How to Cook Potatoes Sous Vide

Ah, potatoes. There is very little you cannot do, and very seldom do I turn you down.

For example, I have absolutely nothing against making a really good bag of frozen fries. Or tater tots. I am in addition I absolutely love making my own baked potatoes, and I also love serving boiled potatoes with olive oil or butter (or a little of both, let’s be honest) and fresh herbs.

This is how sous vide cooking works

How exactly does sous vide work? Well, an immersion circulator creates a constant temperature environment that ensures very precise cooking results. It resembles slow, gentle poaching that also helps foods retain their moisture.

This low, slow method of sous vide cooking works well for vegetables as it keeps them at a consistent temperature and cooks them thoroughly without getting too mushy.

There’s a bit of a learning curve or trial and error in using this style of cooking, but it’s nothing to be overly cautious about. It’s mostly a manual process, not unlike cooking in a slow cooker.

New to sous vide cooking? Start here!

The best potatoes for sous vide

For this recipe, the smaller the potatoes, the better because they cook faster. Look for small ones that you would normally use for cooking or frying.

I tested this recipe several times using combinations of yellow, red, and purple baby potatoes, all of which worked equally well. These potatoes are a little waxy so they hold their shape well and can also be popped straight into a hot pan or oven afterwards to further develop the flavor.

I also tried some irregularly sized potatoes, and in those cases I made sure all the potato chunks were about the same size by cutting them in half or quarters.

If you have the opportunity to hand pick your potatoes in a storage container or at the farmer’s market, look for potatoes that are about the same size – small potatoes, about 1 inch in diameter or less are great, but larger ones can be cut in half or quartered.

If sacks of potatoes are your only option, that’s fine; Just know that some will always be bigger and smaller. Again, just cut the larger ones so all the pieces are about the same size.

Prepare potatoes

When I first started working on this technique during recipe testing, I tried leaving some of the slightly larger baby potatoes whole, but I couldn’t get them to cook all the way through in an hour. Since I’d rather not wait more than an hour for cooked potatoes, I decided to cut the larger ones in half.

Problem solved. The potatoes are cooked through.

The last time I made this recipe – when we photographed them for this post – I went for a combination of sliced ​​and whole potatoes and cut the larger ones to match the size of the smallest whole potato (sometimes find you these tiny potatoes). the size of erasers in a pocket; ignore them). When I went for this mixed approach of whole and sliced ​​potatoes, I didn’t encounter any inconsistencies in the cooking.

Here’s what to do: Leave any potatoes smaller than 3/4 inch in diameter whole. If you have a mixed bag of small potatoes (or even larger ones you plan to use up), halve or quarter them into smaller pieces about 1 inch (or less) in size.

How long to cook the potatoes

Potatoes take about an hour to cook sous vide at 194°F. When done, the potatoes should be quite tender when you pierce them with a fork. If not, reseal the bag and cook a few minutes longer (and cut your pieces a little smaller next time!).

Make ahead potatoes

A major advantage of sous vide cooking is the ability to prepare components of meals in advance.

You can make these potatoes sous vide over the weekend, store them in the fridge, and then reheat them in a pan with a little oil to get the edges nice and crispy.

That’s my preference. This will give you the effect of roasting the potatoes but without having to deal with the oven. Bonus!

I tend to make these potatoes and then have them either in the morning with eggs or in the evening with a protein throughout the week.

More sous vide recipes to try!

• Sous vide carrots
• Sous vide pork chops
• Sous Vide Teriyaki Salmon
• French sous vide dip sandwiches
• Sous vide beef fillet with port wine and garlic