Can You Eat Raw Potatoes And Is There Ever A Reason To?

You've probably wondered at some point if you can eat potatoes raw — and many of you have probably even tried it, like I have. Their texture is sort of like an apple without the snap, but they're way mealier, and, to me, not so appealing uncooked. That's fine, because eating raw potatoes isn't a recommended practice, as they contain compounds called chaconine and solanine, which are classified as glycoalkaloids. 

Glycoalkaloids are toxic in high quantities, so if you ingest too much of them they can cause a host of stomach problems, like nausea, vomiting, and everyone's favorite, diarrhea. That said, you'd generally have to house a whole lot of raw spuds to get properly sick (pounds and pounds, for an average person). Though, when exposed to light, potatoes can turn green and become considerably more toxic, as glycoalkaloid levels increase.

There are also resistant starches in uncooked potatoes, which are difficult for your body to digest. If you overdo it with those, you're risking bloating, gas, and a really upset stomach, as they'll naturally ferment in your digestive system. Those starches become much easier to digest once they've been cooked, which gives you less and less of a reason to dig into raw potatoes. So no, there really isn't a good reason to eat potatoes raw rather than cooked. Plus, good luck finding a recipe that uses them — if any exist, I've yet to stumble across one. 

Honestly, even if you're not that into cooking, potatoes are one of the most low-effort things you can make in a home kitchen. If you're not in the mood to do much, you can always make a "baked" potato in the microwave, which works just fine, and there's nothing easier than just pressing a button. Plus, they're infinitely easy to top, and if you need inspiration, you can just take a look into the interesting toppings common to British "jacket potatoes."

If you need ideas (aside from baking) for what to do with that giant sack of potatoes you got on sale from the grocery store, we've got plenty for you, including ones for things like millionaire mashed potatoes, fried potato puffs with vinegar salt, and Polish potato dumplings that aren't pierogi. So, not only should you not eat raw potatoes for your gut's sake, but with recipes like these, why would you even want to?