It’s one of the last crops that we pull in for the year: potatoes.
They can stay in the ground long after the cold winds blow, and the overlooked ones have been known to emerge like forgotten dinosaur fossils the following spring. The great thing about them is they’re easy to grow and produce a LOT. So what do you do if you don’t have a root cellar to store them or you simply want to ensure that your harvest doesn’t go to waste?
Let’s can some potatoes today!
What You Will Need:
-potatoes
-canning salt
-prepared jars, lids, and bands
-pressure canner
-pot of boiling water
Step 1:
Gather your potatoes and thoroughly wash/scrub them. A knitted dish cloth or scrubbie work great at removing dirt and can even help your peeling process along.
Step 2:
Peel and either quarter or dice the potatoes, leaving small potatoes (1-2″) whole. Then wash them again- you want to make sure that no dirt remains on your potatoes. As you do keep a pot of water on hand and drop your pieces in there to keep them from browning- just make sure that the potatoes are fully submerged in the water as exposure to the air will cause the discoloration.
Step 3:
Submerge the potato chunks in boiling water; return to a boil and boil for 10 minutes. If you are canning a lot of potatoes, get a few pots of boiling water going to make this process quicker.
Step 4:
Pack hot potatoes into hot jars, leaving 1-inch headspace. Add 1/2 tsp. salt per pint jar {or 1 tsp. salt per quart}, optionally. Carefully ladle boiling water over potatoes, leaving 1-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles with a non-metallic utensil. Secure lids and bands and process accordingly:
To use:
Canned potatoes are great to have on hand! Because of the pressure canning process, the potatoes are already softened a bit. This means homemade mashed potatoes in about 10 minutes, and quick oven fried potatoes!
Cheesy Bacon Potato Bites:
– 1 quart jar (or 2 pints) canned potatoes, drained
– 1 cup cheese, shredded
– 6 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled
– green onions or chives
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread out potatoes evenly over a lightly greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with cheese and bacon; bake for 15 minutes. Top with green onions and serve!
Shared At:
Great post, I’ve never tried canning potatoes before but it would be a good idea so none of your harvest goes to waste! As one of the co-hosts on the HomeAcre Hop I will be featuring your post on Thursday! Hope you stop by and share another awesome post! – Nancy
The Home Acre Hop
Thank-you so much for stopping by and thank-you SO much for the feature! How exciting! I love canned potatoes- they truly do make preparing a potato dish so much faster.
I will definitely be sharing again- thanks!!!
Erin
I love canned potatoes also. I canned them raw last year and just used the last of them. Guess it’s time to go to the farm down the street and get another 50# bag! Thanks for the post! It got me thinking on canning again!
Thanks so much for visiting, Gina! Hope you can get some potato canning in :)- enjoy!
Erin