Many people are surprised to learn that potatoes are a great weight loss food. Those super spuds are exceptionally nutritious, low in calories, high in fiber, and not the least bit fattening.
And they are also quite filling and satisfying. In fact, a study done at the University of Sydney in Australia showed, of 38 common foods tested, potatoes offered the highest satiety levels of them all. Potatoes provided 5 times more satiety than a piece of cake and almost 7 times the satiety level of a croissant.
Foods with higher satiety levels cause you to be more satisfied with less food. Foods with low satiety levels create cravings for more food, and, interestingly, the cravings are usually for food with low satiety levels.
If you’d like to learn more about eating delicious foods that satisfy and fight cravings, check out my 14-Day Weight Loss Program.
Yes, potatoes are high in carbohydrates, but the carbs in potatoes are unrefined, complex carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates are essential for good health. In fact, they are the preferred fuel source for each and every cell in your body.
Don’t Couch the Potato!
Potatoes are a great food for weight loss and offer many essential nutrients, such as vitamin B6 (which is essential in maintaining the nervous system and for the production of serotonin), iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorous, vitamin C, and lots of phytonutrients.
And potatoes are 10% protein with all of the essential amino acids provided.
Eat More Potatoes
Here are my favorite recipes that include potatoes.
Cream of Potato and Artichoke Soup
A creamy soup without the fattening cream. Serve with a salad and bread for a very satisfying meal.
Ingredients
- 1 stalk of celery
- 2 medium leeks, sliced thin or 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic
- 7 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
- 2 tablespoons dried parsley
- 1/8 teaspoon dried basil
- 5 cups water - divided
- 1/2 cup raw cashews
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon granulated onion
- 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 2 teaspoons salt, scant
- 1 1/2 cups canned artichoke hearts, chopped
(The grocery store near me doesn't carry frozen artichoke hearts, and I skipped the fresh ones because I didn't want to make this recipe too time consuming for my readers. The canned ones worked nicely, but feel free to experiment with fresh or frozen if you'd like.)
Instructions
- In a large soup pot, sauté diced onions or leeks and celery in oil over medium-low heat until onions are translucent.
- Meanwhile, wash and peel potatoes. Dice into bite-size pieces. (I use my veggie chopper to get this done fast.)
- When onions begin to appear translucent, add garlic to onions and celery and sauté for one additional minute.
- Add potatoes, parsley, basil, and 4 cups of water. Turn heat to high.
- When water comes to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, but not mushy (about 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the size of the potato dices).
- Meanwhile, place cashews, granulated onion and garlic, salt, and remaining cup of water in blender and blend on high speed until very smooth. A heavy-duty blender works best for this.
- When potatoes are tender, stir in blender mixture and chopped artichoke hearts, and cook until hot. Serve hot.
Notes
1. Cashews should be rinsed in a colander under hot water before using.
2. If your artichoke hearts have some tough leaves, be sure to discard those before adding to soup.
Susan
February 16, 2015 at 7:55 pmThis looks and sounds absolutely delicious. I’m going to make it tomorrow for lunch. I can smell it already! Yum!
Danielle
January 11, 2016 at 11:18 amIt looks delicious! Can this be made in a slow cooker instead of stovetop?
Jennifer's Kitchen
January 11, 2016 at 11:48 amHi Danielle,
Unfortunately, cooking it in a crockpot doesn’t work very well.
However, on occasions when I needed to make this ahead of time, I cooked in on the stove, kept it in the frig overnight, and then reheated in the crockpot. It worked beautifully.
Jennifer
Heather T
January 2, 2017 at 8:49 pmNo, no, no, no. This did not turn out well at all. There is nothing creamy about it. My blender was not able to blend the cashews fine enough. The soup is grainy and I have nuts all up in my teeth. It does not look appetizing at all this way. What a disappointment! Such a waste of cashews. Now I have this giant pot and there is no way my boyfriend will eat it.
Worth a shot, I guess.
Jennifer's Kitchen
January 2, 2017 at 9:10 pmHi Heather,
As I mentioned in the recipe, you really should use a heavy-duty blender for this recipe. A good blender will make the soup wonderfully creamy!
Jennifer
Laura
February 23, 2018 at 7:38 pmYes yes yes! Easy and delicious! (used a vitamix for the cashews and a regular immersion blender to make the soup creamy and chunky). Thank you!!!
Gina Herrera
February 26, 2018 at 12:39 amI love the taste of artichokes, but they can sometimes be a bit ‘wiry’, so making a creamy soup with them is a fabulous idea. I love that you can use frozen artichokes = super easy = just up my street. Will be giving this one a go.
Ara
April 19, 2018 at 8:02 pmThis is a great recipe and came out very tasty. I cooked the artichokes and used a blendtec for the creamy cashew mixture. I would dice up potatoes smaller next time since they are not as soft as I like but overall a huge success! Thank you for sharing!
JennifersKitchen
April 20, 2018 at 9:43 amYou are welcome, Ara. Thank you for your comment. I’m glad you liked the soup.
Matt and Andy
May 7, 2018 at 7:58 pmThis came out so good!!
I didn’t have cashews so I used almonds
And I added Italian seasoning basil and celery salt and used no oil
We added roasted corn and omg this is amazing!!!
Andy made some of her homemade corn tortillas with it!!
This is so good We were full before it was even done!!
JennifersKitchen
May 8, 2018 at 9:38 amMmmm! Glad you liked it Matt and Andy!
James
October 16, 2018 at 10:39 pmThis soup is so wonderful! I ate four or five bowls of it today since this morning when I made it. I don’t have a high end blender so I soaked my cashews in water overnight to soften them up and make them easier to blend. My ordinary blender then did a great job and the cashews blended up very smooth and creamy. Truly one of the my favorite soups.
JennifersKitchen
October 17, 2018 at 7:31 amHey James! I’m super happy that you liked the soup! And that you could make it with a regular blender. Thanks so much for the blender tip and for your comment. : )
Jennifer
Cindy
December 10, 2018 at 9:19 pmThis is a hit with my family. Thank you!
Is this freezable too?
JennifersKitchen
December 11, 2018 at 7:09 amHi Cindy,
Glad your family loved the soup. : )
I did try freezing the soup, and, unfortunately, the results were not good. You can, of course, make it a few days ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator, but I don’t recommend the freezer.
Thanks for your comment.
Jennifer