Mashed Rutabaga Recipe w/ Roasted Garlic & Bacon

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Mashed Rutabaga Recipe

A Mashed Rutabaga recipe is a traditional Thanksgiving day side dish recipes in many homes. Add some roasted garlic and crispy bacon to make the best mashed rutabaga you have ever tasted.

What is a Rutabaga?

Rutabaga is a root vegetable that can be eaten mashed and creamy like mashed potato. Depending on what part of the world you live in you may know this white and purple topped root vegetable as a swede, a neep, a snagger or a turnip.

A turnip in my area of the world is the white turnip. A rutabaga is a cross between the cabbage and turnip that has a unique flavor all its own.

All parts of the rutabaga can be eaten – the roots which I have cubed and cooked to fork tender and have used to make this Mashed Rutabaga recipe. The rutabaga leaves can be eaten as a leaf vegetable.

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Mashed Rutabaga is a traditional Thanksgiving side dish recipe that my mother and grandmother would make to serve with our holiday roasted turkey and baked ham.

How to cook fresh rutabaga?

You can cook rutabaga like you would cook a potato. You would make the mashed rutabaga by boiling it until it is fork-tender and can be mashed with a potato masher or a mixer.

Prep for this rutabaga recipe

Begin by roasting garlic before you start this mashed rutabaga recipe. It will take about 30-45 minutes to make roasted garlic in the oven.

Peel, cut and rinse the rutabaga and if boiling on the stove start cooking the rutabaga now. See notes.

If using the Instant Pot to cook the rutabaga make the roasted garlic and fry the bacon before pressure cooking the fresh rutabaga.

Prepare roasted garlic and bacon

1. Roast a large head of garlic by following my How To Make Perfect Roasted garlic recipe. I used one entire head of roasted garlic for this mashed rutabaga and roasted garlic recipe. Roast a couple of extra heads of garlic and use them for other recipes.
2. Fry 8 oz of bacon in a skillet until crispy and drain on a paper towel. Set aside. This brown sugar bacon would taste amazing in the mashed rutabaga. Wish I would have thought of using it instead of the plain fried bacon. Next time.

How to make Mashed Rutabaga with roasted garlic and bacon?

Step 1: Prepare the roasted garlic and fry the bacon. Set aside.

Step 2: To make this garlic mashed rutabaga recipe you will need to cook 4 to 5 lbs of fresh rutabaga (weight before peeling) until it is fork tender.

You may do this by peeling, cutting into cubes and boiling the rutabaga in a large pot of boiling water just like you would if you were boiling potatoes to make mashed potatoes.

Or if you have a pressure cooker you can check out my How To Make Instant Pot Rutabaga to see how easy it is to pressure cook fresh rutabaga to the perfect consistency to make this or any other mashed rutabaga recipe.

Step 3: Stove top directions. If you boiled the cubed rutabaga on the stove drain the boiled rutabaga in a colander and pour the hot rutabaga into a large bowl.

Instant Pot directions. If you pressure cooked the rutabaga you will remove the trivet or silicone sling from the Instant Pot and continue with the mashed rutabaga recipe in the inner pot of the Instant Pot.

Step 4: Start by adding the butter to the bowl of hot rutabaga and beating it with a hand mixer until the butter is melted and incorporated into the rutabaga.

Step 5: Add the salt, pepper and roasted garlic to the bowl. Next, beat with the hand mixer for about 1 minute or until the roasted garlic is broken up and combined with the cooked rutabaga.

Step 6: Add the half and half, whipping cream or milk to the bowl. Beat again until it is mixed well into the mashed rutabaga. Continue to beat until the mashed rutabaga is creamy. With a large spoon fold half of the cooked and chopped bacon into the mashed rutabaga.

Step 7: Transfer the mashed rutabaga with roasted garlic and bacon to a large serving bowl and top with the remaining chopped bacon. Keep warm or serve immediately.

Thanksgiving Side Dish Recipes

Need a few more side dish recipes for your Thanksgiving side dish recipes?

Print the Mashed Rutabaga Recipe below

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