This step-by-step guide guarantees success for every type of potato.
Serves4 to 6Prep5 minutes to 10 minutesCook10 minutes to 20 minutes
We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.
Boiling potatoes is neither exciting nor particularly sexy, as far as cooking skills go, but it is quite handy! All our favorite dishes from potato salad for a summer cookout to mashed potatoes for the Thanksgiving table start with — oh yes! — boiling a pot of potatoes.
Whether you’re boiling your first potato tonight or wonder if you’ve been doing it right, here’s a step-by-step guide showing you exactly how to boil potatoes.
How Long to Boil Potatoes?
Generally, you want to boil potatoes for 10 to 20 minutes. That’s how long it takes to cook them evenly all the way through. Here’s how long to boil potatoes specifically for mashed potatoes.
Whole potatoes will take longer than cut-up or cubed potatoes, so it’s important to test your potatoes for doneness. When they are ready you should be able to easily pierce them with a fork all the way through.
You’ll want to boil potatoes any time you don’t want them to dry out (as they can when baked in the oven). So it’s a cooking method ideal for mashed potatoes or potato salad. Boiled potatoes on their own can also make a quick side dish.
The Best Potatoes to Boil: Waxy, Starchy or All Purpose?
Waxy or all-purpose potatoes are the best candidates for boiling. They hold their shape when boiled and have a nice creamy texture once cooked.
They are also usually smaller — usually no bigger than your fist — and thin-skinned, so they cook more quickly. Waxy and all-purpose potatoes might be red or golden or purple; take a look at this guide to sixteen kinds of potatoes to see what kind you’re dealing with.
You can also boil starchy potatoes like Russets — I have friends who swear by mashed potatoes made with Russets! Starchy potatoes tend to fall apart or become water-logged when boiled, so I recommend boiling them whole instead of cubed.
Whole Potatoes or Cubed? Skins On or Peeled?
You can boil potatoes either whole or cubed — both ways work fine. In either case, the key is to make sure the whole potatoes or cubed potatoes are roughly the same size. This way, they will all cook at the same rate.
If you’re boiling whole potatoes, you might need to remove small potatoes from the water a little sooner and let larger potatoes cook a little longer.
Recipes with Boiled Potatoes
Comments
How to Boil Potatoes Recipe
This step-by-step guide guarantees success for every type of potato.
Prep time 5 minutes to 10 minutes
Cook time 10 minutes to 20 minutes
Serves 4 to 6
Nutritional Info
Ingredients
3 pounds
waxy or all-purpose potatoes
1 teaspoon
salt
Equipment
Chef's knife (optional)
Saucepan or pot
Slotted spoon
Instructions
Show Images
Prepare the potatoes. Scrub 3 pounds waxy or all-purpose potatoes clean. If desired, cut the potatoes into large, evenly-sized cubes.
Transfer the potatoes to a saucepan and cover with cold water. Transfer the potatoes to a saucepan or pot large enough to hold all the potatoes with some room on top. Cover the potatoes with an inch or two of cold water. Starting the potatoes in cold water helps them cook more evenly.
Stir in the salt. Stir 1 teaspoon of salt into the water until dissolved.
Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Place the pot over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a bare simmer. Do not cover. (Covering changes the environment in the pot and can make the potatoes turn mushy.)
Check the potatoes after 5 minutes. Cubed potatoes will cook more quickly than whole potatoes; smaller potatoes will cook more quickly than larger potatoes. Begin checking the potatoes after around 5 minutes of simmering; most potatoes will be done in 10 to 20 minutes.
The potatoes are done when tender. The potatoes are done when they are tender all the way through. You can test this by poking the potato with a fork, paring knife, or skewer. If the utensil slides easily all the way to the center, the potatoes are done.
Drain the potatoes. Drain cubed potatoes in a strainer or lift whole potatoes out with a slotted spoon. If your recipe calls for cold potatoes, you can run the potatoes under cold water or dunk them in an ice water bath to cool them down more quickly.
Recipe Notes
Storage: Cooked potatoes can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
In a large pot, add potatoes, 1 tablespoon salt, and cold water to cover by 1 inch. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and cook uncovered until potatoes are tender and can easily be pierced by a knife, about 10 to 15 minutes (20 to 25 minutes for larger potatoes).
When a potato is cooked, heating the potato cause changes in the molecules of the potato. Therefore, upon cooking, the potato does not remain the same at a molecular level. Thus, cooking is a chemical change, not a physical change.
If you get to this point and you realize you've undercooked your potatoes, just add a little bit of milk or cream and cook the potatoes over a low heat until the lumps begin to soften. Next time, make sure you cook the potatoes fully by inserting a fork into them before taking them off the heat.
Boiled potatoes are lig ... hter and mushier than fried potatoes, so they are used for a wide variety of dishes such as snacks, salads, breakfast dishes or main course dishes. Even made alone with spices they make a delicious dish. They make for the best filling in sandwiches and parathas.
Larger potatoes should be cubed to ensure they cook evenly (peeled first if desired). Smaller potatoes tend to have thin skins and can be boiled whole, no peeling required.
As the potato is cooked its texture becomes softer and 'squishier'. The reason for the change in texture is the rupturing of the cell walls. When they are intact they hold the potato in a rigid shape. They are strong and hard to break just by gently pressing on the potato.
A potato is a tuber, a food source — starchy energy — for the plant. As you cook potatoes, the heat first penetrates the outside, slowly working its way to their cores. Their cell walls open up. Starches absorb water, and pectins are released.
In the anomaly, very-high solid potato little water resides within, hence nothing to permeate around or within the solids' cells to cook the potato, no matter how long exposed to surrounding, external heat medium such as baking or boiling - explaining the hard or crunchy potatoes texture described.
The peels also add a toothsome texture and an earthy flavor to the dish. Leaving the peel intact reduces the amount of prep and can even stretch the portions. If you do opt for the peels, be sure to scrub the potatoes thoroughly before you put them into the pot.
Why potatoes can absorb too much water. If your potatoes have been growing in very dry soil, the potatoes themselves will have a fairly low moisture content when harvested. What this then means is that when the potatoes are build they absorb more water and fall to pieces quite quickly.
According to Mervosh, even though she often peels potatoes before boiling them, in most cases it's an unnecessary step. "Potatoes cook more evenly with the peel on,” she says. “The peel acts like a sort of insulation, protecting the exterior of the potato from overcooking while the interior gets done.”
Potatoes that have not been parboiled tend to have a 'leathery' skin that does not crisp up well. This leathery skin makes the potatoes more chewier, with less of a soft, fluffy centre.
When cooked at high temperatures, sugars react with amino acids, including asparagine, in a chemical process known as the Maillard reaction. The reaction is what gives fried potatoes their prized flavor and color, but it is also what produces acrylamide.
The physical changes that occur in rotting potatoes include reduced hardness, firmness, and L value, as well as increased a and b values and total color difference (ΔE).
For most potato dishes it's important to add the potatoes to cold water and allow the water to come to a boil with the potatoes in the water. The potato starch can react as soon as it comes in contact with hot water, which will promote uneven cooking and mealy potatoes.
Place the pot over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a bare simmer. Do not cover. (Covering changes the environment in the pot and can make the potatoes turn mushy.)
Soaking potatoes in water helps remove excess starch. Excess starch can inhibit the potatoes from cooking evenly as well as creating a gummy or sticky texture on the outside of your potatoes. Cold water is used because hot water would react with the starch activating it, making it harder to separate from the potatoes.
The steam gets hotter than boiling in water, allowing the potatoes to cook faster. After about 15-20 minutes the potatoes should be fork-tender and ready for mashed potatoes.
Hobby: LARPing, Kitesurfing, Sewing, Digital arts, Sand art, Gardening, Dance
Introduction: My name is Amb. Frankie Simonis, I am a hilarious, enchanting, energetic, cooperative, innocent, cute, joyous person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
