Use the whole bag of potatoes

What can I do with a bag of potatoes?

Cook all of it in one go. Roast half the bag for Sunday, simmer the other half into mash for the freezer, and bake the peelings into crisps on the shelf below the roast. It takes about 15 minutes more than the roast on its own.

Potatoes: one of the five foods UK homes bin most

A 2kg bag is the one most of us pick up. Then a roast takes half of it, and the other half sits in the cupboard until it sprouts or goes green.

Peel the whole bag while you’re at the sink anyway: the kettle, the oven and the peeler are already out for the roast. The second kilo takes 10 minutes now, and a whole other evening next week, which is why it doesn’t happen.

In a WRAP survey in June 2024, UK households named the foods they threw away most of, and potatoes came top of the list (Resource Media, reporting WRAP). Usually it’s the part left over after the recipe you bought it for. Giving every part a recipe in the same session adds about 15 minutes of hands-on time.

One session, in order

1. Boil the kettle and heat the oven to 200°C fan, with the oil for the roast potatoes in its tray.

2. Peel the whole bag. Half goes into chunks for roasting, half into chunks for mash. Keep every peeling.

3. Parboil the roast potatoes and simmer the mash potatoes, in two pans from the same kettle.

4. While they simmer, rinse and dry the peelings.

5. Roast potatoes in. The peelings go in on the shelf below for their 15 minutes.

6. Finish the mash while the roast potatoes roast. Once it’s cool, it goes in the freezer.

• Roast potatoes Sunday’s roast, for 4
• Mash For the freezer, 4 portions
• Potato peel crisps A snack, 4 small bowls

How we’d cook it, not advice. We don’t check recipes for allergens, and ingredients vary by brand, so check the label on everything you use. Prepare and cook food the way the Food Standards Agency says. Allergens and food safety

What each one adds

• +10 min Mash Peel the second kilo while the kettle boils. It simmers on the hob while the roast is in.
• +5 min Potato peel crisps Toss the peelings in oil and salt and bake them on the shelf below the roast potatoes.

Hands-on minutes on top of a session you’re already cooking, our estimate. Time in the oven or on the hob isn’t counted. How we work out the minutes.

Can you freeze mashed potato?

Yes. Mash freezes in portions and comes back on the hob. The mash recipe has the freezing and defrosting steps, with the Food Standards Agency’s advice at each one. See the recipe.

More ways to use it up

Cook them golden yellow

The Food Standards Agency says to aim for a golden yellow colour or lighter when roasting starchy foods. That goes for the crisps too.

Green bits on the peelings

We cut out any green patches before the peelings go on the tray, and if a lot of the bag has gone green, we leave the crisps for another week.

Chips next time

Next time, cut the mash half into chips instead, in the same peeling session.

In the Food Standards Agency’s words: aim for a golden yellow colour or lighter when frying, baking, toasting or roasting starchy foods (Food Standards Agency).

In the NHS’s words: Do not eat any green, damaged or sprouting bits of potatoes, as these can contain toxins that can be harmful. (NHS).

More foods to use up

• Use the whole bag of carrots
• Use the whole head of broccoli
• All five foods