7+ Things To Do With Sprouted Potatoes
Can you eat sprouted potatoes? Yes! Are sprouted potatoes safe to eat? Yes! When you open a bag of potatoes and find they have sprouted, here are more than seven ideas you can do with them (and throwing them out isn’t one). Reduce waste in your kitchen and save the money you’ve spent with one or more of these ideas.
Whenever I find bags of organic potatoes on sale I often buy two, even though I know we don’t typically use a lot of potatoes. You have to take advantage of those sales, right?
However, since organic potatoes are not sprayed with a sprout inhibitor, I am often faced with about quite a few pounds left of sprouting potatoes – sometimes only a week later.
While I try very hard not to throw food away, I also don’t want to eat potatoes for the next week, either, to get them all used up.
I’m pretty sure I’m not the only person ever faced with this problem, so I did a little research and came up with quite a few different ways to use these potatoes before they become shriveled and inedible.
A Few Frequently Asked Questions
This is probably the first question you ask yourself when faced with a half eaten bag of potatoes with sprouts. Yes, you can – as long as the potato is still firm when you give it a slight squeeze and the sprouts are small. Just cut out the sprouts and eyes and proceed with your recipe.
I have always said yes to this question. While there may be more solanine present, sickness from solanine is very, very rare and a few sprouts on a firm potato will not make you sick – and excess solanine is more common in potatoes with a green tint to their skin (source). Also, most solanine is found right under the skin, so peeling the potato before using in one of the ways below would eliminate most. Finally, you’d have to eat a huge amount of potatoes for the solanine to make you sick.
It’s the way potatoes grow. When planted in the ground, the potato tuber’s sprouts will grow up through the soil, becoming green foliage which will be fed by the tuber. As it grows, the original tuber will shrink and become mushy or non-existent, but there will be a lot of new tubers growing all around it from the new plant. It’s the plant’s life cycle.
Conventionally grown potatoes are sprayed with a growth-inhibitor and it’s why you can have a 10-pound bag for longer in your pantry without sprouting. Organics don’t do this, so you have to use them up sooner.
If the potatoes are really wrinkled and shriveled, the starch has turned to sugar (in preparation to feed the plant that is sprouting) and the nutrient value is pretty much gone. And of course if they are mushy, leaking and smell, they are rotten. Any potatoes in these conditions are only good for the garden (wrinkled) or compost pile (rotten).
Storing them in a cool, dark, place will go a long way to keeping them from sprouting as fast. Also, store them away from onions – I know we always see these two stored together, but the onions really will make the potatoes sprout faster.
Do the Potatoes Have Green Skins?
If your potatoes have a green cast to the skin, it means they’ve been exposed to too much light.
This green indication of the presence of solanine, which is considered a toxin (potatoes are in the nightshade family) and may cause some type of sickness (tummy upset, diarrhea), so you should always peel off any green areas of any potato.
Now that we know we can eat them, choose one or more of these ideas below to use them up – after you’ve washed them and cut off all the sprouts or green areas, that is.
And by the way, these ideas all work for that big bag of non-sprouted potatoes you have, too, except for the last idea – then you’d actually want to wait until they’ve sprouted!
7+ Things To Do With Sprouted Potatoes
1. Bake The Potatoes and Freeze
Yes, you can freeze baked potatoes!
How to Freeze Baked Potatoes:
- Bake until fork tender in a 350 degree oven.
- Let them cool and wrap each potato with foil so that no skin is showing.
- Place the wrapped potatoes into a freezer baggie, label, and store for 6 to 8 months.
How to Use Frozen Baked Potatoes, 2 ways:
- You can then thaw the frozen cooked potatoes to use in other recipes.
- Or cook from frozen: pull out how many you’d like to use, unwrap them and place them in a baking dish, frozen. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake at 425Ā°F for 35 to 45 minutes or until warm.
2. Make and Freeze Twice Baked Potatoes
This is a variation on the baked potato – after baking, scoop out the insides and mix with cheese, sour cream and seasonings, refill the shells with this and top with grated cheese before baking again (this Twice Baked Potatoes from Simply Recipes is a good one).
How To Freeze Twice Baked Potatoes:
- After filling, but before the second baking, lay the halves on a cookie sheet and freeze completely.
- Transfer to a freezer baggie or container, removing as much air as possible, and freeze for up to 3 months.
- Thaw and bake as normal.
I’ve done this many times and it’s such a treat to have twice-baked potatoes in the freezer!
3. Make Frozen Hash Browns
Bake, grate, and freeze the potatoes like this Freezer Hash Browns recipe from Heavenly Homemakers to use whenever you want!
I love this so much – I’ve just done without hash browns for years because I didn’t want all the extra ingredients that come with store bought packages.
My family is really enjoying these again and it’s very convenient.
4. Make Freezer Home Fries
This is a variation of the grated recipe like #3, except you chop the potatoes into bite-size pieces (skinned or not) to freeze.
How to Freeze & Use Chopped Potatoes:
- Bake potatoes, chop into size you want, spread out on a large baking sheet and freeze for 1 hour or until frozen through.
- Transfer the frozen potatoes to freezer baggies, remove as much air as you can, and freeze up to 3 months.
- When you’re ready to eat, just fry them from frozen with butter, and optional chopped onions, and peppers.
5. Make Mashed Potatoes – Eat Now or Freeze
Make your favorite mashed potatoes – I’m partial to these sour cream garlic mashed potatoes – for dinner and then freeze the leftovers.
How To Freeze Mashed Potatoes:
- Divide the mashed potatoes in meal-sized portions into pans.
- Dot with butter.
- Wrap pans in foil and freeze.
When ready to serve, thaw the pan overnight and heat in the oven for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees, until warmed through.
6. Make a Slow Cooker Soup
Add some of the potatoes, peeled, to a slow cooker with other ingredients to make a hearty soup for dinner, like this Baked Potato Soup from Mama Loves Food.
Bonus: the leftovers of this soup can be frozen, too!
7. Make a Frittata
Make a delicious Potato & Caramelized Onion Frittata for dinner or breakfast. TIP: Plan to use some of the potatoes you baked in #1 for this.
8. Plant them!
If it’s potato planting time where you live, you can plant them – in the ground, in a tall container (like a clean garbage can), or grow bags – anywhere they’ll get a lot of sun.
Since you actually want sprouted potatoes for planting, you’re half way there if you’ve already got them growing sprouts!
Here’s my easy potato planting method (actually a few methods with the updates!) to get you started.
What are your favorite ways to use sprouted potatoes?
Besides tips on using sprouted potatoes, An Oregon Cottage is a place where you’ll find easy, real food recipes, tips to be smart in the kitchen, and using up what we have. See more potato recipes here and more kitchen tips here.
Even More Potato Recipes
Easy Slow Cooker Garlic Scallop Potatoes
This article has been updated – it was originally published in 2012.
Great ideas Jami! Don’t know why I haven’t read this post before since I have been reading you for quite a few years. Especially love the idea of freezing whole cooked potatoes–that way you can do whatever you want with them. Thanks for some great ideas that will definitely reduce food waste!
Oh, I would’ve thought you’d seen this before, too, Norma. š
Yes, I never used to think about freezing potatoes – such a great option!
I just shredded the last of our home grown russet potatoes to make hash browns to freeze and am roasting the last of the red potatoes, also to freeze! This is the 4th year we have grown our own and I believe using the ones that sprout or are starting to get soft is a much better option than buying more starts. Thanks for the info and reminder that they can be frozen! PS: I switched to the stainless steel cleaner you recommended and am MUCH happier with the results, and the smell is not as toxic as Wegmans which also doesnāt last very long and requires more frequent use.
How wonderful to have your own last this long – and now longer with the freezer!!
I’m so glad you tried the stainless steel canner – SUCH a difference, I mention it whenever I can, lol.
I would like to dehydrate some potatoes. Do they have to be cooked first or can I shred and dry? thanks for recipes you have included.
Great question! I haven’t dehyrated potatoes, so I found this from Mother Earth News: “Potatoes can be dehydrated from uncooked potatoes, blanched, partially-cooked, or fully cooked potatoes. From my own experience and experimenting, I’ve found that half-cooked potatoes rehydrate the best.”
Iām wondering if these ideas would translate for sweet potatoes?? For planting potatoes, about how long do store bought potatoes take to harvest?
Some probably would, like removing shoots and using in recipes. Planting is another thing – you don’t plant sweet potato tubers, but use the growth that comes off of them (youtube has some great instructions).
Store bought take the same amount of time as ordering seed potatoes – and it all depends on the variety! For example, Yukon Gold potatoes are an early potato, Russets are a later potato – and there are even some mid-season potatoes.
I make a potato casserole that is lunch size and freeze it. I peel, cube and boil the potatoes in salted water. When tender, mash the potatoes with butter, and sour cream. Chop favorite ham to add. I use frozen broccoli and smash into really small pieces. Add grated cheese, I use sharp cheddar. Mix well and place in containers for lunch size. Cover with cheese of choice. Freeze. My children ask for these by the dozen. They take these to work for a quick lunch. Microwave until warmed thru. Great for meat and vegetable nutrition.
What a great idea, Diane! Thanks so much for sharing!
Great article.
We only grow about 50-75 lbs potatoes each year. We use what we can after digging and later in the fall when garden work has slowed we process all the potatoes. Weāll boil and rice or cube and freeze in portions. Make twice baked and freeze in portions. The frozen potatoes always are just as good as fresh. This clears up a lot of space and no waste.
Great tips – and having twice baked potatoes in the freezer would be such a time saver at meals, too!
Thanks here is 2024 and love all the info.
Glad this was helpful!
Yep. Plant them.
š
Thank you so much, Jami. I just had this happen for the 100th time. I knew you could eat them after sprouting but I didn’t know you could freeze them. What a concept. This has been so helpful and given me lots of ideas. I appreciate all your tips and tricks. I always look forward to what you are going to share next. I work full time so every little thing helps with time management. Thanks again and have a wonderful day.
I’m so glad, Patty – freezing was a revelation to me, too!
So appreciate your sweet words. š
Great suggestion . Love to. Grow. My. Potatoes but I jhave some red sprouted potatoes. Aand thats what Ill be doing well
Glad this was helpful!
well doesnt help a bit. do you make the potatoes just as is? like if i boil them do i just throw them in hole sprouts and all? can i still use the whole potato how old does it get before i cant use it?
we all know how to make french fries and hasbrowns also a baked potato. especially the ones who just throw it in the microwave for 5 mins lol. but are the sprouts ok to eat?
Well, the article was on what to do with the potatoes, Mickey, not the sprouts. š And no – don’t eat the sprouts – cut them out and toss them. If the potatoes are getting soft, that’s when you’d want to grate them or something – they won’t be as good for baked potatoes and such.
I bought 40 lbs. of Colorado russets in Delta, Colorado, for $10 and made $30 worth of homemade ranch tater tots with bacon. Sorry, Idaho. Colorado potatoes are superior to Idaho potatoes!
Wow, that’s a lot of tater tots!
Can you please answer a few questions for me? I am a brand new gardener and I have cut the ends off of some soft russet potatoes. What’s next? How long before the sprouts come out? Do the sprouts plant downward? How deep?
Thank you so much.
Elizabeth
Hi Elizabeth – I’m so glad you are venturing into the world of gardening! The sprouts will emerge from the ‘eyes’ of the potatoes, the little indentations that often show rough spots where the sprouts are starting. Your pieces should have at least 2-3 eyes on them. They will sprout in a few weeks and you plant them with the sprouts growing up (they are the potato plant stems, not the roots, so never plant them down). Here’s an article that goes into more details: http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/potato/sprouting-seed-potatoes.htm
Happy gardening!
I love the hashbrown idea! I am going to try that out. i have two big bags my friend brought me but no way i can eat them as quick as they need to be eaten!
If you have a pressure canner, you can can your potatoes! Peel, pack into jars raw, add warm water, salt and when your canning the potatoes cook to the perfect texture!
Great tip, Felicia – thanks!
People seem to think that when you buy potatoes in the winter they have just been dug up.these are all dug up in October.so if you buy in march they
are 5 months old. farmers store these
Correctly.dark and cold.there is no such thing as a fresh potato in the winter contrary to what people think.
I manage a small coffee bar/cafe/bookstore. We make a lot of our winter soups from scratch. Usually I don’t peel potatoes for our soups because I prefer my potatoes unpeeled (and I know it’s more nutritious to use unpeeled potatoes) (and it IS about me, isn’t it, lol??). Anyway. I had a bag of potatoes that was starting to sprout and decided to peel them–just to get the sprouts off, you see? Big Mistake, at least for that particular morning. I was either: too rushed or too unattentive…and ended up taking a huge chunk out of the tip of one of my fingers with the vegetable peeler. I will spare y’all the ensuing icky details!! However, from now on I will either: try to use up potatoes BEFORE they sprout (so as not to vigoursly whack off any more tips of my precious digits) or delegate this particular chore to my staff….’cause obviously peeling sprouted potatoes is not something I can effectively tackle!! So…cautionary tale here: Beware The Sprouted Spud. It is something that challenges (and potentially smacks back at) the best of us!
I will be doubly careful now. š
Most potato peelers have a pointed tip that is designed to remove the eyes of the potatoes. I didn’t know about that feature until after I was married and had a couple of kids. I hope this is helpful.
My mother always went through her potatoes (not sure how often) that were stored for the winter. She would break off the eyes to prevent the potatoes from getting too soft. They were always stored in a burlap sack in the dark root (basement with a mud floor) cellar.
A very handy post, since during the summer especially, those big bags of potatoes (which often cost less than the smaller bags here!) decline pretty quickly.
I thought you weren’t supposed to eat sprouted potatoes so I usually plant them or just throw them away. Growth inhibitor has never affected the growing capabilities of any of the potatoes I have planted ~ in fact, they grow better than the seed potatoes I have bought! I planted a whole #5 bag of sprouted store bought red potatoes one year and haven’t needed to plant potatoes again! I must have misssed one or two when harvesting and they come up EVERYWHERE each year now! :~/ Good thing I love potatoes! :~D
I had heard something similar, but come to find out it’s just the sprouts themselves that are toxic (and you’d have to eat a LOT of them for anything bad to happen) – but I always cut them off anyway. As long as the potatoes are still firm, you’re good to go!
I did not have your luck planting store potatoes – they were covered in scab when I harvested. š And I never have volunteers like you do – that’s kinda nice!
Hi, Jami! I just found your beautiful site today while reading different articles on whether you can eat sprouted potatoes. I’ve read quite a few (I always double check answers, just to make sure I didn’t just happen to click a quack site first! lol), and I found some that were from Universities doing studies on sprouted potatoes. They say it’s fine to eat potatoes when they get soft, and a little spongy even, just not when they’ve shriveled and are losing their water (you know, when they start feeling lighter and airy). But I agree, once they start getting soft, they won’t be too great for baking – though I’ll admit that I’ve “baked” some softer ones in the mic and they were yummy, but didn’t have the fluffy texture you get in the oven with fresh potatoes. I’ve also used soft ones for mashed potatoes, and they’re wonderful!! They are wetter cutting them up when soft – maybe that has something to do with how great they turn out using the soft ones. But anyways, I’m excited to try some of your recipes! š (And I even found out something new reading these comments – I had *no* idea you could make Tater-Tots at home! So now I will have to look up some recipes! haha) Take care, Jami! I’m off to look at more of your site! xo ~Sapph
Thanks for the information, Sapph – I hope you find more recipes to enjoy!
This is good to know. I didn’t know they spray potatoes with a sprout inhibitor. Another reason to buy organic when I can. Good potato ideas too.