Steam Potatoes for Potato Salad for Better Texture (2024)

FAQs

Is it better to steam or boil potatoes for potato salad? ›

Depending on the potato used, the size of the pieces of potato, and how long they are cooked for, boiling can result in overcooked, watery potatoes, which results in a mushy potato salad. Steaming gives you more control and keeps the pieces intact, which is what you want for potato salad.

Years later, during my time at Serious Eats, I made Kenji López-Alt's classic potato salad on a whim. My potatoes turned out perfectly — and they have every time since — due to one ingenious tip he shares: Adding vinegar to the cooking water prevents overcooking.

Boiling potatoes can leave them waterlogged, diluting their earthy subtle sweetness, but steaming them preserves their inherent flavor. As the potatoes soften, they absorb just the right amount of moisture. Seasoning the dish only at the very end heightens their intrinsic subtle sweetness.

Boil an inch of water: Bring an inch of water to boil in a large pot and turn to medium heat. Steam the potatoes for 20 minutes: Transfer the potatoes to a steamer basket, place it in the pot, and cover. Let the potatoes cook for 20 minutes or until a fork can pierce them easily. Do not rinse!

Rinsing potatoes helps remove excess starch, so it is recommended to rinse the potatoes before cooking. To ensure even more starch is out of the way, it's recommended that they even be quickly rinsed after boiling. We recommend using hot water for rinsing after boiling and cold water prior to boiling.

Steaming is a process in which food is cooked at a higher temperature than it would normally cook in water. This results in faster cook times than boiling. The reason steaming potatoes is not preferred as a cooking method for mashed potatoes is less starch is released, resulting in gluey mashed potatoes.

Russet, Yukon Gold, or red potatoes (new potatoes) are all excellent for potato salad. They do cook at different rates so be sure to adjust cook time depending on which type of potato you select.

If you overcook them, the result is a mushy, grainy mess. And if you undercook them, you end up with crunchy (not in a good way) potatoes. It's a delicate balance to achieve soft, tender potatoes for that just-right potato salad texture.

Place the potatoes in the steam bowl. Lightly season the potatoes with salt. Cover with the lid and switch on. Cook for about 25 minutes, the time will vary according to the size of the pieces and type of potatoes.

Soaking potatoes in water helps remove excess starch. Excess starch can inhibit the potatoes from cooking evenly as well as creating a gummy or sticky texture on the outside of your potatoes. Cold water is used because hot water would react with the starch activating it, making it harder to separate from the potatoes.

What happens if you steam potatoes for too long? ›

Given a long enough cooking time the potatoes would expel all the available internal liquid - waxier potatoes become gummy and starchier potatoes become powdery. After that, pectin and starches break down and turn to mush, though that would be on the scale of hours.

Sprinkle the potatoes with the salt and cover. Turn the heat to medium and let steam until a knife inserted into the thickest part goes in with ease, about 20 to 30 minutes. The potatoes must be fully cooked or else you will have lumpy potatoes.

Some potatoes are naturally firmer than others. It's possible that the variety of potatoes you used may have a firmer texture, even when fully cooked. For soups, it's generally recommended to use russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, as they tend to break down and become softer when cooked.

Waxy potatoes

These do not absorb too much liquid and are a great pick for the boiled, steamed, and curried preparations (including soups). So, use Yukon gold, fingerlings, Carola, Austrian Crescent, and LaRette to prepare casseroles, salads, and chowders as these potatoes hold its shape really well even after cooking.

Russet, Yukon Gold, or red potatoes (new potatoes) are all excellent for potato salad. They do cook at different rates so be sure to adjust cook time depending on which type of potato you select.

Leave the parboiled, roughed-up potatoes in the still-warm pan to dry for a few minutes before adding them to the hot fat. The drier the potato, the crisper the end result – it enables the puffed-up starch granules on the exterior to recrystallise and firm up, ready to be browned to a crisp.

Background: Steaming retains vitamins and phytochemicals in vegetables better than boiling; thus, it is important to promote this cooking method.