IT'S POLLTATO TIME: vote for your favourite way to consume potatoes

honestly I think I gotta go with croquettes if I have the choice! hashbrowns and gnocchi as runnerups.

Totally dependent on the quality of the product because the best two: roasties and chips - are also the worst two when they're shit

I do love a croquette partly because they seem especially difficult to fuck up

leek and potato soup/mash/roasted/chips are staples. Proper mash is mashed with a ricer and an contains unhealthy amounts of salt and also contain leeks sauteed in butter imo. I know some ppl might be snobby about air fryers or consider them a marketing gimmick. But let me tell you, my Cosori turboblaze is fucking great for making chips without a chip pan full of boiling oil. I occasionally do dauphinoise mainly to justify the existence of a mandolin cutter in my kitchen, but it is a fine side when done the right way.

more recently I like to roast a tray of cubed and hot spiced potatoes/onions/sweet potatoes/garlic and add them to whatever curry/chilli type dish I have made or am rewarming.

I'm on mashed potato duty for Christmas dinner at my ex's and I'm pretty sure the kids demanded it because I don't hold back on the salt & butter

hot spiced potatoes mmmmm Bombay aloo

Voted roasted but you forgot masterchef perennial fondant potatoes, could be my favourite if I'd had them enough to have a firm opinion.

when you heavily salt the water before boiling the potatoes for mash it really makes all the difference. Sometimes you just have to say bollox to Big anti-salt!

I find that potato waffles are waffley versatile

Freedom fries, fer sure

The first time I had fondant potatoes I was very disappointed because I assumed fondant meant soft and silky and apparently not

All of these are great. Good roasties are absolutely my champion potato, though. Worst is probably boiled just because they can be a bit dull, but honestly they're still pretty awesome when put with the right flavours.

Roasted

Caal otm about waffleversatility tho

Welsh Rarebit is so good as well.

kind of just cheesy mash on toast, but still a classic

Never heard of potato in a Welsh Rarebit but I love a fried potato sandwich so i can dig it

huh! everyone else in the world must be doing it wrong!

well anyway what I wrongly call Welsh Rarebit from my mum's version of it is a fucking improvement on the recipe

sadly missing jojo potatoes, which are thick wedges that are battered and fried. i think latkes may be my #1, but i think i could make a strong case for the best exemplars of 5-7 categories here

also potato pierogi might have earned my vote. and also vietnamese beef and fried potato, but crucially my preference is for the thin crispy chip-like version, not the version with big soggy chunks

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fee116050339566e9b38f09/1629051267254-UEPOX53C4E0BYAVMC3UO/vietnamese-beef-potatoes.JPG

but latkes with applesauce and sour cream? wow

huh! everyone else in the world must be doing it wrong!

I wasn't arguing I just learned a new thing

Stamppot, you rubes

I went with hash/home fries, a category that imo extends from Waffle House scattered, smothered and covered to Iberian patatas bravas.

I would have voted french fries except there can be so much variation between good and bad fries.

home fries

Actually looking at the list again, I see that Waffle House would fall under hashbrowns, also an excellent category. Still going with hash/home fries tho.

Also, pretty much all of these are good. Potatoes are good! It still boggles my mind sometimes to remember that the world outside the Americas never had potatoes or tomatoes until 500 years ago.

I often make what are called home fries in the US. Like parboiled, fried or roasted potatoes with herbs and spices. I just call them chips, but basically they are home fries.

Patatas a lo Pobre is a cool Spanish recipe that also is kind of home fries, but with lots of garlic, bell peppers and parsley.

fucking hell, potatoes are literally a godsend

According to our most conservative estimates, the introduction of the potato accounts for approximately one-quarter of the growth in Old
World population and urbanization between 1700 and 1900.

https://web.archive.org/web/20110705043431/http://www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/nunn/files/Potato_QJE.pdf

Write in for buttchugging

It still boggles my mind sometimes to remember that the world outside the Americas never had potatoes or tomatoes until 500 years ago

Hey there are so many punchlines but I'm lazy and I've had a couple

and also potato dependency accounts for the demographic catastrophe in the Republic of Ireland, but obv British Evil was the true villain (again)

The usual way we eat potatoes at home is tudousi

https://www.3thanwong.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/1f4d77_a300dcdfae864065b963593db895a627-mv2_d_3000_2250_s_2-scaled.jpg

Probably going to vote for the UK chips option. Am somewhat perturbed that wedges are tagged in with them as they seem as distinct from (UK) chips as French Fries are.

just big chips?

Voting for UK chips as in those served with cod, and xp yeah they are very much not the same as wedges.

colcannon

I do a version of that, and yes it is actually in the top 1% any other opinions can go fuck themsens

a good mash actually needs spring onion, cabbage or just being left a bit chunky imo else it lacks something, colcannon my fave solution

chunky spring onion >>>> chives

yep

my default mash is colcannon with leeks replacing the cabbage

voted UK chips, just don't overcrowd the fry basket plz

The usual way we eat potatoes at home is tudousi

I've been meaning to try this for ages. I'll make it a new year's resolution.

it's not hard, just start making hash browns then immediately stop

lol what

grate, press in towel to dry, fry

I'd be done before you finish scuffing your parboiled wedges ;)

FITE

ftr I was quoting

May take hours to get just right.

― Dance Yourself Dizzy To The Music of Time (Camaraderie at Arms Length)

grating potatoes and squeezing the moisture out is significantly more fiddly than boiling some potatoes, shaking them, then putting them in an oven for idk, 30 mins, sometimes 45.

xpost i was gonna comment on that last night but felt i'd gone far enough in my zealotry. don't think it would ever take hours, not ime anyway.

wish hash browns the recipe is easy to follow but it's generally a more messy/irritating task imo. equally i'm not gonna roast potatoes for breakfast.

*with

scuffing your parboiled wedges

hot

ftr I was quoting

May take hours to get just right.

― Dance Yourself Dizzy To The Music of Time (Camaraderie at Arms Length)

― vague facial gymnastics (sleeve), Tuesday, 6 January 2026 21:40 (eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Most of that time you are doing nothing, just leaving them in the oven

Kind of mad French fries only got five votes

Everyone thought someone else would vote for them and now roast potatoes are president

everybody loves potatoes in any form these are all just quibbles

this is true, also the simplest foods have the hottest ILX disputes in general

grating potatoes and squeezing the moisture out is significantly more fiddly than boiling some potatoes, shaking them, then putting them in an oven for idk, 30 mins, sometimes 45.

don't forget peeling your roasties! and it's not like you have much to do after grating/pressing hash browns other than flipping it once.

do you leave hash brown potatoes unpeeled? that's not an argumentative question, more just curious, as i don't.

yah totally, although I would assume styles vary and I am also not trying to argue, just tease

just speaking for myself here, but my personal "favorite way to consume potatoes" is definitely not gonna be a process that takes hours.

Well, if we're going down this road, my personal favourite way to consume potatoes is always going to be "someone else makes them for me".

lol that is also a convincing argument

btw LocalGarda is a high quality food poster on bluesky, recommended, would eat or cook w/you anytime

yeah, same, no ill will here!

I do have strong opinions about potatoes though <3

Hash brown graters, do you never rinse the starch water off the shredded potato before squeezing the shreds dry?

BTW, excellent home fries can be made from yesterday’s British chips.

oh yes you gotta rinse once for sure

well done on the 0 votes for "I don't like potatoes in any form"

on some winter evenings I will steam some fingerling potatoes (unpeeled) with carrots and a wedge of cabbage... salt, pepper, butter and maybe some fresh thyme if I have it... a peasants' feast, like a van gogh painting

On the subject of mashed, may I recommend throwing a few whole garlic cloves in to boil with the potatoes. Good garlic mashers without hot/raw garlic intensity.

yeah that's something that i always think i should do every time when i remember to do it.

I am sure the reason roasties won is because the British/Irish holiday season palate got activated.

Lol I was the only soup voter, though croquettes was my 2nd choice

I'm with LocalGarda on longer parboiling time and ease of roasties vs hashbrowns

for any fried potato it's a bit trickier to make it nice if not boiled a bit first

For fried cubes/hash I never parboil, just low and slow and steady frying with topups of butter as needed

Trick is small cubes though, 1cm ish

https://www.dezeen.com/2025/10/21/aldi-jacket-potato-jacket/

Heartened and reassured to see absolutely no-one likes baked potatoes.

I do but only with a good chili and cheese.

I love them I just felt the other candidates were better.

We need PR

baked potatoes are amazing
just obviously roasties and chippy chips are better

This is the thing about potatoes. Some are like oxygen, others are like drugs.

Americans, the UK has the topped jacket potato: imagine the most anaemic of baked potatoes, covered in baked beans and cheddar or tuna and sweetcorn. Salad cream optional. I think they are gross and a lot of people *microwave* the potato. The US baked potato intended to accompany a steak is a different story: it might have sour cream and chives dolloped on top, or loads of butter and seasoning, and it’s baked until the skin is dark and chewy.

I do NOT have sweetcorn near a JP nor do I microwave it TYVM!

You know the baked potatoes in America are good because all the baked potato restaurants are full of Americans.

Re: roast potatoes, don't knock the "boil for 10 min, then scuff up the outsides" method until you've tried it. I can say that method yields the best roast potatoes I've ever had, no contest. All that loose starch on the outsides bakes up nicely, making a ridiculously thick and crispy crust, and the insides are nice and fluffy.

This is the recipe to follow (from the aforementioned Kenji):
https://www.seriouseats.com/the-best-roast-potatoes-ever-recipe

is there anything worse than finishing your last forkful of baked potato and thinking "why didn't I bake two potatoes?"

yeah, a root canal

Made twice baked potatoes again last night, full of cheese and butter and chilies and scallions. So good.

On Monday I did ev oily Spanish style fried potatoes with roast peppers and garlic. So good, just even accompanied with some ketchup on the plate and some supermarket brand baked beans and a couple of sausages.

we finally fixed our oven igniter and i made roasted potatoes to celebrate. the potato gods were with me tonight. multicolored baby potatoes from trader joe's cut into 1/2" cubes. bell pepper wedges (green, red, orange). olive oil, salt, pepper, smoked paprika. in at 400 for 1 hour. they were honestly amazing.

parchment paper over a metal cookie tray. i feel like the thing i did right this time was only 1 bag of potatoes so it wasn't overcrowded.

Kielbasa, chopped potatoes, cabbage and onion is pretty darn good winter food.

Oh yeah and add in a bowl of soup beans and a piece of iron skillet cornbread to finish the meal with some sliced orange.

they were honestly amazing.

thank you, the indigenous peoples of the andean highlands for your incomparable gift to the world

Thank you, weird-ass potatoes, for your incomparable gift to the first human colonists to the andes

hashtag prometheus