3 Delectable Jicama Recipes & Jicama Nutrition Details

IMHO, Trader Joe’s is the GOAT when it comes to grocery retailers. Not only do they offer plenty of just one-of-a-type items that I cannot come across somewhere else, but they also stock many food items that are packed to the brim with intestine-boosting benefits. A single such merchandise that I’ve lately additional to my haul are their thinly sliced jicama wraps, which have me whipping up a ton of tacos as of late.

The Trader Joe’s solution page offers a short yet instructive description of jicama, a tuberous root vegetable that is the critical ingredient in these scrumptious wraps: “Native to Mexico and South The us, Jicama (HICK-ah-mah) has been a staple in selected cuisines for hundreds of years. Texturally, this tuber resembles a crunchy cross involving a drinking water chestnut and an apple. In conditions of taste, it truly is a bit like a radish—minus the spice. Some people even say it really is a little bit nutty. On the entire, having said that, jicama is mild and neutral.”

Now that we have its roots (pun supposed) and style profile covered, what are jicama’s important wellness benefits? Also, aside from acquiring these wraps on your upcoming Trader Joe’s run, how else can you use the complete veggie in recipes? These issues, answered underneath.

Jicama’s critical vitamins and minerals and positive aspects

Before we dive into the important overall health advantages of jicama, Los Angeles–based dietitian Gaby Vaca-Flores, RDN, shares a several highlights of the veggie’s nutrient content. “Jicama is loaded with sophisticated carbohydrates. For this rationale, it truly is a good source of fiber with a single serving giving a small in excess of 6 grams,” she claims.

Following up, it’s also an great source of vitamin C—or additional particularly, it provides a “significant volume of ascorbic acid,” per an assessment published in Foodstuff Chemistry. “In actuality, a cup of jicama can help you meet up with more than 40 p.c of the Advisable Nutritional Intake for vitamin C,” Vaca-Flores adds. But which is not all. “As with most root veggies, jicama also delivers tiny quantities of several nutritional vitamins and minerals such as natural vitamins B6 and E, calcium, folate, iron, potassium, manganese, and zinc.”

Both equally figuratively and virtually, I’m eating this all up—and that’s even before dives into how these nutrition all stand to profit your wellness. Here’s a appear at some of the greatest wellness wins you can anticipate by adding jicama to your diet plan:

1. Jicama is intestine-friendly

Jicama has inulin, a particular form of prebiotic fiber. “Prebiotics like inulin encourage a balanced gut microbiome by serving to to expand the excellent microorganisms (aka probiotics) in the gut,” states Vaca-Flores. A balanced gut is a joyful intestine, which promotes a cascade of rewards for your digestion, skin wellbeing, and extra.

2. It gives significantly-required fiber for digestive health and fitness and beyond

Fiber is the present that retains on giving—and practically all of us could use extra of it. According to a 2021 examine by the American Society of Nutrition, a mere 7 % of grownups in the U.S. meet fiber suggestions (which now stand at 31 to 34 grams per working day for adult men and 22 to 28 grams per day for girls, for every the recent Dietary Tips for Individuals). According to the USDA’s nutrient databases, one particular medium jicama consists of a whopping 32 grams of fiber, which suggests you’ll a lot more than exceed your each day ingestion with just a person of these tubers. “Jicama’s high fiber written content can aid advertise regularity and regular operating digestion. In addition, feeding on plenty of fiber can enable with blood sugar management, among the other rewards,” Vaca-Flores states.

3. Jicama supports immune functionality

Once again, jicama is loaded in vitamin C, aka the antioxidant we know and really like for its immunity-boosting powers. “Vitamin C helps to support the balanced functionality of cells that make up the two the innate and adaptive immune devices,” Vaca-Flores says. So the future time you experience like you could use an immune raise, take into consideration switching issues up from the regular OJ and including jicama to your cart as an alternative.

3 jicama recipes to boost your consumption of fiber and micronutrients

Confident, you can slice and dice your jicama and take pleasure in it uncooked on its personal, or basically sub jicama wraps (from Trader Joe’s or in other places) for tortillas on taco night. But if you want to get a bit a lot more creative, attain inspo with these tasty jicama recipes.

1. Baked jicama fries

If you love French fries and are open to nutrient-dense choices, jicama fries are the way to go. In her recipe for baked jicama fries, Michelle Blackwood, RN, the blogger and recipe developer at the rear of Healthier Ways, mentions that although outer crispiness shouldn’t be an concern, the important to building them tender on the within is to boil them right before baking. And when it is most effective to eat them freshly organized, you can edit the recipe to your liking—whether you want to increase in cayenne for extra heat, use butter in lieu of olive oil, or desire to air fry them.

Get the recipe: Baked jicama fries

2. Jicama and citrus salad (Xec)

In her jicama and citrus salad (Xec) recipe, Mely Martinez of Mexico in My Kitchen area shares that this typical Yucatan side dish is especially well known on the Day of the Dead. Whilst common recipes simply call for bitter/Seville orange—which could be additional hard to uncover stateside—she shares that a mix of orange and grapefruit moreover a contact of lime juice will suffice to establish out the flavor profiles of this healthier and refreshing salad.

Get the recipe: Jicama and citrus salad (Xec)

3. Black bean tacos with spiralized jicama and avocado mash

Feel like your foods choices are *spiraling* out of manage? Acquire cues from cookbook creator Ali Maffucci of Inspiralized who—you guessed it—uses a spiralizer to make spaghetti-like jicama slices in her plant-dependent recipe for black bean tacos topped with jicama salsa and avocado mash. She adds that you can substitute lettuce wraps in spot of tortillas… but if you want to double down on the health and fitness advantages of jicama, you could as nicely go wild by employing jicama wraps alternatively.