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Simple Healthy Potato Recipes for Baked, Roasted and Steamed Potatoes
These super simple healthy potato recipes can be made using any of your favorite spuds, including sweet potatoes.
In case you haven't read yet, the health benefits of potatoes are impressive! Contrary to popular opinions, they are excellent for dieters, rank high on the satiety index, and are a complete protein!
Healthy, affordable, versatile, and sooo satisfying...what's not to love about potatoes?
Here are my simple healthy potato recipes to get you started, from classic perfect baked potato, to roasted wedges or chips, and finally, one of my favorite (or laziest?) ways to prepare potatoes ~ steamed. Of course these simple potato recipes are for those (like myself) who don't (yet) have an air fryer. (UPDATE: We now have an air fryer!)
Don't let the simplicity of these recipes fool you. They bring out all the spud-ly goodness!
For a bit more of an indulgence, try my Healthy Vegan Scalloped Potatoes and Onions, much lower in fat and sodium than traditional scalloped potato recipes, yet easy to prepare and delicious!
Air Fried Potato & Parsnip Wedges
Simple Healthy Potatoes made using an air fryer ~ shown here with an Arugula Salad, and Canned Bean Chili!
Simple Healthy Roasted PotatoesSuper Simple Healthy Potato Recipes
Perfect Baked Potato
The simplest healthy potato recipe is the classic baker. However straightforward it may seem, you can find variances in how to bake a perfect potato online.
For a fluffy tender baked russet potato, clean skins. Pierce a few times all around with a knife or fork.
Place on a baking tray, ideally one with slits which can fit on top of a regular baking pan, like you would find in a toaster over. Many online recipes suggest rubbing with a little olive oil (easy to use a pastry brush) and baking at 400º. You can use or skip the oil, but I tend to bake our potatoes at a lower heat for a little longer, until soft and tender when squeezed (with a hot pad!).
I recently purchased a small terra cotta roaster with a lid that I now use most of the time. It can fit about 4-6 potatoes, depending upon their size and shape. It works great as I toss them in, cover, and roast. The terra cotta roaster is very easy to clean.
Once your spud is perfectly baked, cut a couple crosses into the top of the potato, than squeeze open.
For Baked Sweet Potato, wrap in foil before baking. (Or use a roasting pan, as mentioned above, and line it with parchment paper.) Otherwise, you may want to place a baking tray underneath the potatoes, or on a lower rack to make sure the sugars don't get out and burn on the bottom of the oven.
Top your potato with lower-fat and sodium toppings, such as salsa, avocado, grainy mustard, or a healthy ketchup.
Or try with a vegan Greek style yogurt mixed with chives.
My favorite way to enjoy a piping hot baked potato is with a teaspoon of high lignan flax oil (like Flora brand), and Terrasoul Nutritional Yeast (my favorite) for a cheesy, salty flavor, without adding salt. Nutritional yeast is also a good source of B vitamins.
If craving that buttery goodness, either try the flax oil, or go ahead, try a little vegan butter. (Both Kite Hill and Miyoko's are good options.) If omitting oil for health reasons, or for weight loss, try any of the other suggestions.
Baked potatoes can also be the container for steamed vegetables, beans or lentils (or just served on the side.)
Or top with Slightly Spicy Marinara, nutritional yeast, along with some optional chopped olives for a fun Pizza Potato. Spoon on top, then place back in the oven for another 5-10 minutes. Your kitchen will smell like pizza!
 The Perfect Baked Potato ~ the ultimate simple healthy potato recipe! |
Simple Healthy Roasted Potato Recipes
If you don't mind taking a little time to cut potatoes into wedges or slices, you can roast them a little quicker than waiting for a baker. Peeling the potatoes is purely optional. Roasting potatoes with other root vegetables, and/or onions or mushrooms adds textural contrast and flavor.
Combine different potato varieties for a nice blend of textures and flavors. Sweet potatoes (or try purple potatoes) roasted with russets, and/or Yukon gold or red skin potatoes can be tossed with XVOO, pepper, onion and garlic powder, rosemary, cumin, or paprika, then roasted covered at 350º for about 1 hour.
Covering potatoes while roasting helps them stay soft and moist. If you like them crispier, roast uncovered for the last 15 minutes.
Combine potatoes with onions and other root vegetables, like carrots, parsnips, rutabaga, or turnips, or vary the seasonings for variety.
I like combining russets, Yukon golds, and sweet potatoes with sweet onion. I toss with olive oil, pepper, dried parsley, and dried oregano, and possibly rosemary as mentioned above. I also like roasted potatoes tossed with ground cumin and smokey paprika.
Oil-Free Potato Recipes:
Toss potatoes and any other vegetables with enough vegetable broth, or a spritz of balsamic vinegar combined with a little tamari (I mostly use San-J Tamari Lite) or naturally brewed soy sauce like Eden Shoyu sauce.
You can also coat potatoes and vegetables with a mustard blend, thinning out a grainy or horseradish dijon mustard with a little water in a small bowl, and optional dried herbs and seasonings, such as dill, oregano, and thyme, and/or garlic and onion powder. Toss with potatoes and any other vegetables you are using, then roast as above.
When roasting potatoes and /or any other root vegetables, place potatoes and vegetables in a single layer on parchment-lined baking sheet for easy clean-up, and to help prevent sticking.
To keep potatoes and vegetables more moist, roast covered. For crisper potatoes and vegetables, lightly moisten, then roast, adding a little more broth if needed half way through roasting.
For a simple, spicy dip ~ if needed ~ blend either Sriracha hot sauce with ketchup, or add a little sweet curry to the ketchup for an interesting flavor twist.
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Simple Healthy Roasted Potato Chips Or Fries
For Healthy Potato Chips:
Thin slice russets and sweet onion and toss with olive oil, pepper, onion powder, and a bit of smoked paprika and/or cumin for a healthy alternative to potato chips. Roast in the oven at 350-375º until slightly browned around the edges, yet soft and fully cooked. About 35 minutes, or a bit more.
For Healthy Fries:
Cut potatoes into wedges for baked fries. Season and roast as above. Wedges may take a little longer than the thinner sliced chips. You can cover with foil for the first 20 minutes, then remove foil to brown, or just roast uncovered at about 350º until desired doneness.
My Latest Simple Healthy Potato Recipe Using our Multi-Function, Oster Air Fryer (which we found for a great deal at a local discount store):
Cut 3-4 yellow / Yukon Golds or other potatoes, 1-2 parsnips and 1-2 carrots into wedges, then toss with a little XVOO, pepper, rosemary, cumin and paprika, (and an optional pinch of allspice), or a garlic herb blend, and pop them into our air fryer at 380-400º for about 20-25 minutes. The parsnips get so sweet! It's a great combination!
As a side note, when cutting parsnips: cut them in half lengthwise. If the bottom half is really fat, cut the darker colored core out, as that gets pretty woody. The parsnips will be sweeter and more tender when the core is removed first. Proceed to cut each half into roughly 1/4 inch wedges. These wedges can also in turn be stacked, and cut down the middle on an angle for a wedge shape.
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 Potato Wedges, L, Potato Chips, Center (both oven roasted); Potatoes, Parsnips & Carrots, Air Fried, R |
Simple Roasted Sweet Potato & Root Vegetable Medley
Cut 1-2 sweet potatoes, 2-3 beets, and 1-2 each parsnips and carrots in julienne or evenly cut pretty wedge shapes, as shown in the above left photo.
Toss with olive oil and a little balsamic vinegar, rosemary, dried parsley and/or basil and pepper. You can also add a couple splashes of apple cider or water to the pan before roasting to help steam roast the vegetables.
Steamed Potatoes ~ The Ultimate Simple Healthy Potato Recipes
For the ultimate, super simple and super low-fat and healthy potato recipes, you can't beat steaming.
Steamed potatoes can be enjoyed as a side with a main entrée, or with vegetables and/or tofu for breakfast, or wrapped with beans and optional green chilis or salsa for a great breakfast or lunch burrito. It's so easy!
Peel and cut potatoes into bite size chunks. (You can also steam them whole. Just pierce a couple times with a knife first.)
Place in a steamer basket, or bamboo steamer pot placed in a pot filled with a couple inches of water. If using a bamboo steamer, make sure to use a pot big enough to hold the bamboo steamer, without it touching the water.
Cover and steam until soft. Once cooked, place potatoes in a bowl. Toss with dried parsley, onion powder, pepper, and paprika. I sometimes add a couple teaspoons of Flora High Lignan Flax Oil.
If needed, keep warm in the oven set at 250º until the rest of breakfast is ready.
Leftover steamed potatoes are great for making a breakfast hash the next day. Reheat potatoes in a skillet with sliced onion, mushrooms, diced red bell peppers, carrots, and/or chopped broccoli or other greens. Also good with a few chopped olives.
For oil-free cooking: Heat a stainless steel pan. Add onion, stir, and let cook for a couple minutes before adding mushrooms, or any other vegetables. Vegetables like mushrooms will release juices, and help prevent sticking.
Season with a little pinch of salt, pepper, and onion and garlic powder. Other good seasonings include smoked paprika, curry powder, cumin, chili powder, oregano or other Italian herbs. Add already steamed potatoes, and a splash of water, broth, or tamari and a drizzle of hot sauce.
Cover, turn low, and let steam cook until the vegetables are tender. Occasionally, I do add a small drizzle of good quality oil after adding the vegetables. Alternatively, add salsa to the Potato Vegetable Hash, and let cook, covered, as above.
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