. There, I said it!
“There’s no way these easy mashed potatoes can be good without any fat or cream in there. Aren’t they going to be dry?” is what my husband was thinking when I told him I had made healthy easy mashed potatoes.
I can see his point and I have to admit that these easy mashed potatoes are definitely more fluffy than creamy, but once you pour the shiitake mushroom gravy on top, you won’t miss any of the buttery goodness you’re used to having. Is this the best mushroom gravy ever?
My hubby thinks so and I’m not too far behind him on that statement. Yes, this shiitake mushroom gravy is crazy good!
The consistency of the gravy is just like that of good old Chinese food – thick, gooey and sticky (like in mapo tofu).
The mix of button mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms bumps up the umami factor by ten folds and gives the gravy plenty of earthiness and depth of flavor. I’m sure it’s good with a steamy bowl of rice but I’m crazy for easy mashed potatoes and gravy, and these two together make such a comforting winter side dish, don’t you think?
Beside, a recent research done at Mc Gill University shows that potatoes are actually good for us and can help prevent weight gain. To this I say “bring on the potatoes”, that’s wonderful news!
I always get excited when I am faced with the challenge of making something healthy and tasty using a dish that traditionally isn’t. I’ll flip through cookbooks to get the wheels turning and pick a few options I think would be fun to mess with.
I put on my favorite Netflix tv show or iTunes radio channel and get lost in my pots and pans.
It’s heaven for a home cook like me, a fun Saturday afternoon while my cat is asleep on the window ledge and my husband busy killing zombies on the PS3 – It’s the simple, happy life.
I usually serve mashed potatoes on special occasions like Christmas and Thanksgiving because I use lots of butter and other ‘thigh thickening’ ingredients. Anything with lots of fat and calories I save for holidays and birthdays! But now that I know how good low fat (I’m using 2% milk) mashed potatoes can be, easy mashed potatoes will definitely be appearing more often on my menu.
The day I shot this dish I served these easy mashed potatoes with lean beef burgers (topped with plenty of veggies) and a green salad. Nom nom nom…
Easy Mashed Potatoes with Mushroom Gravy
Light and fluffy EASY mashed potatoes served with an earthy, umami packed shiitake mushroom gravy. These easy mashed potatoes only 20 take minutes to make from start to finish!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Boiling
- Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients
- 1 pound potatoes (peeled and chopped bite size)
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons milk
- 2 stalks scallions (finely chopped)
- 1 1/2 cup button mushrooms (quartered)
- 1 1/2 cup shiitake mushrooms (stems removed and sliced into bite size strips)
- 1 2/3 cup dashi stock or vegetable broth
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon mirin
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1cold water
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to boil and the potatoes. Boil until tender (about 10 minutes), drain and put them back in the pot. Add milk and mash until the potatoes are smooth. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
- In a large pan over high heat, add dashi, sugar, salt, mirin and light soy. Bring to a boil and add mushrooms. Lower heat to a simmering boil and cook for about 10 minutes, until mushrooms are soft.
- Add cornstarch and water mixture and stir well.
- Serve the easy mashed potatoes in a large bowl topped with mushrooms sauce and scallions or divide into 4-6 equal servings.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 130
- Sugar: 5.9 g
- Sodium: 638.7 mg
- Fat: 0.4 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 26.7 g
- Fiber: 4.5 g
- Protein: 5.7 g
- Cholesterol: 0.6 mg
Keywords: mashed potatoes, recipe, easy, healthy, mushroom gravy
Amazing! We pinned that to try it out as soon as get some mirin in our hands (we have to go to specialty stores for that here) 🙂 Dashi is the stock from kombu or katsuobushi? We don’t remember that well:/
Definitely gonna try this one Caroline, we LOVED it!
Sending you our love!
Mirella and Panos
We LOVE this recipe Mirella and Panos, dashi can be either the stock for kombu or katsuobushi but we used katsuo for this one. Although I bet kombu would be just as delicious! Take a pic when you make it, I hope you like it as much as we do!
These mashed potatoes and mushrooms look SO awesome & for mashed potatoes without any cream, butter or oil – they sure do look delicious too!
Thalia, they are indeed! The gravy would be so delicious with one of your lovely French shallot and anchovy puffs! We should do a collaboration 🙂