If you are wondering what can be the easiest, quickest, and most satisfying side dish, then it can be nothing else but perfectly boiled potatoes. However, you must prepare them right. After all, the days of mushy or bland potatoes are long gone. Nowadays, creamy, salty, and flavorful, boiled potatoes are served as sides.

Don’t worry, they are not hard to prepare. All you need to learn are two things – 1. Picking the right type of potatoes and 2. Boiling it for the right amount of time.

Selecting the right type of potatoes for boiling

If you don’t know much about potatoes, simply pick the waxy potatoes. The ones which are small in size, and yellow or red work best. On the other hand, you can go with the russet potatoes if you plan on meshing them after boiling.

The reason why waxy potatoes are best for boiling is they are low in starch. Being low on starch helps them in holding their shape when being boiled. Some of the Waxy potatoes worth trying are – yellow, red, Yukon gold, fingerling, and new. There is a different way to cook potatoes, but when waxy potatoes are boiled, their texture is smooth and creamy and they taste sweet.

To know more about the different types of potatoes, you can consult Potatoes USA. They are the largest vegetable commodity board, that represents 2500 farm families. Also, their website has plenty of potato recipes that you can try.

Starchy potatoes are not ideal for boiling. Russet potatoes are dark brown in color and have rough skin. This type of potatoes is better if baked, and if you boil them, they will fall apart. So, if you are planning to mash them, you can boil them.

How to boil potatoes?

1. Scrub the potatoes to clean them. With the help of a vegetable peeler, remove the skin, if you want. You can even choose to leave the skin on as boiled potatoes are easier to peel.

2. If you are boiling potatoes to make a salad or mash them later, cut potatoes into evenly shaped quarter pieces.

3. Add the potatoes to a large pot and pour enough water to cover the potatoes completely. Add one teaspoon of salt for every pound of potato. Adding salt is advised since the potatoes absorb the flavor while boiling.

4. Bring the water to a boil, and then reduce the heat. Keep on cooking at a rapid simmer until the potatoes are comfortably pierced with a knife or fork.

5. If your potatoes are chopped, it will take about 10 minutes to boil them. However, whole potatoes will take 20 minutes.

6. Once done, drain the potatoes using a colander.

Adding Flavorings

Butter and salt surely work well, but there are many other herbs and add-ons that you can add to your potatoes to enhance their natural flavor. Some of these add-ons are:

• Salted butter
• Olive oil
• Fresh chives
• Thyme
• Oregano
• Basil
• Parsley
• Tarragon
• Dill
• finely diced shallots
• Sour cream
• Bacon

Well, that’s about it. So, you see boiling potatoes is not a big deal, and nor does it involve any complicated ingredients. Furthermore, they are healthy as they are packed with nutritious vitamins, minerals, fibers, and proteins.