Vegan Dutch Hutspot Recipe (Potato & Carrot Mash)

Do you agree that vegan Dutch hutspot recipe sounds much more exotic than a potato and carrot mash?

Well, I have something to confess.

My husband’s from Amsterdam, and I’ve spend years believing that the famous hutspot was a unique dish known only in Holland.

Little did I know that this is a cousin of our good old English mashed potato. It just happens to have carrots and onions mixed in with it.

Sorry guys, but it’s very, very similar to our English mashed potatoes (just with added carrots).

The main difference is that hutspot is an official name for an official meal. So it is a teensy weensy bit unique after all (I guess).

And there’s a traditional way of serving it, too.

In actual fact, hutspot makes a nice easy winter-warmer kind of a meal (which is WFPBNO), with a great dose of vegan mushroom gravy on the side and some vegan sausages on top.

Or you could skip the sausages and serve it with a tofu burger.

Or some spicy chickpeas.

Or vegan meatballs.

Or even switch out the gravy for a side of creamy garlic mushrooms.

You get the idea.

So yeah, I guess in the end I have to confess that Hutspot won the day over plain old mashed potato (but that has its place too!).

And in the Netherlands they know how to get the best from a mashed potato.

Not only does it have its own name when mashed with carrots, but it also goes hand in hand with endive, sauerkraut (zuurkoolstamppot) or kale (boerenkool stamppot).

How to Make a Vegan Dutch Hutspot Oil Free

Cut the potatoes into pieces and cover in water. Use 75% the weight of the potatoes for the weight of carrots.

So if you’re making a kilo of potatoes, use 750g of carrots. Believe me it’s a lot of carrots!

(Hey I know, you don’t need to weigh the carrots unless you want to be, like, super specific about following precise proportions!)

Ok hands up for transparency – you can just put everything in a pan and boil it. But I think it’s worth taking a tiny bit longer and doing it like this . . .

Heat 1 tablespoon of water in a pan and add 1 finely chopped onion.

Sprinkle it with salt and let it dry-fry, stirring occasionally to make sure it isn’t sticking.

If it sticks a tiny bit and creates a bit of brown on the bottom of the pan, no problem, just make sure it doesn’t burn.

Let the onions begin to turn golden before you add the water for cooking the potatoes and carrots in.

Add the potatoes, carrots and water to the pan. Just enough water to cook the vegetables in and no more. Boil the water for about 20 minutes or until the veggies are soft.

Then drain the water into another pan and set aside.

Mash the potato, carrot and onion together with a cup or so of unsweetened plant milk. Add a bit more salt if necessary and a good grinding of black pepper.

Use the water to make a vegan oil free gravy or a stock for soup.

How to Serve Dutch Hutspot

Typically hutspot’s served with sausage on top and gravy on the side, so you can just veganise all that by serving with a vegan mushroom gravy and vegan sausages to keep the traditional Dutch vibe going.

Alternatively, you could serve this with a side of creamy garlic mushrooms and a tofu burger.

Hutspot can be served as a side or as a main. I also love to eat either a spicy homemade kimchi or a homemade sauerkraut on the side.

I like to eat sauerkraut or kimchi every day, so if I haven’t had them for breakfast (and I don’t often eat breakfast) then they’ll be in on the party for lunch.

It’s pretty versatile really, and handy if you have visitors who aren’t too keen on the idea of vegan food as it’s something so familiar and traditional it won’t raise any eyebrows.