How to Parboil Potatoes Perfectly Every Time

Parboiling is the act of cooking food partially so the cooking time is reduced when the food is added to a recipe. The word itself is a mixture of “partial” and “boiling.” Because potatoes have a tendency to take longer to cook than other ingredients, many recipes call for parboiled potatoes. We’ll take you through the process step-by-step, and we’ll even provide a few recipe ideas to inspire you if you’re not sure how to use your parboiled potatoes yet. Keep reading for everything you need to know!

How to Parboil or Par-Cook Potatoes

Place your clean potatoes in a pot or saucepan. Fill the saucepan with water until your potatoes are completely covered, then bring to a boil on your stove. Let the potatoes boil for 5-15 minutes depending on their size. Remove the potatoes from the water and let them cool, then proceed to the next step of your recipe.

Section 1 of 4:

Prepping Your Potatoes

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1
Clean the potatoes and peel them (if needed). First, scrub your potatoes under running water to ensure that they’re clean. Next, check to see if the recipe calls for peeled or unpeeled potatoes, and peel them if needed.^{[1]
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- If your potatoes do need to be peeled, use a potato peeler or a paring knife, and carefully peel them above a bowl or the trash. This makes clean-up a lot easier!
2
If necessary, cut your potatoes into equal-sized pieces. Potatoes take a long time to cook, hence the need to parboil them. If you want to cut down their cooking time even more, consider cutting your potatoes into smaller pieces.^{[2]
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Research source} In general, the smaller the potato, the quicker it'll cook. Just make sure to cut them into uniformly sized chunks, so that they all cook at the same rate.
- Of course, if your recipe calls for whole potatoes, you won’t be able to cut them into chunks. That’s okay—they'll just take a bit longer to parboil!

Section 2 of 4:

Parboiling Your Potatoes

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1
Place your potatoes in a saucepan and cover them with water. Fill the pot with room temperature water until the water reaches about 1 inch (2 cm or so) above your potatoes. This way, they'll all cook evenly.
- If you have a large amount of potatoes to parboil, you may need to use a larger pot, rather than a saucepan.
Small to medium potatoes will typically need to boil for about 7-10 minutes, while larger potatoes may need about 12-15 minutes. If you’re parboiling potatoes that you’ve already cut into small chunks, you may only need to parboil them for about 5 minutes.^{[3]
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Remove the potatoes from the heat and drain the water. Stick a fork into one of your potatoes (or into a potato chunk, if you’ve cut yours into pieces) to check if it's done yet. The potato should have a cooked and soft outer edge, but firmer toward the middle. When they're ready, take them off the heat and drain the water.
4
Place the potatoes straight into cold water. This stops the cooking process immediately. Simply fill a bowl with water and ice, then place your potatoes into the cool water for a few seconds. Your potatoes are now ready to be used as required in your recipe!
- Parboiled potatoes will not keep for a very long time. Try to use them within 1-2 days after parboiling.
- If you’re storing your potatoes for later use, put them in a bowl in your fridge. Don’t store them in a plastic bag, as this causes them to sweat and soften more.
- To extend their shelf life, try freezing your parboiled potatoes. Pat them dry, and place them on a lined cookie sheet in the freezer for a few hours. Once they’re frozen, transfer to Ziploc bags and store in the freezer for 2-3 months.^{[4]
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Section 3 of 4:

Ways to Use Parboiled Potatoes

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One of the best ways to use parboiled potatoes is roasting them. When your potatoes are parboiled and then roasted, you’ll get a delicious, crispy exterior and soft, fluffy interior that satisfies all the taste buds.^{[5]
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A little-known secret for making delicious homemade hashbrowns? Parboil the potatoes before shredding them. From there, you can add them directly to a pan with oil or butter, or form them into patties and fry until crispy. This cuts down on the cooking time and gives your hashbrowns the perfect consistency.^{[6]
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Another reason for parboiling is that potatoes take so much longer to cook than other vegetables. For example, if you try to sautée raw potatoes in a pan with broccoli, carrots, and onions, the other veggies will cook much more quickly, leaving you with icky raw potato chunks. If you parboil your potatoes, you can throw them right in with the rest of your mixed veggies, and they should take roughly the same amount of time to sautée.
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Sheet pan dinner Sheet pan dinners involve placing several different ingredients onto one cookie sheet, then baking everything at once in your oven.^{[7]
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Research source} Since potatoes take a longer time to cook than many other ingredients, it can be helpful to parboil them before adding them to your sheet pan. Here are some delicious combinations to try for a sheet pan dinner:
- Chicken, potatoes, broccoli, red onion, lemon
- Shrimp, sweet corn, potatoes, cajun seasoning
- Sausage, potatoes, broccoli, red onion, bell peppers
- Steak strips, potatoes, garlic, balsamic vinegar, thyme^{[8]
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Soups and stews If you’re making a delicious soup or hearty stew, try parboiling your potatoes first. This way, you’ll never get stuck with partially raw potatoes when the rest of your ingredients are done cooking!
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Roasted sweet potatoes Just like regular ol' potatoes, sweet potatoes can be parboiled before roasting to ensure a deliciously crispy exterior and fluffy interior. The next time you’re cooking sweet potatoes, try parboiling them first!
- In fact, any starchy vegetable (such as carrots) can be parboiled. Once you see the magic that is parboiling with potatoes, consider expanding your repertoire with the rest of the root veggie family!

Section 4 of 4:

Reasons to Parboil Potatoes

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Parboiling potatoes cuts down their cooking time. When you parboil (partially cook) potatoes before adding them to a recipe, they’ll cook at roughly the same rate as the other ingredients in your dish. Parboiling potatoes also helps you get the perfect crispy exterior and fluffy interior when you’re making roasted, fried, or hash brown potatoes.^{[9]
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- Parboiling potatoes is also helpful when you’re meal prepping for the week. When you’re ready to use the potatoes, they’ll cook much more quickly than raw ones would!
  - Just make sure to use them within 2-3 days if you refrigerated them, or 2-3 weeks if you froze them.
- Note: For dishes that require fully boiled potatoes, parboiling is unnecessary. If you’re making mashed potatoes, for example, you’ll want to leave your potatoes in the boiling water until they’re fully cooked.

Parboiled Potatoes Recipes

Sample Roasted Parboil Potatoes Recipe

Sample Parboil Potato Veggie Stir Fry Recipe

Sample Parboil Potato Hashbrown Recipe

Sample Roasted Parboil Sweet Potatoes Recipe

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What is the best way to store parboiled potatoes in the refrigerator - in water or drained?

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I drain the pan as soon as they are done and immediately fill it with cold water to stop them cooking any longer. But once they're cool to the touch - which can be around 15 minutes - I drain them and drop them into a dry bowl and pop in the fridge (unless I'm cooking them immediately). I don't know if keeping them in water would keep them ready any longer but so long as I use them within a day I've never found it necessary.

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How do I parboil potatoes in a pressure cooker?

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Perhaps you should consider another method to parboil your potatoes as a pressure cooker would nearly cook them completely. Because it really takes minutes to parboil them in a pot of water, a pressure cooker would take less time and would require much more effort than is necessary.

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Twice I've made scalloped potatoes with different cooking times. Both times the potatoes were harder than I would've liked. Can I precook the potatoes in boiling water for a time before starting recipe?

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Yes. For fresh potatoes, not the box mix, boil the potatoes whole, peeled until "al dente", still firm. Rinse under cold water until they are cool enough to handle, cut into slices and continue to make the recipe.

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Parboiling works best with potatoes that are meant for boiling. Some high-starch varieties, such as Russet potatoes, are too floury and can crumble after parboiling.^{[10]
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Research source} Waxier potatoes, such as red potatoes or Yukon Gold potatoes, are the best choices for parboiling.^{[11]
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Parboiled potatoes are great for pizzas, curries, and salads, or fried up as hash browns and potato patties. Some people love to parboil potatoes prior to roasting.

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Some recipes might ask for potatoes to be cut and parboiled; follow the recipe's instructions for both the style of the cut and the time for parboiling.

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