Yuca Puree

Oi Gente!

Yuca puree, or purê de mandioca as we call it in Portuguese, is a big deal in Brazilian cuisine, and in other Latin American countries. This instant pot yuca puree recipe is creamy, buttery and easy to make. A great side dish option for any occasion.

Welcome to another post on our Yuca series. In case you missed it, here is the first post in this series, where I show you the easy step by step of how to make super crispy yuca fries, and share what I know about the cultural significance of yuca in Brazil. It is a fun read!

In this post we’ll talk about buttery creamy yuca puree.

Where to buy yuca

We already talked about where to buy yuca on the first post of the series when we talked about yuca fries. But when in doubt, Amazon has it too. The Sprouts I’ve been to always have them as well.

Yuca Puree Recipe Notes

First, peel.

Alright, don’t be scared. It really is just like peeling a potato. Except, the waxy skin of the yuca is a lot more rough than a soft potato skin, but a good vegetable peeler should totally help. I use these cheapsy ones that have been my little peeling miracles for years now. My mom just uses a knife, so do whatever works for you.

Then, cut the yuca in chunks.

Notice this little vein right there in the middle? That’s a central fibrous cord we have to get rid of, but that’s easy too. At this point you have to options:

You can MacGyver it out of there with the tip of a small knife, like this…

And make sure to keep the peeled yuca covered in water (like we do with potatoes) to avoid oxidation and them turning brown.

Or, you can cook the yuca first, then remove the fibrous cords after you cook, which is my preferred method.

After you cook the yuca in the instant pot, drain all the water. Make sure you let the cooked yuca cool a bit for you touch them, and then you can just pick the fibrous chords out with a fork.

After the yuca is cooked, and the fibrous cord is removed, we’re pretty much almost done.

Add the yuca back to the instant pot, now with the saute function on. We want to cook off a little of the excess moisture that the aggressive process of cooking with instant pot packs inside the yuca. Use a wooden spoon and stir  a few minutes.

After that, just start to add the butter into the pot, and keep stirring to melt the butter.

Add the milk and using an immersion blender, blend until smooth. Season with salt, and add more butter and/or milk as needed.

Don’t have an immersion blender? Just mash it like our friends from Huffington Post do. Chunky yuca puree is just as delicious!

Yuca puree is such a heartwarming side dish that goes well with anything! Roast chicken, juicy braised pork, fish, shrimp… seriously, anything.

Bom Apetite!

Beijinhos xoxo