Shop Your House First · No. 13 of 20

Potatoes: Which Kind to Use and Why

Fluffy, in-between or firm: which potato each dish wants, how to keep a bag from sprouting, when a sprouted or green one is still fine, and how last night’s mash becomes tonight’s potato cakes.

The HearthIQ Kitchen6 min readBuilds on No. 07 · The Pantry Swap GuideThree potatoes · Keeping · The basics · Leftovers

There are basically three kinds of potato, and most potato disappointments come from using the wrong one: the potato salad that turned to mush, the mashed potatoes that went gluey, the roasted potatoes that never got crisp. Here’s which potato for which dish, how to keep a bag from sprouting, what to do when one has, and how to turn last night’s mashed potatoes into tonight’s potato cakes.

Eight small stoneware ramekins in a row on an oak board holding baking soda, flaxseed, butter, a lemon half, cornstarch, honey, tomato paste and milk.

From No. 07The Pantry Swap GuideSwap by the job. For potatoes, the job is how much starch it has.

No. 07 swapped ingredients by the job they do. With potatoes, the job comes down to one thing: how much starch is inside. More starch means drier and fluffier; less starch means firmer and creamier. Know that, and you know which one to grab.

1 · Which potatoFluffy, in-between, or firm.

Starchy: russets (baking or Idaho potatoes)

Dry and fluffy. The one for baked potatoes, mashed potatoes and fries. Not for potato salad: they fall apart.

In-between: Yukon Gold and other yellow potatoes

Creamy and velvety, with a little more hold. They roast beautifully, mash smooth and rich, and make good hash browns and potato salad. If you only buy one kind, buy these.

Waxy: red, new and fingerling potatoes

Firm and moist; they hold their shape. Best for potato salad, boiling, roasting whole or in wedges, and smashed potatoes. Mashed, they get dense and can turn pasty.

Sweet potatoes

A different vegetable altogether, but most behave like a starchy potato: great baked, roasted or mashed. Keep them somewhere cool but not cold, and use them within 2 to 3 weeks.

2 · How to keep themNot warm, not cold. Cool and dark.

A hand-drawn thermometer settles through three zones: a warm counter, where potatoes sprout and shrivel in about 2 weeks; the fridge, where starch turns sweet and they cook up darker; and a cool, dark, airy pantry, the sweet spot for 1 to 2 months or longer. — Too warm, they sprout. Too cold, they turn sweet. Cool and dark, they last.

Keep potatoes somewhere cool, dark, dry and airy: a basket, a paper bag, a bin in the pantry or a cool closet. Around 45 to 50°F is ideal, and there they’ll keep a month or two, often longer. At warm room temperature, plan on about 2 weeks. Light turns them green, so keep them covered or in the dark. And keep them away from onions; stored together, both spoil faster (more on that in No. 11).

3 · Sprouted or green?A small sprout is fine. A long one isn’t.

A firm russet potato with two small sprouts on a wooden cutting board, the cut-away sprouts and a paring knife beside it. — Firm with small sprouts: cut them out and cook the rest.

✓
Firm, with small sprouts — Cut the sprouts out, plus a little around them, and use the rest.
✓
A little green on the skin — Peel it and cut the green parts out completely.
✗
Long sprouts or shriveled — Sprouts an inch or longer on a soft, shriveled potato: toss it.
✗
Green beneath the skin — If the green goes into the potato, toss it. The bitter compound in the green parts and sprouts isn’t destroyed by cooking.

4 · The basicsBaked, boiled, mashed, roasted.

A baked russet potato split open on a plate, fluffy inside with a pat of butter melting, a second baked potato beside it. — Done is a temperature, not a time: 205°F in the middle.

Step 1: Baked · 45 min to 1 hr
Russets, scrubbed and pricked a few times with a fork, straight on the rack at 450°F for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the middle reads 205°F (up to 212°F) on a thermometer. That heat gives you crisp skin and a fluffy inside. A 400°F oven works too, in about 45 minutes; the skin just comes out softer.
Step 2: Boiled · 15 to 20 min
Start them in cold salted water, covered by about an inch. Cut into 1½-inch pieces, they’re fork-tender in 15 to 20 minutes; whole medium potatoes take 30 to 40.
Step 3: Mashed
Per pound of potatoes, about 4 tablespoons butter and ½ cup warm half-and-half (or milk), plus salt. Stir the melted butter in first, then the liquid: the butter coats the starch so it doesn’t go gluey. A ricer gives the smoothest result; a masher, a chunkier one.
Step 4: Roasted · 35 to 40 min
Cut into wedges or chunks, toss with oil and salt, and roast at 425°F until golden and tender, 35 to 40 minutes, turning once. Red or Yukon Gold potatoes stay moist inside.

A bowl of creamy mashed potatoes with melted butter pooled on top, a potato ricer beside it. — Butter first, then the warm milk.

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5 · Prep aheadPeeled potatoes can wait a day, in water.

Peeled potato chunks covered with cold water in a large glass bowl on an oak counter, a peeler and potato peels on a cutting board beside it. — Covered in cold water, in the fridge, up to a day.

Peeled, cut potatoes turn brown in the air. To get ahead, cover them with cold water (a little lemon juice or vinegar helps) and keep them in the fridge for up to a day. One honest trade-off: a long soak does wash out a little of the vitamins, so don’t make it a habit. Going to fry or roast them? A 15- to 30-minute soak before cooking, then a good pat dry, also cuts down on acrylamide.

6 · LeftoversLast night’s mash is tonight’s potato cakes.

Golden potato cakes browning in a cast-iron skillet on the stove, more cakes on a plate beside it. — Two cups of leftover mash, seven cakes.

Makes 7. Mix 2 cups cold mashed potatoes (leftovers, or instant flakes made up), ½ cup flour and 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion. Pat it out on a floured board about ½ inch thick and cut 3-inch rounds. Chill them until you’re ready, then fry in 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat, browning both sides. About 25 minutes, start to finish.

How long cooked potatoes keep

Into the fridge within 2 hours, in shallow containers; eat within 3 to 4 days and reheat to 165°F.

Freezing

Mashed potatoes freeze reasonably well; cooked chunks and baked or boiled whole potatoes go watery and mealy. Raw potatoes don’t freeze at all; they turn rubbery. Whatever you freeze, use it within a few weeks.

Baked potatoes in foil: a real safety rule

A foil-wrapped baked potato left at room temperature is a known botulism risk. Keep it hot (140°F or more) until it’s served, or loosen the foil and refrigerate it right away.

More next uses for leftovers in No. 06, and the soft-and-sprouting rescue rules in No. 10.

Quick referencePin this.

Sources: USDA FSIS, FoodKeeper data, Leftovers and Food Safety and Botulism · CDC, Botulism Prevention · FDA acrylamide guidance for consumers · National Center for Home Food Preservation, Preserving Potatoes and foods that do not freeze well · Extension: Iowa State, sprouting and greening potatoes, NDSU, Let’s Enjoy Potatoes, Penn State, Utah State, University of Maine, University of Missouri, Potato Cakes · Idaho Potato Commission on holding peeled potatoes · America’s Test Kitchen on potato types, the perfect baked potato, mashed and roasted potatoes, plus reviews of ricers, mashers, peelers and thermometers. Checked October 4, 2026. HearthIQ may earn a commission on product links.

Next in the series GarlicFresh, jarred, powdered, roasted or frozen: what each one does, and how to keep a head from sprouting.