Can You Freeze Raw Potatoes?

4 minutes

Potatoes are one of the most commonly prepared and enjoyed vegetables in the world. They’re filling, versatile, and the fact that you can cook them in so many different ways makes them a permanent fixture on dinner tables around the world. But can you freeze raw potatoes? 

How to Freeze Raw Potatoes

Freezing potatoes is a great way to save time and money. It also prevents potatoes from going bad, which occurs if you leave them in your cupboard for more than a couple of weeks.

And while you can technically drop your raw potatoes straight into a freezer-safe bag, we’d recommend parboiling them first, as introduced below: 

1. Prepare and Peel (Optional)
   Run your potatoes under the cold tap to rinse them and remove any hard bits of skin and dirt. Then you can choose whether or not to peel them, depending on how you plan to eat them. 
2. Chop
   To save yourself some prep time in the future, slice or chop your potatoes to your desired size. This can be halves, quarters, or even into chips; it’s entirely up to you. You can also leave them whole if you plan to use them as basked potatoes. 
3. Blanch
   Prepare a pot of boiling water and place your potatoes inside with a sprinkle of salt. Over medium heat, boil the potatoes for no more than five minutes. Once they begin to soften, remove them from the pan and give them an ice bath for a couple of minutes.Then, leave them out to dry.
4. Freeze Initially
   Pat your potatoes dry to make sure they’re free from surface water. Next, line a tray with baking parchment and place your potatoes on top, ensuring they’re not touching one another. You can then place the tray uncovered in the freezer for 3-5 hours or until your potatoes are frozen solid. 
5. Bag Up
   As soon as your potatoes are frozen solid, remove the tray from the freezer and place your potatoes in a freezer-safe bag (or several bags). Push as much air as you can out of the bag before sealing it. 
6. Label and Freeze
   The final thing you need to do is label the bag. Write the date that you prepared the potatoes as well as their use-by date, and place them in the freezer. Remember, you can freeze potatoes for around three months.

3 Tips for Freezing Raw Potatoes

Now you know how to freeze them, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing raw potatoes to have the best results:

Don’t Freeze them Raw
Freezing raw potatoes will likely cause them to go mushy or at least soft in the freezer because of their high water content. As we’ve introduced, make sure you parboil them (or blanch them) before you freeze them.

Consider Uses
As you know, potatoes are extremely versatile and are often used in so many different ways in the kitchen. If you plan to use potatoes in different ways after freezing them, it’s best to leave them as whole as possible or perhaps slice them into halves. After all, if you’ve cut them into fries, they can only be used one way once defrosted! 

Freeze Once Cooked
If you have leftover potatoes from a meal that you’ve already cooked, you can still freeze the potatoes. However, if you’re freezing leftover potatoes, you will need to allow them to cool thoroughly before bagging them up and placing them in the freezer. 

How Long Can You Freeze Raw Potatoes?

You can freeze potatoes for around three months, as long as they’ve been parboiled in advance.

If you’re freezing fully cooked potatoes, you should only keep them in the freezer for 1-2 months, as they will start to lose their taste if you leave them for any longer than that. Raw potatoes tend to stay fresh for around 3-4 weeks when kept at room temperature. 

You Can Freeze Raw Potatoes for up to 3 Months

How Do You Defrost Raw Potatoes?

When you’re ready to cook your potatoes, you can do so directly from frozen in most instances. This saves you the hassle of thawing them in advance.

However, if you want to defrost them, remove the potatoes from the freezer and allow them to thaw overnight in the fridge. They will then have softened and be ready to prepare in any way that you choose. 

Can You Refreeze Raw Potatoes?

Generally, it’s safe to refreeze potatoes. The biggest issue you face is that they can quite easily go mushy, particularly if you’ve cooked them or if they’re part of another dish (like curry). Potatoes are best enjoyed when they’re fresh or directly from frozen.

But technically, refreezing potatoes isn’t dangerous from a health perspective. 

Do Raw Potatoes Freeze Well?

Raw potatoes don’t freeze well at all, as they become soft and mushy. However, if you take the necessary steps to prepare and blanch your potatoes in advance, they freeze well for up to three months.

The best way to store raw potatoes is in the cupboard at room temperature, but you can also keep them in the fridge if you prefer.

Related FAQs

If you’ve still got questions about freezing raw potatoes or potatoes in general, then these may help:

What Happens If You Freeze Raw Potatoes?

Because of the high water content in potatoes, if you freeze potatoes raw then the structure of the potato can break down a little. Once thawed, this can lead to mushy potatoes. This is why we advise giving them a quick boil before freezing them.

What is the Best Way to Store Raw Potatoes?

There are a few things that are important when storing potatoes. You need plenty of circulation. You need no light. You need no temperature fluctuations.