Thanksgiving is quickly approaching, and don’t get me wrong, I’m excited to bond with family and break out all of our classic recipes. But to make my favorite dish (mashed potatoes, duh), I have to tackle the most tedious task: peeling potatoes, the bane of my existence. Using a knife takes forever, and the dreaded vegetable peeler isn’t much better. I always wind up with tired hands and a bad attitude.
But in one of my recent YouTube deep dives, I learned how to peel potatoes without a peeler and with minimal knife skills. This trick allows you to remove potato skins by slipping them off – no calluses necessary. I knew I had to try it immediately to see if it worked. The potato hack video claims you can skip the peeling process before boiling the potatoes and, instead, squeeze the skin straight off the potatoes once they’re fully cooked. It sounds almost too good to be true, but guess what? It works. Keep reading to learn how to execute this brilliant timesaving hack.
How to Peel Potatoes Without a Peeler
Using a sharp knife, pierce the skin only and draw a line all the way around the center of the potato. Do this quickly by twirling the potato around with one hand while keeping the knife steady in the other. Transfer the potatoes to a giant pot of water (cover the potatoes by at least an inch of water). Boil the potatoes until they are fork tender, then drain them.
Once they’re cool enough to touch, peel the potato skin from each side of the punctured line you created. And voilà – the skin will slide off effortlessly! Not only does this drastically speed up the process for so many potato dishes, but it also makes cleanup a lot less stressful. Once you try this cooking method, you’ll probably never go back. You’re on your way to the quickest and best mashed potatoes of your life.
Step 1: Puncture the potatoes with a knife before boiling.
Source: PS Photography / Erin Cullum
Step 2: Once they’ve boiled, let the potatoes cool.
Source: PS Photography / Erin Cullum
Step 3: Peel the potatoes by slipping off all of the potato skin with your fingers – no peeler necessary. Voilà!
Source: PS Photography / Erin Cullum
Erin Cullum is a former PS Trending and Viral Features editor.
