Can you freeze potatoes?

USDA lists boiled and baked potatoes among the foods that freeze badly, coming out soft, crumbly, watery and mealy. Raw potato is worse: the enzymes keep working below freezing, so it darkens and turns unpleasant. Blanching deactivates those enzymes and the starch, which is why every commercial frozen chip is blanched or part-fried before freezing. Do the same at home and potatoes freeze well.

How to do it properly

1. Peel and cut to the size you want, then blanch 3-5 minutes in boiling water
2. Cool immediately in iced water and dry thoroughly
3. For chips and roasties, part-fry or par-roast instead of blanching
4. Freeze spread on a tray before bagging
5. Cook from frozen — do not thaw first

What goes wrong

• Raw potato darkens and develops an off flavour in the freezer
• Plain boiled potato thaws crumbly and watery
• Wet potato pieces freeze into one block

Other "can you freeze" questions

• Can you freeze cheese? It depends — Yes, and it stays safe indefinitely — but hard cheese comes out crumbly and soft cheese comes out wet.
• Can you freeze milk? Yes — Yes — leave headspace for expansion and shake it hard after thawing.
• Can you freeze eggs? It depends — Not in the shell. Beat them first, or freeze whites on their own.
• Can you freeze bread? Yes — Yes — freezing is the best way to store bread, far better than the fridge.
• Can you freeze bananas? Yes — Yes — peel and slice them first, because the peel turns black and welds itself on.
• Can you freeze cooked rice? Yes — Yes, and freezing quickly is the safest way to keep leftover rice.
• Can you freeze raw chicken twice? It depends — Only if it thawed in the fridge and never got above 4 °C (40 °F).
• Can you freeze breast milk? Yes — Yes — freeze it flat in bags, and use within six months for best quality.
• Can you freeze avocado? It depends — Yes, but only as a purée — frozen slices go grey and watery.
• Can you freeze soup? It depends — Yes for most soups; cream, milk and potato-based ones separate or go grainy.
• Can you freeze butter? Yes — Yes — butter freezes better than almost anything else in the fridge.
• Can you freeze cooked pasta? Yes — Yes — undercook it slightly and toss it in oil first, or it thaws into a solid block.