Do You Really Have to Peel Potatoes?

Available year-round, crowd-pleasing, and extremely versatile, we’ve never met a potato that we didn’t like. Whether fried, roasted, baked, sautéed, mashed, or grilled, potatoes are always invited to our dinner party. 

Our staff agrees that potato recipes are one of the best menu additions to everything from casual potlucks to holiday feasts. But we’re split on one spud-related topic: should you peel potatoes? It’s about a 50-50 split, with some vowing it’s essential for the best texture, and others saying, “Why waste the food and the time to peel?”

To help us settle the debate once and for all, we called in the experts. With more than 135 years of collective experience farming potatoes—and enjoying the fruits (okay, vegetables) of their labor—these potato farmers know their stuff and act as our judge and jury for the case of the potato peel.

Meet the Farmers

• Darren Bitter, owner of BitterSweet Farm in Terreton, Idaho 
• Randy Hardy, owner of Hardy Farms, Inc. in Oakley, Idaho 
• Jaren Raybould, partner of Raybould Brothers Farms in St. Anthony, Idaho
• Dennis Wright, general manager at AgriNorthwest in Kennewick, Washington

Should You Eat Potato Peels?

When we asked our pros if you should peel potatoes, the answer was nearly unanimous. Although there’s some gray area depending on the recipe, if they were forced to pick a side, three out of four potato farmers agree: Don’t peel potatoes. It’s more nutritious, makes meal prep easier, reduces food waste, and boosts flavor and texture to leave them on.

For fries, baked potatoes, hash browns, and more, “leave the skins on all potatoes,” recommends Randy Hardy, owner of Hardy Farms, Inc. in Oakley, Idaho. “Peels on is always best, if you ask me; the peels are loaded with nutrients. If you peel them, you sacrifice all of that.”

Potato peels offer riboflavin, ascorbic acid, and folic acid, as well as about 50 percent of the spud’s total gut-friendly fiber. Plus, the color and texture variance they offer perk up even the most basic recipes, adds Dennis Wright, general manager at AgriNorthwest in Kennewick, Washington.

“I think it’s healthier, and it’s how potatoes were intended to be eaten,” Wright explains. “I dig them right out of the fresh soil from July to November. There’s something natural about just rinsing off the soil, cooking the potatoes, and eating the whole tuber.” 

Plus, the peel helps the flesh retain moisture as the potatoes cook, adds Jaren Raybould, partner of Raybould Brothers Farms in St. Anthony, Idaho.

“If you peel potatoes before baking, they can dry out quickly. And if you peel and then boil them, they can get waterlogged,” Raybould says.

When You Might Want to Peel Potatoes

That said, there are a few occasions in which it might be beneficial to peel potatoes, the farmers concede.

You should peel potatoes if:

• You’re really passionate about the visuals. “If I want a dish of pure, snowy white potatoes for a special occasion, I will go ahead and peel them,” Wright admits. Although on most occasions he supports skin on, “I love the beauty of a snowy white mountain of mashed potatoes next to a darker piece of meat and a few dark green and orange vegetables on my plate on a holiday,” he adds.
• If you’re making certain dishes. Raybould says that for most purposes, he and his family eat the peel. However, for the creamiest mashed potatoes and potato salad (when the skin may detach and lead to some clumpy bites), he promotes peeling.
• If you prefer it. Darren Bitter, owner of BitterSweet Farm in Terreton, Idaho, says that “it’s a house-divided when it comes to skins off vs skins on. I like my mashed potatoes with skins on while my wife Kathy prefers her mashed potatoes skinless because it looks better. This holds true regardless of the potato type,” he tells us. As with anything you put on your plate, this boils down to personal preference. If you like to peel, a farmer isn’t going to show up at your door and shame you! 

If you do opt to peel your potatoes, don’t let them go to waste. Save potato peels for: