The Reason You Should Start Boiling Potatoes With The Skin Still On

From mashed potatoes to potato salad, boiled potatoes are the key ingredient in all kinds of delicious starchy dishes. However, a fair amount of prep goes into cooking them. For starters, many recipes call for tubers to be stripped of their skin long before they end up served on a table — a step that anyone who isn't a fan of the papery texture will appreciate. Still, there are some people who prefer their potatoes unpeeled, partly peeled, or even like to eat the peels on their own. Crispy potato skins loaded with cheese, bacon, and chives, anyone? When it comes to cooking potatoes, though, even if you have a firm answer to the "to peel or not to peel" question, there's often another one that follows it. Any pro-peeled potato people will have to decide when to remove the skin.

While it might be standard to peel potatoes before they go in the pot, it may be worth it for your time — and taste buds — to peel them after they finish boiling instead. Evidently, cooking the spuds with the skin still on not only adds more nutritional value to the dish they end up in, but also preserves more of their flavor. Plus, this switch-up will make the potatoes even easier to peel if and when the time comes. That on its own can be a huge pro if you don't want to deal with the pain-staking process or don't have a vegetable peeler handy at home.

Since potatoes are porous, plopping them into a pot of water without their protective peel can mess up their texture, making them mushy and crumbly. Boiling the tubers sans skin can also lead to their natural flavor and nutrients leaching into the water. Both problems will make for a less appetizing meal. Fortunately, one of the leading authorities on the nation's favorite vegetable has a simple solution. No matter what you plan to do with your potatoes, the Idaho Potato commission is clear: It's best to boil them with the skin still on.

As Idaho is the biggest potato producer in the U.S., the crop's representatives in the state are well-seasoned when it comes to handling the tuber. According to the commission, boiling unpeeled potatoes helps retain their flavor and nutritional value. The skin serves as a barrier between the hot water and the vegetable's flesh, where most of its nutrients, including potassium and vitamin C, are stored. Although you can boost that potatoes' taste by seasoning the water, skin-on boiling also helps preserves their buttery, earthy flavors and primes them to absorb additional flavors when sliced or mashed later. 

Note that just as you should add salt to pasta water, you should also salt potato water, but more heavily since the spuds are dense. For better flavor, you might even consider boiling potatoes in something other than water, such as veggie or chicken stock or even milk — each of which could be the trick to tastier mashed potatoes.

When it comes to boiling unpeeled potatoes, the order of operations is fairly straightforward. The real trick is in the timing. Specifically, deciding when to place the tubers in the pot and when to take them out.

The best approach is to put potatoes in the pot before turning on the stovetop. As opposed to plopping them into boiling water (and risking burning yourself), this helps them cook through evenly. Then, once the water is boiling, set it to simmer. It's also essential to cook potatoes of a similar size to ensure they all finish boiling at the same time. Otherwise, small spuds might end up mushy while larger ones may still be hard in the middle. The simplest way to test their doneness is with a fork or butter knife. Pierce the potatoes with a utensil; if the tubers are tender enough for it to slide in and out without resistance, it's time to take them out of the water.

If you've left your potatoes unpeeled but need to remove their skin, you're in luck. Thankfully, once the boiled potatoes are cool enough to handle, the skin should slough right off in big pieces with a little bit of pressure. Chances are you won't even need a vegetable peeler — the very butter knife you tested their tenderness with can usually get the job done. Leaving the skin on the potatoes pre-boiling may be a blessing in disguise for several reasons, after all.