Cooking everything on Christmas Day can get seriously stressful, so one mum shared the way she prepares her roasties in advance to ensure they’re tasty and cause zero drama
There are so many different things to do on Christmas Day and if you’re the designated chef, it can get quite overwhelming.
But there are several steps you can take to make December 25 a little bit easier, and that includes prepping your potatoes ahead of the big day. Everybody loves a roast potato that’s “perfectly crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside”.
But Jenna, who posts under username @foodsafetymum on TikTok, said there’s no need for you to be “peeling your spuds on Christmas Day”, urging people to prep beforehand so you can spend more time with your family.
Jenna gave people two options to prep their potatoes in advance “so you can have more time on Christmas Day to do, well, anything”.
She recommended you can “par-boil and fluff your potatoes the day before” if you’d rather, in the same way you would if it was Christmas morning, “getting them ready to go straight in the oven”. She did recommend, however, you “cool them down within a couple of hours and pop them in the fridge overnight” if you want to use this method.
Or alternatively, it could have even been done a few days before and kept in the freezer. You can even try this second method if you’re planning multiple Christmas dinners this week. It means you can “cook them straight from frozen on Christmas Day”, but noted: “If you’re doing it this way, there’s a few things you need to do differently.”
In the caption, she advised: “If you’re prepping potatoes for the freezer, you’ll only want to boil them for 6-8 minutes (vs 12 minutes if doing them on Xmas Eve). Then coat them in fat and freeze them for 6 hours before transferring to a sandwich bag ready for Xmas Day.”
In the comments, someone asked: “How long does par-boiling take? (Also, do you add to boiling water or bring the water to a boil with the potatoes in?) Thank you!”
Jenna responded: “I usually par boil for 10 mins, then steam dry for another 15 mins. Always start them off in cold, salted water.”
Another keen cook asked: “When you parboil and fluff the potatoes the night before, how do you store them? Wouldn’t they just go brown in the fridge overnight?”
Jenna replied: “No, not if parboiled! Personally, we store them in the roasting tin! […] Peeled raw potatoes will go brown unless you submerge them in water.” The woman responded: “Oh amazing thank you! I’ve always done it on the day, and with a baby now I don’t want to miss much! Thanks so much.”
