Boiled Baby Potatoes

Name: Boiled Baby Potatoes
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 20 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 3 pounds baby potatoes of any color; ⅓ cup vegan butter (see note 1 for oil-free option); 1 teaspoon sea salt (see note 2); ½ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper; ⅓ cup fresh parsley, chopped (see note 3 for alternatives)

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These boiled baby potatoes are creamy, flavorful, and easy to prepare. They’re also vegan and go great with any entrée or protein.

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Hey Internet, I made these boiled baby potatoes as a side to enjoy with my vegan schnitzel and I loved them so much I thought they should be their own recipe.

I can just see them going with so many other dishes, like any of my tofu recipes, vegan steak, seitan chicken, seitan turkey, vegan ham -- I mean, basically anything that doesn’t already include a starch in the entrée would go great with these bite sized potatoes.

And you know I love potatoes--I put together a whole compilation of over 75 of the best vegan potato recipes if you're interested.

These are super duper easy to make, and you can easily halve or multiply the recipe for the right number of servings for you. And all you need are some baby potatoes--red, gold, multicolored--any will work.

This 5-ingredient recipe comes together without any fancy equipment. All you really need is a pot (with a lid is helpful, but not necessary), oven mitts, and a colander or strainer. That’s it!

Why This Recipe Works

This is honestly a super easy recipe. The hardest part might be determining how long to boil baby potatoes, but honestly all you have to do is test one with a fork. If it sinks in easily, they’re done.

The process goes like this: scrub, boil, drain, melt vegan butter, add back potatoes, toss, and add the remaining ingredients and toss again. That’s literally it.

This recipe for boiling baby potatoes seems really simple… and it is. But if you don’t know how amazing boiled baby red potatoes are (or any color, but I LOVE the red ones) with some vegan butter, a little salt and pepper, and fresh parsley are… you don’t know what you’re missing.

Ingredients and Notes

Baby potatoes: Any color will work for this recipe. I find that baby red potatoes get the best crisp skin and have the best flavor, but baby gold potatoes are creamier in consistency. Note that if your potatoes are not all roughly the same size, they may cook slightly unevenly. Just monitor the biggest ones when you are cooking them, and test those ones with your fork to make sure everything is cooked through. You could also use this recipe with other kinds of potatoes, but keep in mind the larger the potato, the longer it needs to boil.
Vegan butter: Any kind of vegan butter should work with this recipe. I find that stick vegan butter (like Miyoko’s) tends to stick better to the boiled baby potatoes, but anything you have will be fine. You could also just use olive oil and skip the melting process, but I really liked the flavor the vegan butter added. If you are oil-free, you could skip this and just moisten the baby potatoes with broth or water before adding the salt, pepper, and parsley.
Sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper: Use a salt that’s a little bit more coarse than table salt for this recipe, because otherwise the salt can clump which doesn’t taste great. I recommend either sea salt or himalayan pink salt. Ground, yes, but not as fine as table salt. And once you grind your own pepper with a pepper mill, you won’t want to go back to pre-ground black pepper. The flavor is so much deeper when the peppercorns are freshly cracked.
Parsley: Finally, the icing on the cake is finely chopped parsley. Curly or flat--it doesn’t matter. This provides a lovely texture and subtle fresh flavor to the bite sized potatoes and it’s delicious. You can also substitute the parsley for another herb like dill or cilantro.

How to Make Boiled Baby Potatoes Step by Step

Start by scrubbing and rinsing your potatoes with a potato or vegetable brush or just with your hands.
Add potatoes to a large pot and cover with water by about an inch or two--just make sure they’re well covered.
Bring potatoes and water to a boil--you can add a lid to encourage it to come to a boil faster as it will trap in the heat. How long this takes depends on the size and thickness of your pot, strength of your burner (I always use the power burner), and how much water is in the pot.
Boil the potatoes for 5-10 minutes after the water comes to a boil. Exactly how long to boil baby potatoes will depend on the size of your potatoes, your stove, your pot, etc. The best way to check is to find the largest potato and test it by sticking a fork through it. If the fork goes in with little to no resistance, then the potatoes are done.
When the potatoes are fully cooked, drain them in a colander or strainer and leave them there for a moment.
Return the pot to the stove set to medium heat and add your sliced vegan butter. Stir it around with a cooking spoon for a moment until it melts. Then add the potatoes back to the pot. Either gently stir the potatoes so they are covered in melted vegan butter OR what I like to do is get on my oven mitts, place the lid on the pot, and use my hands to shake the pot vigorously (make sure to secure the lid while doing this). It only takes a moment to get the boiled baby potatoes covered in the vegan butter.
Quickly add the sea salt, black pepper, and chopped parsley (or whichever herbs you’re using) and repeat either the stirring or the covered shake to quickly toss the potatoes with the seasonings.
Serve immediately and enjoy! I love serving these with vegan schnitzel or basically anything.
Refrigerate leftovers for up to 4 days in an airtight container.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do you boil baby potatoes?

How long it takes really depends on the size of your pot, how full it is, how efficient your stove is (use the power burner if you have one!), and how big your potatoes are! After the water and potatoes have come to a rolling boil, it typically takes about 5-10 minutes for my potatoes to be ready.

How long do boiled baby potatoes keep?

These bite sized potatoes keep for about 4-5 days in the refrigerator.

How to serve baby potatoes?

I highly recommend serving these immediately with your favorite protein. I love them with vegan schnitzel, vegan steak, vegan ham, etc. You could also just serve them with some veggies on the side, like air-fried brussels sprouts or bang bang cauliflower.

Tips for the Best Baby Potatoes

Seems obvious, but wash your potatoes well. Since you’re eating the skin with this recipe, you want to make sure there aren’t any chemicals or anything gross on your potatoes.
Move quickly when tossing the potatoes with the vegan butter and then the seasonings. If you don’t, sometimes the spice can clump up which isn’t super duper tasty.
Try other seasonings, herbs, or serving with a dipping sauce like my nut-free vegan ranch. Try adding a couple cloves of minced garlic when you melt the butter--cook for about a minute, stirring constantly, before adding the potatoes back. A squeeze of lemon before serving would also be delicious. You could even try adding nutritional yeast or my 2 minute vegan parmesan topping!
Take these to the next level by smashing them with a glass on a lined baking sheet, and then baking until crispy. I plan to create a recipe for smashed potatoes (coming soon) but these would be so good!

More Recipes Like This

I love vegan potato recipes! Check out some of my favorites below.

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<3 Liz

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