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Crispy Resistant Starch Potatoes (i.e. naturally low carb!) 🥔

Yes, I’m talking about how to lower the carb count (naturally!) in any type of potato dish your heart desires: introducing resistant starch potatoes!

Resistant starch potatoes cooled and reheated on a baking tray
Resistant Starch Potatoes (i.e. naturally low carb!)

Crispy (Crispy, Crispy!) Resistant Starch Potatoes

i.e. naturally low carb with just one trick!

No, I’m not pulling your leg… nor doing a (very early) April Fools joke. I’m literally, literally talking about how to lower the carb count in actual potatoes, with one super duper easy trick:

Allowing your potatoes to cool (after cooking them in any manner your heart desires), refrigerating them overnight and reheating them. Yup, thats it!

You see, while chilling your potatoes (and white rice too, for that matter) they will partially convert into a resistant starch. How much exactly frankly I’m not sure, but according to reputable internet sources (say Johns Hopkins) and reputable people who monitor their glucose constantly (say @gluclosegoddess) enough to lower your GI response substantially and (vip!) provide a myriad of nutritional benefits.

But what is a resistant starch?

In case some of you are first coming across this term, its a type of carb that resists digestion in the small intestine and subsequently ferments in the large intestine (you know, acting as a legit prebiotic fiber!).

Which leads me to…

The benefits of resistant starches

Starting with this 2017 study, it appears that consuming a moderate amount (think a normal ‘side dish’ serving, don’t overthink it) made peeps feel more satiated and for longer, improving overall insulin sensitivity.

Which in turn is also tied to all the goodness that resistant starches do for your gut. As keep in mind that a healthy gut bacteria can improve glycemic control and, needless to say, is key to our overall health.

So who knew huh? That perhaps we don’t quite need to see all carbs as the enemy, we just need to learn to prepare (and consume them) the right way.

p.s. another trick I’ve tried that has worked wonders for me to lower the GI spike if I’m having some potatoes or rice, is to first have a small salad with olive oil and apple cider vinegar. And if I indulged a bit too much (say I went out to eat), I’ll go for a nice walk with Dedal and Tito. You know, they surely don’t mind and it lowers the GI spike ;).

Halved raw potatoes on a baking tray with parchment paper
Resistant Starch Potatoes (i.e. naturally low carb!)
Resistant starch potatoes cooled and reheated on a baking tray
Resistant Starch Potatoes (i.e. naturally low carb!)

Resistant starch potatoes cooled and reheated on a baking tray

Crispy Resistant Starch Potatoes (i.e. naturally low carb!)

Yes, I'm talking about how to lower the carb count (naturally!) in any type of potato dish your heart desires: introducing resistant starch potatoes!
5 from 11 votes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Chilling Time 12 hours
Total Time 13 hours
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American, Mediterranean
Servings 4 side-dish servings
Calories 159 kcal

Ingredients
  

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C. Brush a baking dish or rimmed tray with olive oil.
  • Add potatoes to prepared baking dish, drizzle generously with olive oil (you know, to get them extra extra crisp!), and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Roast for 45-60 minutes, until golden and crisp, tossing them about half way through. 
  • Set aside, cool completely and refrigerate overnight. You'll want to reheat them again at 400°F/200°C for 10-15 minutes until they crisp up once again.
  • Feeling a little extra? Feel free to roast them up with some fresh thyme and finish off with parmesan during the second roast. Or just add them to your favorite cozy roast in the last 20 minutes so they soak up all the juicy goodness.
  • Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days.

Notes

Please note that nutrition facts were estimated for regular potatoes as, like I said in the post, there's no way (currently?) for me to give you an accurate carb count of how much becomes a resistant starch. 
Still, I want to encourage a 'keto diet' that is less about counting carbs and more about making smart food choices to use ketosis (you know, the metabolic state) to actually improve long term health... all while removing some big 'psychological barriers' around feeling limited with ingredients and choices.
Because remember, it's the GI spike (and ultra refined ingredients!) that are the actual enemy. And, as we are learning, you can even benefit from consuming 'the right carbs'.   

Nutrition

Calories: 159kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 41mg | Potassium: 1032mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 16IU | Vitamin C: 20mg | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 2mg
Keyword low carb potatoes, resistant starch potatoes
Whip up this recipe?Comment below or drop me a line @gnomgnom._ and tag #gnomgnomyum!

50 comments

  1. Janine says:

    Wondering if when I don’t have overnight to wait, just cooking and letting potatoes cool first before eating is already creating resistant starch.

    • Paola van der Hulst says:

      unfortunately it takes time Janine (which is why the longer you leave them the more resistant starch gets created) xo!

    • Lily says:

      No you are incorrect. Resistant starches form after after rice/potatoes/pasta is cooled for 24 hours. The structure does change and the glycemic load is much lower. You can try for yourself. The spike from fasting levels with cooled foods is much lower.

  2. Brenda says:

    5 stars
    I roasted yukon gold potatoes and refrigerated according to your directions.
    Next day i ate 8 oz by themselves. I started with baseline of 101 and had 145 after 2 hours.
    Next day I ate 8 oz with fish, green beans and guacamole. From a base line of 111, I was
    104 after 2 hours.
    Glucose Goddess says to always eat starches with other foods, protein, fat, fiber.
    Today I dusted off my rice cooker and have it going!
    Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

    • Paola van der Hulst says:

      Brenda thank you so much for sharing, and absolutely on pairing your carbs with fats (and eating a fatty salad first is also ace if indulging a bit more!).

      xo and my pleasure!

  3. Caroline says:

    Hi Paola

    Thank you for posting this fascinating discovery. My understanding is that the chilling works for starch molecules in any sort of food. Therefore chilling potatoes, pasta, rice and bread should all result in a certain percentage of resistant starch. I wonder if the percentage is a function of chilling and is similar across the range of foods, or if it is a function of the accessibility of the starch molecules.

    This gets me to wondering would this work for all flour based foods too?

    Looks like we need more research….

  4. Marilynn DeBerry says:

    So glad to find this recipe. I have been having a baked potato every now and then, this makes it even more enjoyable. I am able to continue to lose eating between 40 to 125 grams of carbs a day I used to stay around 50. Glad I found this site

  5. Brandi says:

    I can’t even tell you how excited I am to hear this!!! I eat keto-style and had decided to add potatoes here and there, and felt such guilt… So silly!!
    So I had been in the lookout for a digestive enzyme to help, and now I’ll wait and see how this changes things for me!! Thank you for sharing your journey with food, you’ve been a favorite of mine for a long time!!! 💖 💖 💖

  6. Nina says:

    5 stars
    Oh my god! This is gonna be a game changer for me!!!!
    I made Au Gratin for my cheat day meal, next time I’ll cook potatoes a night before and refrigerate them over night. I don’t need to feel too bad about eating potatoes (in moderation) anymore!
    It seems this applies to quinoa and beans as well. I can sprinkle those on salads again! Hooray🥳

  7. dezi says:

    THIS BEGS THE QUESTION…………….WHAT HAPPENS TO THE RESISTNT STARCH WHEN YOU PULL IT OUT OF THE REFRIGERATOR AND HEAT IT UP TO EAT IT? DOES IT CONVERT BACK?

    • Paola van der Hulst says:

      No it doesn’t revert back and you can have it cold too (ahem, sushi?).

      Just remember that not all the starch becomes resistant (someone commented that over the days more of it does though). But enough does not to cause a significant spike (in most peeps).

  8. Kristin says:

    5 stars
    I knew about potatoes turning into resistant starch after refrigeration, but not rice and pasta. Three of my favorite things which I’ve pretty much given up on Keto. Yay, one of my favorite meals is a baked potato with chili and cheese and taco toppings. Now I can make it again periodically.

    • Nancy says:

      5 stars
      This sounds great! Another way to resistant starch up your taters is to do potato salad. Just use whatever recipe you liked before, and use avocado mayo (I use Sir Kensington’s). It tastes better after a night in the fridge anyway! Also you can make rice, cool and refrigerate overnight, then make your own fried rice with it. I’m cooking for a non-ketonian, I got to give him something more than meat!

  9. Mich says:

    Serious keto did some experiments with this. Also with rice. I think everybody’s results are different with this. Also, when you eat fat with it, it slows down the glucose curve significantly. But.. it takes much longer to get back to normal numbers. It all depends how well your pancreas is still working. (or if you’re metabolically healthy, it will come down much quickly, if not, it will still get high after 3 hours of eating.) Anyway, that’s my take on it. It’s not written in stone. 😉

    • Paola van der Hulst says:

      Absolutely, and if I’ve learned anything doing keto over the years is that not even I react the same every day to the same foods. Depends on my sleep, exercise and food combos (like you said).

      That’s why I like having a fatty salad to start a higher carb meal, helps to keep the GI spike at bay as it’s also not the first thing your body gets.

  10. Kathy says:

    5 stars
    Thank you for writing this! I have appreciated your recipes over the years and love hearing your life stories. Once in a while a person wants to eat a dang potato and not always be super low carb. I make big batches of fries first by soaking the wedges in cold water to get rid of some of the starch (I think) and finish off as in your recipe above. I find Yukon Gold to get much crisper than red potatoes. They freeze really well and when reheated a few minutes on Convection at 400 they have way less carbs and are as tasty as the day they were made. I do it with sweet potatoes too. Love bulk cooking! You could try your version and post for your followers.

  11. JT says:

    Just a thought or suggestion. The way I love to use them is in making a fretta! This works out absolutely perfectly. I take the, let’s say, cold salt potatoes or boiled with skin on potatoes, cube them up and pan-fry them slightly in butter or bacon grease or whatever your fat choice is, and then, add in onions and peppers until they are all fork tender, then the rest of your fretta ingredients of choice; for us that is eggs, sausage or pepperoni, eggs, and various cheeses. If feeling that we need more veggies in that day, baby spinach leaves added near the end are great, or when I have an abundance of garden zucchini or yellow squash, they go in perfectly as well. Just another way to enjoy them! Plus, diabetically speaking, since you have all the fat from the eggs, cheese, meat, and grease, your glucose spike is greatly diminished as well.

      • Harold says:

        “Fretta”, along with its description, made me think of “frico”, a layered giant pan-cooked cheese (lotta cheese!) and potato “cake” made by Lydia Bastianich on here show. She described it as home fries with a layer top and bottom of crispy low-cooked cheese (drool…)

  12. Teresa says:

    Very interesting! Do you need them to cool completely, or just enough to not be steaming when placed in the refrigerator overnight? Would think it is rare, but thinking in regard to food safety and avoiding any potential botulism. I do not know enough about it, but would think that would perhaps take many hours being left unattended or being sealed without refrigeration, truly not certain! Hoping for any suggested tips or clarity, or even just your thoughts. Thank you for all that you have shared and inspired us with, you are amazing!

  13. Dawn says:

    5 stars
    So, for brown rice would I follow the same process? Cook, fridge overnight, reheat? Bc I do this anyway with brown rice when I eat it the following days. It would be awesome if something I already do is helping me. I wonder if freezing it makes it resistant, faster……

  14. Sandra McGrandle says:

    Would this work with mashed potatoes, do you think? Like heating up the mash the next day, OR using those premade bowls of fully prepared precooked mashed potatoes (which are surprisingly tasty) and heating them? Thanks!

    • Paola van der Hulst says:

      Absolutely! What I do for mashed potatoes is boil them first, let them cool, refrigerate overnight and then I make my mash (but I just like fresh cheesy mash!). Either way will work xo!

  15. Terri Hawke says:

    We pressure cook the potatoes in 1 cup of water for 5 minutes, allowing the pressure cooker to naturally release. Then freeze them. Remove from the freezer to thaw before roasting (same day). We always make enough for 2 meals, to have a fry up bubble and squeak the next day (3 times cooked, twice cooled). We got the idea from Heston Blumenthal triple cooked chips.

    • Allison says:

      This excites me so much! I have one question though since French fries are cooked and then frozen why do they still spike me. Isnt it the same process?

  16. Jake says:

    5 stars
    I first heard of resistant starch potatoes from Max Lugavre and they really are great. I’m a diabetic and have been enjoying potatoes successfully for a couple years now.

    I didn’t see you mention it, but it appears that the resistant starch develops further the longer they sit in the fridge. By day 5 you can definitely taste you’re eating a resistant starch lol.

    • Mich says:

      Joelle, here’s what i found on it. ” Potatoes also have a type of resistant starch known as retrograde starch: When you cook and then cool potatoes, the starch molecules shuffle themselves around into a different structure. Potatoes also have a type of resistant starch known as retrograde starch: When you cook and then cool potatoes, the starch molecules shuffle themselves around into a different structure.”
      Hope this helps.

  17. APJ says:

    5 stars
    Paola I’ve loved your new recipes that are less restrictive, thank you for validating my own experience that you don’t need to restrict to just 20g net carbs. I hadn’t heard of resistant starch potatoes before and I’m beyond elated to try them out. Thank you

    • Paola van der Hulst says:

      Yes!! She’s a must follow on Instagram, I’ve learnt so much from her (particularly as I don’t personally monitor my glucose constantly)

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