AIP garlic mashed sweet potatoes, boiled with garlic and mashed with palm shortening and parsley

Comfort food takes a different shape on AIP, and this mash is a good example of what that shape can look like. Whole garlic cloves boil soft right alongside the sweet potato, then work into the mash until the sharp bite mellows into something rounder and savory. Around a holiday table, that matters. You should not have to explain your plate or apologize for it.

The color is not just pretty. It signals beta-carotene, a nutrient your system holds onto and turns into usable vitamin A gradually, only as it is needed, rather than all at once, and vitamin A plays a real role in the immune regulation and tissue repair this body is already doing. The garlic softens into the mash and takes its sharp edge with it, leaving behind a savory backbone instead of a bite.

A big bowl of golden mash at the center of a table says something before anyone takes a bite: there is enough here, and you are included. Let that be true on days that call for it, holiday or not.

Ingredients

• 4 medium sweet potatoes
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup palm shortening (or coconut, olive, or avocado oil)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup parsley

Method

Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into even chunks so they cook at the same rate. Place them in a pot with the whole garlic cloves and cover with water.

Bring to a boil and cook until the sweet potatoes are fork-tender and the garlic has softened. Drain well in a colander.

Return the sweet potatoes and garlic to the warm pot. Add the palm shortening and salt. Mash with a potato masher or fork until smooth and creamy. The soft garlic blends right in and gives the mash its savory backbone.

Stir in the chopped parsley. Taste and adjust the salt. Serve warm.

Instant Pot variation

Sweet potatoes cook quickly under pressure. Peel and chunk them, add to the pot with the garlic cloves and a cup of water, seal, and pressure cook until tender. Drain off the water, then mash right in the pot with the palm shortening, salt, and parsley. Pressure-cook time depends on the size of your chunks and is untested here, so check for fork-tenderness and verify.

Notes

Palm shortening keeps this dairy-free and AIP-compliant, and the recipe offers coconut, olive, or avocado oil as alternatives. Use whichever you have, and confirm it is single-ingredient and clean-label. If you use coconut oil, this dish then contains coconut. Salt, garlic, and parsley are all fine on AIP. No nightshade swap was needed because the recipe already uses sweet potato in place of white potato.

For an even silkier mash, save a little of the cooking water and stir it in a spoonful at a time until you reach the texture you like.

Servings are not given in the source. Four sweet potatoes make a side for about four. Cooking time is an estimate and any appliance time is untested.

*Adapted from lichenpaleo.com*