How Long to Cook Potatoes

Preparation

How to Prepare Potatoes Before Cooking

Scrub potatoes well. Peel them if desired, or leave the skins on. Cut large potatoes into even pieces for faster cooking.

Cut away sprouts, eyes, bruises, and any green areas before cooking. If a potato is very green, bitter, soft, or badly sprouted, discard it.

Cut pieces to a similar size so they finish at the same time. Very large potatoes are usually better cut into chunks than boiled whole.

Leave skins on for new potatoes, baby potatoes, and potato salad when you want more texture and flavor. Peel potatoes for smoother mash, purees, or when the skins are thick, damaged, or green.

Method

How to Cook Potatoes Step by Step

1. Scrub potatoes well. Peel them if desired, or leave skins on for texture and flavor.
2. Cut large potatoes into even pieces unless cooking them whole. Remove sprouts, eyes, bruises, and green areas.
3. Start whole potatoes and large chunks in cold salted water so the outside and center cook evenly.
4. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a steady simmer. A hard rolling boil can break the edges before the centers are tender.
5. Cook until a fork or knife slides into the center without a hard core.
6. Drain well, then let potatoes sit in the hot pot for 1 to 2 minutes so excess moisture steams off.

Cooking chart

Potatoes Cooking Time Chart

Types

Waxy vs Starchy Potatoes

Waxy potatoes hold their shape better and are best for boiled potatoes, potato salad, soups, and stews.

Starchy potatoes break down more easily and are better for mashed potatoes, fluffy boiled potatoes, baked potatoes, and fries. All-purpose potatoes work for most everyday boiling, roasting, and mash.

Use

Cook by Final Use

For potato salad, cook potatoes until tender but still holding their shape. For mashed potatoes, cook them until very tender so they crush easily.

For soup, simmer diced potatoes in the broth until soft. For roasted potatoes, parboil them first, drain well, roughen the edges, then roast until crisp.

Technique

Why Start Potatoes in Cold Water?

Whole potatoes and large chunks cook more evenly when they start in cold salted water. The center has time to heat before the outside overcooks.

Small diced potatoes can go into boiling water, especially for soup, but a cold-water start is also fine when you want very even cooking.

Texture

Steam-Dry After Draining

After draining, let potatoes sit in the hot pot for 1 to 2 minutes so excess moisture steams off.

This gives better boiled potatoes, fluffier mash, and crispier roast potatoes if you roast them afterward.

Skins

Peeled vs Unpeeled Potatoes

Leave skins on for new potatoes, baby potatoes, and potato salad when you want more texture and flavor.

Peel potatoes for smoother mash, purees, or when the skins are thick, damaged, or green. Remove sprouts, eyes, bruises, and green areas before cooking.

Methods

When Another Cooking Method Is Better

Boiling is best for mashed potatoes, potato salad, soups, stews, and simple boiled potatoes. Steaming keeps potatoes less waterlogged.

Roasting is better when you want browned edges and crisp texture. Baking is best for fluffy whole potatoes. Frying gives the crispiest result. Parboiling before roasting is useful when you want crisp roast potatoes.

Approximate times: boiling takes 8 to 45 minutes depending on size, steaming takes 15 to 30 minutes, roasting takes 30 to 50 minutes, baking whole potatoes takes 45 to 75 minutes, and parboil plus roast uses an 8 to 12 minute boil before roasting.

Roasting

Parboiling for Crispy Roast Potatoes

For crispy roast potatoes, boil potato chunks for 8 to 12 minutes until the edges soften, drain well, shake or roughen the edges, then roast in hot oil or fat until crisp.

Steam-drying after draining helps the surfaces crisp instead of steaming in the oven.

Texture

How to Know When Potatoes Are Done

A fork or knife should slide into the center without a hard core. Test the thickest piece or the center of the largest whole potato.

For potato salad, potatoes should be tender but not falling apart. For mash, they should break easily when pressed.

If the outside is soft but the center is hard, the heat was too high, the pieces were too large, or the potatoes needed a cold-water start and more gentle simmering.

Flavor

Best Seasonings for Potatoes

Serve potatoes with butter, salt, black pepper, parsley, dill, chives, sour cream, yogurt, creme fraiche, cream sauce, cheese sauce, gravy, browned butter, bacon, garlic butter, lemon, vinegar, mustard, pickles, capers, rosemary, thyme, bay leaf, or tarragon.

Potatoes pair well with cabbage, carrots, mushrooms, onions, leeks, peas, green beans, eggs, fish, chicken, beef, pork, sausages, soups, stews, gratins, hash, omelets, and roast dinners.

Avoid this

Common Mistakes

• Starting whole potatoes in boiling water, which can overcook the outside before the center is tender.
• Boiling too hard instead of simmering gently.
• Cutting pieces into very different sizes.
• Not salting the water.
• Overcooking waxy potatoes until they split or become waterlogged.
• Using very starchy potatoes for potato salad when you need potatoes that hold their shape.
• Not draining and steam-drying potatoes before mashing, serving, or roasting.
• Leaving potatoes sitting in hot water after they are done.

Rescue tips

How to Fix Potatoes

Small texture problems can often be redirected into another dish.

• Watery potatoesDrain immediately and steam-dry in the hot pot for 1 to 2 minutes. Mash with butter, roast again, or use in soup if the texture is too soft.
• Hard centersReturn potatoes to a gentle simmer and check again. Next time, cut large potatoes smaller or start them in cold water.
• Falling apartUse them for mash, soup, hash, gratin, or potato pancakes instead of potato salad or whole boiled potatoes.

Serving

What to Serve With Potatoes

Use boiled potatoes for simple buttered potatoes, mashed potatoes, potato salad, potato soup, parsley potatoes, potatoes with sour cream, boiled baby potatoes, hash, omelets, gratins, and potato-and-cabbage sides.

For roast potatoes, parboil chunks first, drain and steam-dry, roughen the edges, then roast until crisp.

Recipe ideas

Potatoes Recipes You May Like

These ideas work well with cooked potatoes.

• Boiled potatoes with butter and dillDrain, steam-dry, then toss with butter, dill, parsley, salt, and pepper.
• Mashed potatoesUse starchy or all-purpose potatoes and cook until very tender before mashing.
• Potato saladUse waxy potatoes and cook until tender but still holding their shape.
• Parboiled roast potatoesBoil chunks briefly, steam-dry, roughen edges, then roast until crisp.

Leftovers

How to Store Raw and Cooked Potatoes

Store raw potatoes in a cool, dark, dry, well-ventilated place. Do not store them in a damp sealed bag. Keep them away from direct light, which can make them turn green.

Cooked potatoes can be refrigerated in an airtight container for 3 to 4 days. Reheat them in a pan, oven, microwave, soup, stew, or sauce.

Leftover boiled potatoes are excellent for potato salad, hash, fried potatoes, soups, omelets, gratins, and roast potatoes.

Tools

Useful Tools for Cooking Potatoes

• Medium or large potUse enough room so the vegetables cook evenly.
• ColanderDrain quickly when the texture is right.
• Small knife or forkCheck the thickest pieces for tenderness.
• Kitchen timerStart checking near the early end of the range.

Keep cooking

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