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Potatoes Katherine baker
Potatoes Katherine baker
Lifestyle

How to Peel a Potato Without a Vegetable Peeler

We’ve all been there: you want a potato in a bad way so you grab some at the grocery store and get them home, ready for some homemade french fries, a heaping bowl of fluffy mashed potatoes, or baked potatoes stuffed with all the fixin’s.

peel a potato Without a Vegetable Peeler dairy product cheese
Caitlin Shoemaker

And then you realize, you have no peeler. You’re already committed to the idea of potatoes. In fact, at this point nothing else will do.

peel a potato Without a Vegetable Peeler dairy butter
Caitlin Shoemaker

Fear not, spud lover. You can still make your mashed potato dreams come true. Read on to find out two ways you can peel a potato without a peeler. #AdultingHacks FTW. 

Method One: Boil and Ice Bath

1. If you are boiling your potato to cook it, scrub your unpeeled potatoes before placing them into a pot with cold water. Cover it with a lid and bring to a boil.

peel a potato Without a Vegetable Peeler
Lora Maghen

2. Meanwhile, prepare an ice bath for your spuds by combining cold water with ice. Place next to your pot.

peel a potato Without a Vegetable Peeler apple
Katherine Baker

3. Simmer until potatoes are tender upon poking with a fork. Now remove your potatoes from the hot water and submerge them in the ice bath.

peel a potato Without a Vegetable Peeler vegetable potato
Katherine Baker

4. Give the potato 10-20 seconds or so, remove from water, and then simply peel away the skin with your fingers or a paper towel. #magic

peel a potato Without a Vegetable Peeler bread potato
Katherine Baker

Method Two: Use A Paring Knife

1. Wash your potato and stand the potato on its bottom, gripping the potato from the top with your non-dominant hand.

peel a potato Without a Vegetable Peeler bread wheat
Katherine Baker

2. Take your knife and starting at the top, making one straight downward cut to remove the skin, being careful to remove as little flesh as possible.

peel a potato Without a Vegetable Peeler sweet bread
Katherine Baker

3. Rotate the potato slightly and repeat until skin is removed.

peel a potato Without a Vegetable Peeler dairy product milk
Katherine Baker

4. Touch up the top and bottom of the potato and remove any eyes or bad spots.

peel a potato Without a Vegetable Peeler vegetable ketchup
Arden Sarner

With these simple hacks, you’re only minutes away from your own perfectly naked potato, no peeler required.

Katherine has been involved with Spoon since the early days of the NYU chapter. She continued to write for Spoon while earning her master's degree in human nutrition at Columbia University and authored the Spoon Guide to Healthier 2016. Katherine likes to avoid wearing real pants, hanging out with her rescue pup Millie, drinking iced coffee in all 4 seasons, and baking vegan treats (yes, Baker is her last name). Katherine is now a student at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health and learns about how climate change impacts human health and nutrition (#school5ever). Hit her up on Insta (@katherinebaker4) and kbaked.com for more #relatablecontent.