The Perfect Stew Starts With How You Cut Your Potatoes

When I was a kid I absolutely hated stew. It wasn't until many years later that I realized my mom was actually making a classic pot au feu, which consists of big hunks of beef, potatoes, and carrots in a thin broth. (I'm still not a fan.) It wasn't until I discovered Dinty Moore beef stew, everyone's favorite joke in a can, that I realized I actually prefer a stew where the meat and vegetables are more finely chopped. Well, you know what they say, one person's yuck is another one's yum, and for food blogger Rachel Kirk, the perfect stew starts with much chunkier potatoes.

Kirk, who blogs at the website Laughing Spatula, says of stew potatoes, "I like rough cut." She went on to explain, "I like the potatoes cut a little thicker for stews because when they're cut too small, they fall apart easier, resulting in excess starch, with a glue like texture." (It doesn't taste gluey to me, but potato, poe-tah-toe.) "Stews should be rustic," she feels, telling us you don't need to be too finicky when chopping the potatoes. She does recommend, though, that you make sure the chunks are all of similar size so that they finish cooking at the same time.

While there are over 5,000 potato varieties in the world, for simplicity's sake, many of them can be categorized into two different types: starchy or waxy. Starchy potatoes like russets are the the best potatoes for making french fries, but waxy potatoes are what you need for potato salad, since they are more likely to hold together when boiled or simmered. This fine-textured firmness also means waxy potatoes are the best choice for soups and stews. When we asked Rachel Kirk if she had a favorite tuber, she replied, "I love a good small red potato halved for a stew." (Red potatoes are, of course, waxy.)

If you wish, you can skip peeling your stew potatoes. Kirk said it's a matter of choice, but added, "I prefer peel on for prep and flavor purposes." She noted that the peel can even help the potato chunks remain intact in the stew. If you're worried that the peel may make the potatoes harder to chew, this shouldn't be an issue. Waxy potatoes are known for having thin skins, unlike the tougher skins you get on starchy potatoes. Kirk also observed that the skins soften up as they cook, making them easy to chew.