How To Reheat Boiled Potatoes – The Best Way

Boiled potatoes are another food type that simply doesn’t get enough credit. You can do a lot of things with boiled potatoes. Boiled potatoes go far beyond just making mashed potatoes. They can be flavorful and delicious just boiled, seasoned, and served. 

Boiling your potatoes ahead of time and storing them is a great way to cut down on time later when you need a quick meal option. You can easily store your boiled potatoes which gives you the ability to cook a large batch at once. You can also can your boiled potatoes and stow them for long term storage. 

The thing is, how do you reheat your boiled potatoes? Won’t they get mushy and just fall apart? The good news is, if you boil them and store them properly they are quite easy to reheat. Boiled potatoes reheat in the oven very well at 300 degrees. 

We’ve put together a simple guide to walk you through the specifics of reheating your boiled potatoes. We will walk you through proper procedures for storage so that you can reheat your boiled potatoes with no issues. 

Keep reading to get all of the insight to reheating boiled potatoes, and more! 

Your Guide to Reheating Boiled Potatoes

Some people think of boiled potatoes as simply a means to an end. It is true that you typically have to boil potatoes to mash them. It’s also true that you can use boiled potatoes for other reasons than just mashing. 

Boiled potatoes can be extremely flavorful, particularly if you add some butter and seasonings. And they are super soft and easy to eat. The key to boiling your potatoes is to not over boil them. You want them to be soft without just turning to mush. 

Boiled potatoes are really quite versatile. You can do so many things with them. Here are some ideas: 

• Boiled potatoes with butter and garlic
• Boiled potatoes with chives
• Mashed potatoes
• Potato salad
• Potato casseroles
• Breakfast potatoes
• Can them for storage

There are a number of things you can do with boiled potatoes. These are just a few inspiring ideas for your taste buds. 

The Process of Boiling Potatoes

The art of reheating boiled potatoes is to boil them properly to begin with. If you are boiling to mash, you might boil them longer than if you are boiling for other purposes. 

We would like to note that the best potatoes for boiling are red potatoes, white potatoes, and new potatoes. You can boil other potatoes, these just seem to have the best results. 

In an effort to best prepare you for the process of reheating boiled potatoes, we feel it is essential to start with boiling the potatoes. You want to ensure that you don’t overcook them as that would run the risk of them becoming mushy. 

Boiling potatoes really is not too hard, you just want to be sure you don’t over boil them. It’s pretty simple to boil them appropriately, you just need to be aware of the time frame. You also will want to watch and check them throughout the process. 

We’re sharing a basic recipe for boiling potatoes. This recipe does not include any seasoning tactics or any alternatives that you can use. This is just simply to walk you through the basic boiling process. 

Boiling your potatoes cooks them evenly all over and does not take a lot of time. You can peel them first or you can boil them with the skins. If you don’t like the skins, they often peel right off after you boil the potatoes. 

Additionally, you can cube your potatoes or boil them whole. We recommend cubing the potatoes because this makes storage more simple. However, you can do whichever you prefer and the methods will work about the same. 

1. Clean your potatoes – rinse and scrub if you leave the peels on. 
2. Cut the potatoes into cubes (optional).
3. Place the potatoes in a part large enough to hold them all and cover them with water. 
4. Cover the potatoes with cold water. Add an extra inch or so of water. 
5. Add salt to water and stir the salt to dissolve (salt is optional). 
6. Bring the water to a boil. 
7. Reduce heat to a simmer. Do not cover the simmering pot. 
8. Check the potatoes at 5 minutes in. Typically, the potatoes will take 10-20 minutes. However, cubed or small potatoes may cook faster. 
9. You can tell the potatoes are done when they are tender all the way through. You can test this by poking them with a fork or thin utensil. If the fork slides right to the center, they are done! 

Remember that this process does not entail seasoning or specific processes. We shared this just to provide you with a simple example of how potatoes are boiled. 

From this point, you can do a lot of different things with your potatoes. Whether you choose to mash them, season them, or can them you are ready to proceed. 

Storing Boiled Potatoes

Let’s talk about storage. If you want to reheat your potatoes, you need to be sure you store them properly. You can store potatoes by either refrigerating them, freezing them, or canning them. 

We are going to share how to best refrigerate or freeze your boiled potatoes here. If you intend to can them, be sure you refer to instructions to properly can them. However, we are not going to share those particular instructions here. 

Storing Boiled Potatoes in the Refrigerator

Let’s start with the basics. After you boil your potatoes, you can easily store them in the fridge. 

1. Allow the potatoes to cool to room temperature. Do not leave out more than 1-2 hours. 
2. Place potatoes into small airtight container or a plastic bag that seals well. 
3. Place in the fridge. 
4. Store your boiled potatoes in the fridge for 3-5 days. 

Storing Boiled Potatoes in the Freezer

You can also freeze your boiled potatoes if you want to put them away for the long haul. We do recommend pre-freezing them. 

1. Pre-freeze potatoes by laying them out on parchment paper on a baking sheet. 
2. Freeze for 2-4 hours. 
3. Move potatoes to an airtight container or a heavy-duty freezer bag. 
4. Freeze boiled potatoes up to 6 months. 

Reheating Boiled Potatoes

Here we are at the heart of the matter. If you followed all of the procedures to this point properly, you should have no problems reheating your boiled potatoes. 

If you used cubed potatoes, there is no need to defrost or thaw them. However, if you used whole potatoes we recommend that you move them to the fridge and let them thaw overnight. 

Reheating your boiled potatoes will not take long. The best method for reheating them depends on what you will be using them for.

If you are adding them to a dish, you should add them when the dish is almost done cooking. This is so your potatoes don’t turn mushy or soggy. 

Boiled potatoes are best reheated in the oven. Here are the recommended steps for reheating boiled potatoes. 

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or use a glass baking dish. 
2. Line your pan or dish with a small amount of olive oil or cooking spray. 
3. Heat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit
4. Place the potatoes in the oven and bake about 10 minutes. Test them after 10 minutes to see if they are heated through. Add 2-4 minutes until they are done. 
5. Serve or make up and enjoy. 

Reheating boiled potatoes is really quite simple. We recommend the oven because this keeps the potatoes intact so they don’t fall apart or turn mushy. The oven also does not compromise the intended boiled texture. 

You can try to reheat your boiled potatoes in the microwave but we don’t recommend it. If you don’t want your potatoes to turn soggy or mushy, there is no guarantee of success with the microwave. 

If you insist on trying the microwave, try covering your potatoes with a paper towel to help soak up some of the moisture that potatoes naturally exhibit. 

Related Questions

We hope that you find this guide to reheating boiled potatoes to be both useful and informative for your needs. We also hope that you feel fully prepared to carry out the task. 

In the following section, you will find some common questions with answers. Feel free to check it out for some additional information. 

Are There Any Alternative Baking Methods for Reheating?

While we shared the most common method, you could also try wrapping your potatoes in foil and baking at 400 degrees for about 10-15 minutes.

The end result of both methods should turn out about the same in the end. 

How Do I Know if My Potatoes Are Good for Boiling?

You can boil any potato that you have on hand. When it comes to freezing or storing them and reheating them, some work better than others.

We recommend using red, yellow, or new potatoes for the process. Any potato that has a waxy finish should work well.