Can you cook accidentally frozen potatoes? Yes, but you need to know a few things.
When our Canadian winter weather showed we were colder than the North Pole I shouldn't have been surprised when I found myself with 20 pounds of potatoes frozen in my garage cupboard.
I have come to dread the introduction of new weather terms such as.... polar vortex. And Winter Bomb Cyclone is even worse. The North East USA experienced one this past week and wind chill was predicted to be up to -100 degrees Fahrenheit!! Some East coast friends reported the siding blew off their house!
So... my frozen potatoes don't seem like much of a tragedy compared to that. But... my curiosity was piqued and I didn't want to deal with 20 pounds of thawed, mushy potatoes in my garage until garbage day. So I went to work.
I peeled the red potatoes. I had a sink of warm water beside me so I could thaw my hand out because holding frozen potatoes gets pretty numbing. Or..you could use a kitchen glove for a bit of insulation.
Mashed Pototoes
Suggestions on the internet are that you must cook them from frozen ie. don't let them thaw into a soggy mess. I dropped them whole into a dutch oven of water. I needed a few pots to hold them so it is best to try to group them in similar sizes so their cook time will be close.
I did end up checking and removing smaller potatoes first, drained and mashed them while hot. When the last of the pot was cooked I drained them and mashed them in the dutch oven over the element. The element was turned off but the residual heat helped to dry the mash out.
The only difference I found was that the potatoes were 'wetter' while cooking. The whole potatoes had a tendency to split when I was testing them with a fork for doneness. Based on that I think that is why the recommendation is to mash them. Mashing them in the hot pot over the residual heat also helps to dry them up.
I sampled plain mashed with butter and salt and pepper and... guess what... they were fine! I would not have known from the taste or texture that they started out frozen.
Since I wasn't sure how they were going to turn out I also made this version of Celeriac, Parnsip Mashed Potato with Frizzled Leeks, thinking they may need some help to improve the texture or taste. The recipe turned out fine.
I also made the Muffin Tin Mashed Potatoes, again thinking that the additions might disguise a few sins. They turned out fine as well.
The upshot is the mashed potatoes didn't need to be 'disguised' in any way. However, I had a lot of potato dishes on the go and I know the Celeriac, Parsnip Mashed Potatoes and the Muffin Tin Mashed Potatoes both freeze and reheat well. I don't think I have ever frozen and reconstituted just plain mashed potatoes. If any one know how that works please let me know!
Baked Potatoes
Round 2 was to try to rescue the frozen Russet potatoes. I scrubbed them in cool water to get the skins clean, gave them a good pricking with a fork and put them on a rack over a pan with foil. The skin and outer potato started to soften so I wasn't sure how these were going to end up. I baked them at 375 degrees for about 50 minutes. They did release some liquid during the baking, more than I have typically seen, so the foil bottom pan was a good choice. I put them on a rack just in case they oozed liquid, I didn't want them to get soggy.
Result? They were fine! I sampled them with just plain butter and salt and pepper. The potato was a bit creamier than what you might think of for a Russet. Large russets can be dry and fluffy/crumbly. These were medium size russets - so younger potatoes. I am not sure if it was the size/age of the potato or the freezing that made them 'creamy' but they were good!
With these Loaded Baked Potatoes you would never guess they had been frozen!
Note however - the baked potatoes did not fare well as leftovers. They were a bit dry and hard upon reheating.
So the upshot is - if you can cook them from frozen they are not lost. I won't go into detail but upon thawing they were not pretty. My garbage bags this week were very, very heavy......my compliments to Hefty Garbage Bag company!
Cathy
Thank you for posting this! I just realized I left a 5 lb bag of potatoes in my car for the last couple of nights, and I've been searching for ideas to make use of them - I hate the thought of throwing them out! Your suggestions for cooking and recipes are by far the best thing I've found! Thanks so much.
Carolyn Hetke
Sorry about your potatoes! I was expecting a lot of traffic for this post in this Polar Vortex!! Glad it worked out in the end!
D.Ash
I cubed & roasted frozen potatoes and they were fine. They were difficult to cube so just be careful
thewineloverskitchen
Wow.! I am impressed! Well done.
Charlene Shanks
Help I need more recipes for accidentally froze my potatoes in the shop
thewineloverskitchen
Oh my! I used 20 pounds of potatoes in the recipes I shared so I am wondering how many potatoes froze!!
Bruce
Accidently froze a bag of Yukon Gold potatoes on the porch (frozen hard as a rock). I boiled them for 15 minutes, then shredded them with some onion and fried them in some veggie oil. Delicious hash brown potatoes!! Never knew they were frozen!
thewineloverskitchen
Well done!
Terry
Today I took a bag of potatoes out of the refrigerator and more than half of them were frozen as hard as a rock! I thawed them out at room temperature. They were very "mushy" feeling. After reading various websites about raw frozen potatoes, I didn't have a lot of confidence in them, but just decided I would try them in the air fryer. I cut them in half, gently squeezed the water out of them, and cut them into wedges, sprayed with oil and air fried them. Surprisingly, they ALL came out really good! We had already had supper, so I am putting them in the frig. Not sure how they will hold over for a meal tomorrow. But I am pleased with the results so far!
thewineloverskitchen
Thanks for sharing that! I am pleasantly surprised they were okay after thawing them! Good to know!
Carla
Thank you for sharing this experience. I left a bag of potatoes in my car and they froze, so I was wondering if they could be used.
Carolyn Hetke
You are welcome! It is that time of the year again!
Darrel Poppino
Aldi's actually sell frozen small sized whole potatoes, but I don't remember the cooking degrees or the timing? They were awesome when I baked them according to direction. And so, I was happy to come across your post on this subject! The baked frozen potatoes are creamier than from the raw state. Thanks for sharing as I accidently froze a bag of petite whole potatoes thinking that is what they were. LOL New trend? Hmmm....
thewineloverskitchen
Thanks for the feedback. This is one of the busiest posts I have! Amazing how many people have frozen potatoes by mistake! LOL!
VALERIE j SMITH
I was told that frozen potatoes are toxic. I had some and thawed them and roasted them with the skin on. Are they alright to use?
thewineloverskitchen
There are no indications that frozen potatoes are toxic. (the green tinge indicates toxicity). There are frozen hash brown potatoes available commercially as well. I think they are best cooked from frozen. I didn't try to cook any that had thawed after they froze. I would think the texture might be compromised that way. If you know they stayed cold during thawing process you might be ok but I definitely would not try them if they froze and then sat around close to room temp...let me know what you end up doing... I am very curious about your results.
Alex Chan
Thank you! Frozen Russet potatoes is exactly what I have. Glad to know I’ll be able to recover them.
thewineloverskitchen
Happy to help!
Julia
This info is just what I was looking for! My son accidentally put a bag of small, fancy expensive, company-is-coming potatoes in the freezer. I’m gonna try to salvage them! Thanks for the helpful post!
thewineloverskitchen
Let me know how they turn out!