I like salt just as much as the next guy, but through the years I’ve heard about these salt potatoes and couldn’t figure out what the big deal was. Potatoes with salt? Big whoop. Little did I know that the salt is not actually included to make the recipe salty.
The salt increases the boiling point of the water. With the different boiling point, it makes the flesh of the potato creamier than normal and less starchy. They were sooo good. Now I totally get it. Salt potatoes. Who knew?
Salt Potatoes Recipe
Ingredients
5 pounds new potatoes
1 1/2 cups kosher salt
8 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup chives, chopped
Instructions
Fill a large pot with 3-4 quarts of water. Slowly stir in the salt until it settles on the bottom of the pot. Thoroughly wash potatoes {do not cut them!}, place them in the pot and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Remove from heat and drain. Pour melted butter over potatoes, sprinkle with chives and serve piping hot.
Karen says
Ooh – I’ll have to try this. Sounds GREAT. Have you ever tried roasting potatoes encased in kosher salt? They come out extra creamy and delicious, too. And the salt brushes right off so it’s not overly salty tasting. Just darn good.
Mavis Butterfield says
Thanks Karen, I’ll have to try them that way.
Rosaleen says
How do the “salt potatoes” taste compared to potatoes cooked in a pressure cooker? A pressure cooler certainly cooks the potatoes at a higher temperature.
Joye Cushing says
This is an old way of making potatoes, we sometimes make our on the wood stove, they are even better a few days later!
Tangela says
If you like baked potatoes, you ought to try this one!!!! It came from the PBS show America’s Test Kitchen and the recipe is on their site. You’ve never had a baked potato before until you try this. It DOES make a difference! 🙂 I didn’t do the rosemary and garlic, but I bet that is delicious too.
Ingredients
2 1/2cups plus 1/8 teaspoon salt
4 russet potatoes, scrubbed and dried
2sprigs plus 1/4 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
1whole head garlic, outer papery skin removed and top quarter of head cut off and discarded
4teaspoons olive oil
4tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Instructions
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Spread 21/2 cups salt in even layer in 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Gently nestle potatoes in salt, broad side down, leaving space between potatoes. Add rosemary sprigs and garlic, cut side up, to baking dish. Cover baking dish with foil and crimp edges to tightly seal. Bake 11/4 hours; remove pan from oven. Increase oven temperature to 500 degrees.
2. Carefully remove foil from baking dish. Remove garlic and set aside to cool. Brush exposed portion of each potato with 1 teaspoon oil. Return uncovered baking dish to oven and bake until potatoes are tender when pierced with tip of paring knife and skins are glossy, 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, once garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze root end until cloves slip out of their skins. Using fork, mash garlic, butter, 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt (or pinch table salt) and minced rosemary to smooth paste. Remove any clumped salt from potatoes (holding with kitchen towel if necessary), split lengthwise, top with portion of butter, and serve immediately
Deniseathome says
I made these by accident the last time that I made corned beef and cabbage. The potatoes came out just like you described. I thought it was the variety of the potato that I used. I am really glad that i can make these any time that I want with this recipe.Those were wonderful potatoes.
Rosaleen says
Hmm-
I wonder if the potatoes in my latest batch of soup are so creamy because of the salt in the broth? I try to be consummately thrifty. I hated to throw out the broth from the last corned beef and cabbage meal we had. I split the “juice” into two quart jars and added deglazed beef pan drippings to the broth. Watered down, one jar became the stock for “corned beef and cabbage soup.” We had eaten up all of the corned beef, so I substituted whatever leftover meat I had, in this case a little pork. Fresh cabbage, potatoes, onions, garlic, and carrots rounded out the soup. It was not salty, in fact the soup tasted a bit flat, so I added some potassium salt.
Jam says
I just made these today with some potatoes from our co-op and some chives from our garden. I could definitely tell a difference in the creaminess from just baking them or boiling them without all the salt–it had an especially good salty taste when I ate the potato pieces with the salty skin on them. Delish! I will be making them this way moving forward.
Judy says
We cooked these potatoes tonight and LOVED them! We used small red-skinned spuds and they tasted so much better than the way we usually cook them. Thanks Mavis!
Mavis Butterfield says
I’m glad you liked the recipe Judy. 🙂
Debbie says
Salt Potatoes are a huge regional food here in Central NY! They are definitely a staple to any BBQ during the summer. We leave the buttering & spices up to the individual. Just serve the potatoes once they’re cooked and leave a small cup of melted butter on the table for everyone to pour themselves. I always cut mine open before I pour the butter on. But it’s definitely a personal choice. And in my family, we’ve been known to sneak leftover salt potatoes out of the fridge & eat them cold. 🙂 Leftovers make great chopped up breakfast potatoes too! (Just heat them up in a frying pan with some onions & garlic!)
M. says
DH likes to cook for the family on the weekend. I recently sent him this recipe. This may be his FAVORITE way to cook and eat potatoes now. I see there’s a bag of those lovely “gourmet baby potatoes” on the counter. (They’re not too TOO pricey at Aldi.) I think I know what’s on the menu tonight. Thank you for this recipe/method, Mavis. This is now in our family cookbook.