Minted Boiled New Potatoes make a simple side dish that makes the most of slightly waxy small potatoes. Cooked with the skins left on then tossed with butter and fresh mint, they’re light, fresh, and go with just about everything. From roast lamb to fish and summer salads, this classic flavour shouldn’t be missed.
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There are two schools of thought with minted potatoes. The first method involves infusing the potatoes with fresh mint while they boil and then adding more once they’re cooked. The second method involves throwing a generous spoon of mint sauce in to the water instead. Both result in a minty potato but I do prefer the this method with the fresh mint. The flavour is more subtle and doesn’t include the vinegar and sugar notes in mint sauce.
If you’ve ever grown herbs, you’ll know that mint is famously easy to grow and hard to kill. I have a talent for regularly disproving this claim but I continue to try. When you do get a plant established (and actually water it regularly), the endless supply of fresh mint is super handy to have.
Although you can also buy mint year round, it is telling that fresh mint really starts to get growing just as new potatoes start to come into season. You really can use this cooking method with any potato. But it is especially good with slightly waxy new potatoes. Of course Jersey Royals are the cream of the crop in this regard.
How to Serve Minted Potatoes
Minted potatoes are really quite versatile. You can eat them hot or cold although I do much prefer them hot. They’re best paired with lighter meals. Here are some of my favourites meal ideas:
- Keep things lovely and light with air fried salmon fillets and thick asparagus spears.
- Go traditional with air fried Barnsley Chops or lamb leg steaks with lemony green beans.
- Cut the potatoes in half and stir through a little mayonnaise, dijon mustard and lemon juice for a delicious and quick warm potato salad.
- Carve a large glazed gammon joint and serve with the potatoes and buttered savoy cabbage.
Minted Baby Potatoes Ingredients
Potatoes
New potatoes are the earliest crop of potatoes and tend to be on the smaller side and have very thin skins. They range in size from ping-pong ball shaped or even smaller to roughly the size of a tennis ball. New potatoes tend to be on the waxier side but the actual texture will mostly depend on the potato variety. You can use any for this recipe.
Out of new potato season, you can still buy miniature/small/baby/salad potatoes. You can use any.
The important thing is to make sure that the potatoes are clean, dried thoroughly if needed and any black or bruised bits are removed before cooking. Otherwise it is simply a case of adjusting the cooking times to match the size of potato as needed.
Mint
Quite a few different variations of mint which can be used in cooking. But the most common is spearmint. This is the flavour that you are thinking of when you think of mint in food and drinks. Of course you can mix things up by using other options like peppermint or watermint. But you need to be aware that the taste will of course change.
it really doesn’t matter if you use store-bought or homegrown mint for this recipe. You just need to make sure that you have a few nice leaves with no blemishes to set aside for finishing. And the rest of the mint you can throw into the cooking water – stalks and all.
Be Flexible
As this is such a simple recipe there aren’t really many of the ways that you can change it up except by using vegetable or olive oil in place of the butter.
Of course if you only have a little mint you can combine the two cooking methods I discussed at the top of this post. Add some prepared mint sauce to the cooking water and then use the little fresh that you have along with the butter just before serving.
To really change things up, you could use other herbs in the same way. Oregano is one of my favourite options and coriander would be a fun choice too.
You can also add things to the final dish. If you think of it like a warm potato salad, this becomes easier. Finally chopped red onion and loads a fresh chopped chives our favourites for me.
Vegetarian or Vegan Minted New Potatoes
This recipe is vegetarian is written and easy to make vegan. All you need to do is replace the butter with a plant-based option or oil.
Make Allergy Friendly New Potatoes
This recipe is free from egg, gluten and nuts.
Dairy Free: As with the vegan option, all you need to do is switch out the butter for a dairy free option and you are good to go.
Please note that this recipe may contain other allergens not referred to above and any variations suggested have not been tested unless otherwise stated. For more information regarding any dietary information provided on this website, please refer to my Nutritional Disclaimer.
Equipment Notes for Boiled Potatoes with Mint
You don’t need anything fancy to make these boiled potatoes. Just a saucepan, ideally with the lid, and a small knife we’ll get you pretty far.
Alternatively if you don’t want to cook the potatoes on the stovetop you can cook them in the microwave instead. Make sure to use a heat proof bowl not too much water.
A comprehensive list of the equipment used to make this recipe is included in the main recipe card below. Click on any item to see an example. There are no hard and fast rules so many items can be sensibly substituted to achieve the same results.
Get Ahead
You can easily boil the potatoes a couple of days in advance, then simply reheat them just before serving. If you plan to do this, it’s best to slightly undercook them the first time to avoid the risk of overcooking when you reheat.
it is best to add the butter and fresh mint leaves just before serving if possible.
Leftover Minted Potatoes
Any leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for around a week. You can reheat them in any way you wish – in the microwave, sliced and fried in butter, crisped up in the air fryer or just eat them cold.
You can also freeze any leftovers allow them to thoroughly and then reheat as normal when you want to eat them.
Boiled Minted New Potato Tips
Spending a couple of minutes going through the potatoes and cutting off any eyes (nasty bits) will make the whole dish nicer to eat. It doesn’t matter if there are small parts of the potatoes which don’t have any skin on them.
You don’t need to pick out and discard the mint stalks from the boiling water if you don’t want to. But I do find that by this point they’re not that pleasant to eat as most of the flavour has transferred to the water and potatoes.
If you don’t want to add butter to the cooked potatoes you don’t have to. It’ll depend largely on how you’re planning to serve them. If there is lots of gravy involved, I might be inclined to do this.
Don’t forget to let me know in the comments if you try making this recipe – I want to know what you think and if you made any substitutions, how did it turn out?
Still Have Questions?
Simple! Just contact me and I will do my best to help as quickly as I am able. Head over to my Contact Me page, any of my social media channels or post a comment at the bottom of this page and I’ll see what I can do.
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More Simple Potato Recipes
The Recipe
Minted Boiled New Potatoes Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 kg Baby Potatoes
- 15 g Fresh Mint Leaves - including stalks
- 2 tsp Fine/Table Salt
- 2 tbsp Salted Butter
- ½ tsp Sea Salt Flakes
Instructions
- Put a kettle of water on to boil.
- Prepare roughly 1 kg Baby Potatoes by using a small sharp knife to cut off any black or unpleasant looking bits of the potato. Cut any especially large potatoes in half and place all the potatoes into the saucepan.
- Prepare around 15g Fresh Mint by removing around 6-7 large leaves with no blemishes and setting them aside. Discard any other leaves that don't look their best then cut the mint into large chunks.
- Add the chunky pieces of mint to the potatoes and cover with boiling water from the kettle. Add 2 tsp Fine Salt and give it a quick stir.
- Bring the potatoes to a boil over a high heat then reduce the heat so the water is just simmering.
- Cook for around 15 minutes or until the potatoes feel fully tender when poked with a small sharp knife.
- Drain the potatoes and discard the stalks of mint and any easy to remove large leaves. Allow the potatoes to steam dry with the lid off. Put the pan back over a very low heat for a minute if needed.
- Finely slice the mint leaves that you previously set aside.
- Add the fresh mint to the dried potatoes along with 2 tbsp Salted Butter and ½ tsp Sea Salt Flakes.
- Toss the potatoes well until the butter has melted and are fully coating the potatoes and serve.
Lesley says
These potatoes were delicious, I usually opt for chives but the mint was the perfect swap. Next time I might try mixing mint with chives!