What to Cook With Potatoes: 12 Dinners Beyond Fries

Potatoes are the quiet hero of the kitchen. Cheap, filling, and they keep for weeks. The problem is most people get stuck on two options: mash or fries. A bag of potatoes can carry a dozen completely different dinners, breakfast and lunch too, with almost nothing else added.

Here are 12 real meals built around potatoes. Pick by what else you have in the fridge.

1. Crispy smashed potatoes

Boil baby potatoes until fork-tender, around 15 minutes, then squash each one flat with the bottom of a glass. Drizzle with oil, salt, and roast at 220C (425F) for 25 minutes until the edges shatter. The contrast of crispy outside and fluffy inside beats fries every time. Top with sour cream and chives and it's a full meal.

2. Potato and leek soup

Soften sliced leeks in butter, add diced potato and stock, and simmer 20 minutes until soft. Blend until silky. That's it. It's velvety without any cream, and a swirl of olive oil and black pepper on top makes it look like a restaurant got involved.

3. Loaded baked potato

Rub a big potato with oil and salt, bake at 200C (400F) for an hour until the skin crackles. Split it, fluff the inside with a fork, and load it: butter, cheese, beans, leftover chili, whatever you've got. A baked potato is basically an edible bowl, and it's a complete dinner for the price of one potato.

4. Spanish potato tortilla

Slow-cook sliced potato and onion in plenty of oil until tender, mix into beaten eggs, and cook gently in a pan until set, flipping once. Eaten warm or cold, it's the most satisfying way to turn potatoes and a few eggs into a proper meal. Slices great for lunch the next day.

5. Potato and chickpea curry

Fry onion, garlic, and curry powder in oil, add diced potato, a can of chickpeas, and a can of coconut milk or chopped tomatoes. Simmer 20 minutes until the potato is soft and the sauce thickens. Cheap, filling, and it tastes better the next day. Serve with rice or just bread to mop it up.

6. Creamy potato gratin

Layer thin potato slices in a dish, pour over cream seasoned with garlic and salt, top with cheese, and bake at 180C (350F) for 45 minutes. It comes out bubbling and golden. Rich enough to be dinner with just a green salad on the side.

7. Sausage and potato traybake

Toss chunked potato, sausages, and sliced onion on a sheet pan with oil and herbs. Roast at 200C (400F) for 35 minutes, shaking once. The potatoes soak up the sausage fat and crisp up beautifully. One pan, almost no washing up.

8. Potato and egg hash

Dice potato small so it cooks fast, fry in oil until golden and crisp, then add onion and anything else that needs using. Make a couple of wells, crack in eggs, cover until set. Hash is a brilliant dinner because it uses up odds and ends, and it works just as well as a weekend lunch.

9. Quick shepherd's pie

Brown mince with onion, carrot, and a splash of stock, spoon it into a dish, and top with mash. Run a fork over the top so it crisps, then bake at 200C (400F) for 20 minutes until golden. The mash topping is where your potatoes shine. Comfort food with almost no skill required.

10. Warm potato salad bowl

Boil potatoes, then while still warm toss with olive oil, mustard, a splash of vinegar, and chopped herbs. Warm potatoes drink up the dressing far better than cold ones. Add a soft-boiled egg or some flaked tuna and it's a full light dinner or a packed lunch.

11. Crispy potato rosti

Grate raw potato, squeeze out the water hard (this is the key step), season, and press into a hot oiled pan into a flat cake. Cook until deep golden on both sides. Top with a fried egg and it's an instant favourite. The squeeze is what makes it crisp instead of soggy.

12. Roasted potato frittata

Got leftover roast potatoes? Scatter them in an ovenproof pan, pour over beaten eggs with cheese and herbs, cook on the stove until the edges set, then finish under the grill. Leftover potatoes plus eggs is one of the great five-minute dinners and a great way to use up a Sunday roast.

Keep your potatoes lasting

To get a dozen dinners out of one bag, store them right:

• Keep potatoes somewhere cool, dark, and dry, never in the fridge (cold turns the starch sweet).
• Don't store them next to onions, they make each other spoil faster.
• Green or sprouting bits should be cut away before cooking.
• A paper bag beats plastic, which traps moisture and causes rot.

With a bag of potatoes and a few basics, you're never short of a dinner. Crispy, creamy, soupy, or baked, the potato bends to whatever you feel like.