This easy salt potatoes recipe, also known as Syracuse potatoes, have an insanely creamy texture inside because of the amount of salt they’re boiled in. Yet, they are perfectly seasoned and heavenly tasting with drizzled melted butter poured on top. Learn the trick to making boiled potatoes immensely better!
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Yes. Salt Potatoes Are That Good.
If you know, you know. If you don’t know, hear me out. Do salt potatoes boil in an aggressive amount of salt? Yes. Are they overly salty? Absolutely not.
If you worry about the amount of salt in the recipe, listen up. When using whole, unpeeled potatoes, the skin creates a barrier between the flesh, so the high amount of salt does not penetrate or become absorbed.
The high concentration of salt used leaves a salty crust on the thin potato skin, which makes a barrier so the potatoes do not become waterlogged (cough, cough, flavorless) while boiling.
The salty water also causes a higher boiling temperature of the water. How does this help? Potato starches break down more, causing what makes salted potatoes such an expected treat – an ultra creamy interior.
This creamy, soft, buttery potato side dish originated in Syracuse, New York, hence the name. We love to serve them with melted butter and chopped parsley drizzled on top. They make the perfect Irish side dish for a St. Patty’s Day meal, alongside easy weeknight dinner recipes, or alongside a juicy, moist meatloaf.
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To make Syracuse salt potatoes use one pound of salt per four pounds of potatoes. Alternatively, use one cup of salt for every six cups of water. Choose uniformly sized potatoes, not too large. They will become tender at the same rate. Small Yukon golds, red potatoes, or baby bliss work best.
If you have various sized potatoes, check the smaller ones after about 15-20 minutes. If they are tender, remove those with a slotted spoon and continue boiling the larger ones.
Just How Good Is This Recipe?
In order for you to fully appreciate how good this recipe is, I must tell you about the best roast chicken I ever made. Stay with me here.
Recently I served a gloriously golden, magazine-worthy roast chicken to guests. When I set that bad boy down on the table, I swear I heard harps and a heavenly beam shined down upon it. I absolutely slayed this chicken.
Then, the only thing anyone talked about were THE DAMN SALT POTATOES. I made the potatoes by boiling salt water and pouring butter on them. Are boiled potatoes even considered cooking? Can’t everyone boil water?
I made such a simple side dish because I wanted to invest my body and soul into that chicken. Dumping some potatoes into boiling water wouldn’t distract me from tending to my masterpiece.
“How did you make these potatoes?! I’ve never had anything like it!”
“Can you pass me more potatoes please? There, over there. Right there! Behind the chicken.”
Needless to say, I’m in the market for new dinner party guests. Any volunteers? Potatoes will not be served.
How About Some Yummy Leftovers?
Want to repurpose last night’s side into a reinvented dish? Here are some satisfying ways to bring salt potatoes to new life!
- Use the leftovers to make another whole dinner – Smoked Sausage with Cheddar Apple Potato Hash
- Make Browned Butter Smashed Potatoes – turn those potatoes into crispy, golden brown discs smothered in browned butter
- Easy side dish for breakfast or brunch
- Use them in your favorite potato salad recipe.
- Make mashed potatoes by adding cream, melted butter, and seasoning to taste.
- Turn them into grilled potato packets, adding seasonings, but omitting the salt from the recipe.
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Did you make this recipe? I love hearing from you! Leave a star rating and comment below the recipe card. It helps others when searching for recipes and I appreciate feedback from our community. You will always hear back from me! -Melissa
Extra Creamy Syracuse-Style Salt Potatoes
Ingredients
- 4 pounds small red or yellow potatoes (about 1 ½" diameter), whole, not cut or pierced
- 1 cup salt, table salt or kosher
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
- optional chopped parsley, for serving
Instructions
- In a large pot (about 4.5 quarts) place 1 cup of salt and fill with 3 cups warm water. Stir water to dissolve salt. Add the washed, WHOLE potatoes to pot. Add about 3 additional cups of water to cover potatoes.4 pounds small red or yellow potatoes (about 1 ½" diameter), 1 cup salt
- Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until potatoes are fork tender, about 15-20 minutes.
- Drain, pour melted butter over potatoes. Serve with chopped parsley, if desired.3 tablespoons butter
Notes
Cooking Tips
- If you have varying sized potatoes, check the smaller ones at 15 minutes. If they are tender, remove with a slotted spoon and keep warm. Continue to boil the larger ones until ready.
- Over cooking the potatoes will cause the skins to rupture, letting the salt infiltrate in. If you do have any potatoes that burst, discard those because they will, mostly likely, be overly salted.
Instant Pot Directions
Cooking them in a pressure cooker is beneficial if you don’t want salt water to splash on your stove and you need the potatoes done quicker. However, since you can’t see what is going on inside there, you do run the risk of having some of the potatoes burst.- Add 1 cup of salt with 6 cups of water to pressure cooker. Stir and add potatoes.
- Lock lid in place and cook at HIGH pressure for 1 minutes. Natural release 10 minutes, then quick release.
- Drain and pour melted butter over top.
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I’m not sure if anyone mentioned this key part of the process – but once the potatoes are cooked, you leave them to air dry so the skins form a salt layer. That’s how we’ve always done it anyway.
Great idea! I’m making these again in a few days for my son’s bday, so I will try this!
Best,
Melissa
Hi, I live in Central NY and have never heard these called ” Syracuse Potatoes”, even in Syracuse…. just salt potatoes. Although Syracuse is called the Salt City. Bags of potatoes specifically sold for salt potatoes are very common in the grocery stores and the potatoes are small like new or creamer potatoes , and the package of salt is very fine…. it doesn’t say what ..type of salt it is and whether it is iodized.
I read the recipe and it mentioned 4 lbs of potatoes and I guessed I only had about 2 lbs so I only used half the salt and half the water (but the potatoes were covered). I don’t think they tasted much different from regular boiled potatoes but I wonder if I didn’t use enough salt? Thanks for the recipe. Rating was only 3 because I don’t know if I did right and rating could change.
Hi Lisa,
I use the whole cup of salt no matter how many potatoes I use. You really need that high concentration. As for the water, to be honest, usually I don’t measure, I just make sure there’s enough to cover the potatoes. Salt potatoes are more of a creamy texture thing. I also don’t have to season the potatoes when I eat them, just toss them in melted butter. Where as regular boiled potatoes don’t have flavor. I hope this helps and you give them another try!
Best,
Melissa
I was interested to try the recipe. I used 1/6 water/salt ratio in a cooking pot. Even though the potatoes has some cracks in the skin, none of them came out oversalted. Will I be using this recipe in the future? Probably not. The salt expenditure seems to be not justified. I did not see any dramatic different in taste vs regularly boiled potatoes in skins; perhaps, a little less watery.
Sorry to hear this recipe didn’t turn you into a believer! Did you use the cup of salt? I like to prepare my potatoes this way because I believe they are flavored from the inside out with creamy (not watery) interiors. Usually potatoes skins only get the seasoning, but with salt potatoes I find the whole thing to be delicious!
Best,
Melissa
Can’t wait to try salt potatoes, thank you for the recipe and history lesson. I’m of Irish decent, so I appreciate this very much. I’ve never met a potato I didn’t like!! Loved the heavenly chicken story!
Hi Sandra,
I feel like I could eat potatoes at every meal and never get sick of them. My kids get so excited about these, though! Luckily they are ridiculously simple to make. I’m glad you enjoyed all the “behind the recipe.” 🙂
Best,
Melissa
I followed the instructions exactly but these were WAY TOO SALTY ! Just wasted good food…..
Hello,
I’m sorry to hear that. I know I would be very bummed if I had to throw away food. I’m not sure which method you used to cook the potatoes, but if they were very salty, it sounds like the skins cracked, which lets the salt in. The potatoes are boiled whole and to just fork tender. Different potato varieties have varying thickness of skins, so it’s hard to put an exact number on what this boil time is. If the skins remain in tact they do not absorb the salty water. I do know when I make them in the Instant Pot, a couple potatoes slightly burst and I toss those because they are very salty.
Best,
Melissa
I had the same experience, hardly edible
Are te sodium nutrition facts correct? Because if they are the salt is off the charts. No one on a sodium restricted diet would ever be able to eat thse. And that’s a darn shame…
Hi Kari,
The sodium level isn’t actually that high. The potatoes cook in very salty water, but only a fraction of it remains on the potatoes skins. When the nutritional information program figures out the computation it divides all the ingredients by the serving size. It doesn’t factor in things such as absorbancy and the excess salt left behind in the thrown out water. Hopefully this eases your mind to enjoy them!
Best,
Melissa
This is so helpful thank you. I seriously lol’ed about your chicken story. I would have complimented it for sure. But meanwhile, I’m totally taking notes on said salt potatoes for our Labor Day seafood party this weekend. Thanks!
PS- I was thinking of going to the farmers market for local freshly dug potatoes. I’m assuming they’ll be done faster. No?
Hi Katie, Thank you so much for writing! Love the idea of a Labor Day seafood party. These salt potatoes will be perfect with it! I’m not exactly sure if the freshly dug potatoes will cook faster, but you can always check a few minutes early by poking them with a fork. Also, I would cook them on the stove versus Instant Pot so the more tender skins don’t crack and become waterlogged. Enjoy your weekend!
Best,
Melissa
I can see why no one would shut up about these. They are fantastic! Salty, creamy, and the skin is perfectly crispy. We made ours in the instant pot. A few were water-logged, but we didn’t make a large batch.
Hi Katie! Yes, I completely agree. It seems kind of freaky how the salt makes the potatoes turn into something so extraordinary. I’ve been making them a lot in the instant pot lately, and yes, I always have a couple that burst, which is a bummer. I keep playing around with the cooking and release times, but I haven’t hit that magic number yet. In the meantime, I just cook a couple extra and toss the ones that are waterlogged. If anyone has hit that magic pressure cooker number, let me know! It’s a little difficult because of the varying potato sizes people are cooking.
Best,
Melissa
I used this recipe for my potato salad for a cookout and everyone wanted the recipe! Using my Instant Pot made it SO quick and easy!
Hey Jamie! Yes, using salt potatoes for potato salad makes THE BEST potatoes! So glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks for writing!
So no one’s gonna ask about the chicken?! I think we’re gonna need that roasted chicken recipe as well! Haha
I agree. Sounds delicious!
Melissa,
You are my husband and mother’s hero now. While I have made potatoes for longer than I can count, these by far turned out to be the best ever. My 72 year old mother is a VERY picky eater, even with the most simplest of foods. She loved these, and getting her to finish her dinner was, well for once, not a hassle. =) I had decided to make some pan roasted chicken with my secret seasoning trick and instead of drizzling them as you had, I drained them after cooking them in my Crock-pot Express Cooker (similar to the Instant Pot) and tossed them into the butter and garlic of the pan used to cook up the chicken. (I added a little bit more butter and garlic into the “brown seasoned bits”). Win! Thank you so much for this recipe, it is now our go to for potatoes. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Madalyn! Thank you so much for writing and all the kind words. For such a simple recipe, these potatoes are always a tremendous hit when I make them. I’m especially glad you they were able to please your mother! Isn’t that such a great feeling when you strike gold with a picky eater?! I love the idea of tossing them in the main dish drippings. Thank you so much for writing!
Best,
Melissa
Easy, simple and so good! Great side dish for a quick meal.
Oh, I’m all about easy side dishes! It’s hard enough to make dinner every night, let alone having to figure out what to go with it. So glad you enjoyed it!
This recipe intrigued me because I enjoy potatoes from time to time but it has to be a special recipe because otherwise I find them boring. But this I want to try because the family likes potatoes on the side of a meal and they are so easy! Thanks for sharing.
Your welcome! This recipe is the best of both worlds because they are ridiculously easy to make, but taste amazing. I’ve made them for countless weeknight meals, but also for entertaining as well. Enjoy!
These were so good! Loved them! Definitely would pair them with a meal again.
Thanks for taking the time to let me know. I’m glad you enjoyed them!
It is crazy how good they are with how simple the recipe is! Thanks for writing, Albert. It’s always fun to know the different places readers live 🙂