Wishing for that perfect diced potato for your following yummy recipe? Then you are in the right place. Potatoes are simply delicious in all their forms, and if you love them as much as we do, you’ll want to get the most out of them without wasting one bit. That is the reason why today we’ll be telling you all about how to dice potatoes the right way.
Potatoes are a good source of fiber, which can help you lose weight by keeping you full longer. Fiber can help prevent heart disease by keeping cholesterol and blood sugar levels in check. Potatoes are also full of antioxidants that prevent diseases and vitamins that help your body function properly.
There are quite a few ways to dice potatoes, including using a knife and cutting board, and though it sounds like a relatively easy task, there are a few pointers that will make a massive difference in your potato dicing skills. It’s all about having the right kitchen tools and following a few simple steps before you dice potatoes like a pro. We’ll be showing you a couple of different ways so you can learn how to dice potatoes and impress friends and family.
How to Dice Potatoes FAQs
Why dice potatoes?
Dicing is the process of turning food into small cubes. When you dice a potato, you create uniform shapes that are easier to manage and cook more consistently than whole potatoes.
Diced potato cubes make excellent additions to hash recipes, stir-fries, stews, potato salads, and breakfast scrambles. The shape provides a worthy alternative to potato wedges, French fries, shoestring potatoes, and whole-baked potatoes.
Cubing your potatoes works well if you want to make mashed, sauteed, or roasted potatoes. You may also want to cube the potatoes if you’re driving home fries.
How do you dice a potato with a knife?
To dice potatoes, start selecting a knife that’s the right size for the potato you’re cutting. I like using the 7″ Santoku because its sharp blade is long enough to slice through the length of a large potato. When dicing, remember to try to cut pieces to uniform sizes, so they cook evenly.
How do you make a medium-dice potato?
For medium dice, cut slices that are about ½-inch thick. For small dice, cut slices that are about ¼-inch thick. Then, lay the slices flat on your cutting board and cut them lengthwise into strips that are as wide as the slice is thick. So, for medium dice, cut the slice into ½-inch-wide strips.
What popular recipes require diced potatoes?
- Breakfast scramble: Sautée diced potatoes in olive oil under medium heat alongside similarly-sized red peppers and onions. Add eggs or crumbled soft tofu for a delicious breakfast scramble.
- Chowder: Diced potatoes are perfect for hearty stews, corn chowder, and clam chowder.
- Roasted potatoes: You can roast diced potatoes by placing them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Garnish them with rosemary, olive oil, salt, and pepper for a classic flavor.
- Soup: Bite-sized diced potatoes cook quickly in boiling water or broth. Pair diced potatoes with other similarly sized vegetables like green beans and zucchini for a simple vegetable soup.
- Fried potatoes: Crispy fried potatoes make a tempting appetizer or side dish. Drop cubed potatoes the size of medium dice into a pan of sizzling oil, and fry them until they are crispy.
What are the best potatoes to dice?
- Russet potatoes are generally the easiest to dice into uniform shapes.
- Floury potatoes are suitable for roasting, frying, mashing, and baking. King Edward, Maris Piper, Yukon gold, Desiree (Caliban), and Rooster. They are also wonderful for potato salad as they absorb the dressing well.
- Waxy potatoes are suitable for boiling or steaming in their skins to hold their shapes. Flavourful dishes such as potato salad, stews, and pies also benefit from the moistness of these varieties. Pontiac and fingerling potatoes are good examples.
How to prepare potatoes before dicing?
- Wash the potatoes. You can wash the potatoes in cold water using a colander or simply hold them beneath running water. Dry them off with a paper towel or dishtowel.
- Peel the potatoes (optional). If you want to peel off the potato’s outer skin, this is the time to do it. An ordinary vegetable peeler will work with potatoes.
What tools/utensils do you need to dice potatoes?
You will need a cutting board and a sharp knife; ideally, a long chef’s knife. You do not need to peel potatoes before dicing them, but you will need a potato peeler for that step if you choose to peel your potatoes.
How long should you cook diced potatoes?
It depends on what you’re cooking. For instance, if we are talking about Roast potatoes, they need to roast for nearly an hour or so at 200C/400F. You will know the potatoes are fully cooked when they are crispy on the outside, fork-tender, and fluffy on the inside.
How to Dice Potatoes
Classic Dice
- If desired, prepare the potatoes by giving them a good scrub and peeling them. Then, trim the stem ends off each side.
- Slice a strip off, lengthwise, so the potato sits flat on the cutting surface. Sometimes a peeled potato will create a small, flat edge.
- Slice the potato into uniform pieces while holding it with your non-cutting hand. Slice thinly for smaller dice and thicker for chunkier dice.
- Cut each round into sticks, or “batons.” You can cut each round one at a time or in a stack.
- Turn the batons 90 degrees and cut across the shorter side into cubes. This step can also be done in the stack or one round at a time.
- Once you’re done dicing, be prepared to use your potatoes right away or place them in a covered bowl with cold water to keep them from browning.
Large Dice
- The first step is to cut the potato in half from end to end. Then, lay the new potato plank flat side down on the cutting board. Cut into thirds lengthwise; you’ll end up with three long potato sticks.
- Keeping the slices together, rotate the potato half 90° and slice all the way across with four long cuts. This should leave you with 12 large potato chunks.
- Repeat this process with the other half of the potato.
AZRHOM Large Walnut Wood Cutting Board
American walnut wood with unique colors and textures can add extra elegance and beauty to your kitchen and life. It has always been the first choice for making high-end cutting boards. Very durable and sturdy, do not smell, and is very easy to use and clean.
These wooden cutting boards feature a large smooth reversible surface for cutting different things separately.
Wide and deep juice groove to catch excess liquid during food prep. And built-in handles for easy taking and moving.
Features:
- Walnut Wood
- Rectangular
- Reversible
ZWILLING Classic 8-inch Professional Chef Knife
Fabricated from high-quality German stainless steel. Handle length – 4.72 inches. Product assembled in Spain. Blade sourced from Germany.
This knife shows fully forged construction and offers durability and a seamless transition from blade to handle.
This is a large-sized 8-inch multipurpose chef’s knife, perfectly suitable for chopping, mincing, slicing, and dicing.
Features:
- Ergonomic
- Precise Cutting
- Stainless Steel
How to Dice Potatoes Additional Tips
- Please make sure the potatoes are dry before cutting to avoid them slipping off the knife, which may cause an accident.
- To keep the potatoes from getting soggy, it’s a good idea to rinse them in a colander under running water from the sink.
- If you don’t plan to cut the potatoes right after peeling them, place them in a bowl or pot of cold water to keep them from browning.
- Once you’ve sliced the potato in half, you have a flat side to place against the cutting board to keep the potato from rolling around.
- Once you have two potato halves, slice them lengthwise again, and then again after that. You should now have eight long strips of cut potatoes for each potato you started with.
- Since your strips have flat sides, you can stack them on top of one another for consistent slicing.
- Cut each stack into equally spaced pieces to produce roughly equal-sized diced potatoes.
