Butter Stewed Potatoes
I was a tickled that so many people wanted to know how I made the potatoes that were pictured with last week’s meatloaf. Stewed potatoes are something I make fairly often for my family because they are so stinking easy to whip up and make a filling side dish to go with just about everything. I can also honestly say that there have never been any left, no matter how much I make. That’s right y’all, this one is a plate-licker.
The thing is, they are so easy that I found myself trying to come up with a more complicated recipe to bring you instead of mine because I was a little embarrassed at how simple these are. Don’t worry, I came to my senses. After all, the whole premise of Southern Plate is to bring you the recipes that folks in my family use every day. That’s the great thing about traditional Southern food, in its natural form it is simple as can be and very inexpensive.
So here we go, my last minute no fuss side dish that everyone loves. If you don’t already make stewed potatoes in your house I hope you’ll give these a try because until you taste them, you wont’ believe something so easy could be so good.
You’ll need: Potatoes, margarine or butter, salt, and water.
Thats it.
How many potatoes do you use? I usually do one to two for each person, depending on the size of my potatoes. If they are small, I might do two or three per person. If you end up with leftovers (which I never do) these refrigerate and reheat well so if you’re in doubt, just make a few more.
I promise they won’t go to waste!
Fill a pot about 1/2 to 3/4 full. You basically just want enough to cover your potatoes.
I salt my water a little bit and then put it on to boil while I get my potatoes ready.
Peel dem taters.
Some folks like to use vegetable peelers, but now I use my old trusty paring knife.
Back in college, I didn’t know how to peel things with a paring knife and so I had to use a vegetable peeler if I wanted to keep all of my fingers. I had an internship at a restaurant for one of my classes and the lead chef gave me a whole bucket of potatoes to peel – and no vegetable peeler! I looked at that paring knife as if it were about to bring about the end of my life, but considering how ineffective I was with it and how many potatoes I had to peel – that wasn’t really a stretch.
I struggled through a few of them, hacking away, until he came over laughing and said “You’re acting like you’re holding a vegetable peeler, not a knife”. Of course, I immediately fessed up about my woeful lack of peeling experience and left that day with newly acquired paring skills. I haven’t peeled a potato any other way since.
I slice mine kinda thick and chunky.
Put them in the water and cover them.
Bring to a boil.
You want to continue boiling them until they are fork tender, 10-15 minutes (or so)
Usually, I just stick a fork down into my water and see if it splits in half like this, then I know they are done.
I took one out for the picture on accounta I jes love y’all s’much.
Once they’re done, pour them into a colander and drain well.
Now I just put them back into the pot and toss in a stick of margarine.
Add a little more salt.
A good rule of thumb is to start with about half a teaspoon.
Let the butter melt and stir them up good. Spoon them out to serve!
Butter Stewed Potatoes
Ingredients
- Enough potatoes for those you want to feed (For four people, I use 6-8 med sized)
- 1 stick butter or margarine
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Fill a pot 1/2 - 3/4 full with water and add a teaspoon of salt. Put on to boil. Peel potatoes and cut into thick slices. Add to water. Bring to a boil and cook until fork tender. Drain potatoes in a colander. Place back into pot and add butter and salt. Stir and allow butter to melt. Serve warm.
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Ingredients
- Enough potatoes for those you want to feed (For four people, I use 6-8 med sized)
- 1 stick butter or margarine
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Fill a pot 1/2 - 3/4 full with water and add a teaspoon of salt. Put on to boil. Peel potatoes and cut into thick slices. Add to water. Bring to a boil and cook until fork tender. Drain potatoes in a colander. Place back into pot and add butter and salt. Stir and allow butter to melt. Serve warm.
Another Way
*Grandmama cooks her stewed potatoes a little differently but they taste the same to me so I just stuck with showing you my method. She covers her slices with just enough water for them to cook in and puts a lid on them until they are fork tender. Then, she adds a stick of butter, salt, pepper, and a little flour to thicken up the water a bit and lets them cook with the lid off until thick. This is probably how you saw your Granny make them so I just wanted to let ya know in case you think I missed something here 
.
“Tell me who you go with and I’ll tell you who you are.”
Submitted by Sue Bankston, who heard it from her dear mother growing up.
Submit your quote here, and if your well is feeling a little empty, drink your fill there as well.
Posted by Christy Jordan
on Mar 7 2010. Filed under Side Dishes.
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I’ve made potatoes like yours for years but I didn’t know they were called stewed potatoes. When Mama made them with the flour, she added a little milk and we called it “taters and thickenin’.” We poured it over crumbled up cornbread to eat it with lots of black pepper on top.
my daughter is a cheese lover, i cook my potatoes and basically do like you, only sprinkle grated cheddar cheese on top and let it melt or put in oven just a bit and make it cheesy stewed potatoes, she can ‘eat her weight’ in them.
My mom called them “buttered potatoes”. My husband refers to them as “slacker potatoes” because he likes them mashed and I told him to mash them his own self. Never knew they had a fancy name like ‘stewed potatoes’.
CHRISTY MY GRANDMA MADE THESE POTATOES EXCEPT SHE DID LIKE YOUR GRANDMA MADE THEM WITH FLOUR AND MILK AND SHE CALLED THEM POTATOES WITH A THICKENING. I MAKE THEM FOR MY FAMILY STILL TODAY. WE JUST LOVE THEM
my great grandmother did the same thing. I make them but they don’t taste like my grandmothers but close.
YUMMM! I love potatoes made all kinds of ways (I’m mostly Irish, so that makes sense)…but these sound great! And easy, which is even better.
I may try adding a touch of dill (dried, since it’s all I’ve got) to mine, too. Bet that will be tasty!
Thanks for the recipe!!
Diane in PA
I’ve always said “no one can mess up a tater”! Had them like this many a time.
Congrats to the winners too!!! Lucky y’all!
These were a favorite of mine growing up! My Mom would cut the potatoes in quarters, boil, drain, and put back in the pot with butter, salt and pepper! I continued the tradition and made them for my family. My boys were always thrilled when I would announce that we were having “boiled potatoes”. The simplest things are very often the best! Thank you Christy!
Bountiful Blessings!
I raised my 5 kids on these. I sprinkle them with parsley and we call them Parslied Potatoes. I slice up leftovers and fry them for breakfast.
This is the way my former mother-in-law from Georgia taught me to fix them 45 years ago. Yummmy.
Too easy…can it really be this simple? Well, I guess I know how I’ll be doing it from now on!!! lol
Thank you Christy! I made the meatloaf saturday and my boys loved it!
Add some chicken broth, a little water, and a splash of milk and you’ve got my grandma’s potato soup.
These were my Daddy’s favorite. We always just called them “boiled potatoes”. Love them! They make great fried potatoes with the leftovers, if there are any.
Wonder if they would be any good with that fake butter spritzer. That is just too much butter for my arteries!!
Oh I think they’d be great with that spray stuff, no worries there!
I spoon these out with a slotted spoon, leaving the additional melted butter in the pot, if that helps
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My “stewed taters” recipe is more like your grandma’s. But I am sure they all taste the same — YUMMY!! Now you have me wanting to make these tonight…sigh…
I also never realized that they had a name! Like “Lana” I would add parsley and just called then Parsley Potatoes. One of my kids favorites. Thanks Christy, I love your stories and read every word!
We always called them stewed potatoes too. We never had a meal without some type of potato: stewed, fried, boiled (potato salad), boiled and then fried (cottage fries), and mashed potatoes, except of course if we had chili, spaghetti or pizza that night. Mom for some reason never baked them.
Christy, I cook potatoes just like you do but after I drain them I put them back in the pot, add butter, salt and pepper then I put the lid on and shake. (holding the lid all the time)
I love your receipes!
YUMMMMM!! I haven’t had these in FOR-EVER!!! But you better bet I will have them before the end of the week! My mom used to make these when I was growing up. Thanks for reminding me of these! You are the BEST!
Something I do that gives them a little extra flavor is boil them with some chicken base in the water….yummy! And of course, serve them up with some pintos and cornbread and you have a true southern meal!
I too love this way to make potatoes, my mom and grandmother have all made them the same way, just like your Grandmother, and we would have corbread, for Stewed Potatoes and Cornbread
I can’t wait to try these later this week with the meatloaf!
My ex mother in law would add cornmeal to hers! That’s what I do now and also I boil mine in homemade chicken stock for extra “ump” YUM YUM. Actually had a pilot on the boat ask me for the recipe! LOL Like I could tell someone how to make anything. I hardly ever measure – just dump accordingly!
What a simple and delicious idea! They look out of this world!
I just want to curl up with a big bowl of those and watch Pride and Prejudice(the Colin Firth one)…
I’m on my way! Pass the salt and pepper shakers and the blanket! I love my Pride and Prejudice!
I love stewed potatoes. My mom always fixes them and adds some cheese to them (that’s the way she taught me) and there are never any leftovers. My 3 girls love them so I have to fix plenty for my family of 5.
mmm, deffo simple and yummy looking!
I cannot use a vegetable peeler to peel potatoes! It’s slow and annoying, and I’m actually more likely to cut myself than I am with a knife. I have always used a paring knife. Yes, it does a waste a little bit more potato I find doing it with a knife, but takes so much less time it’s worth it. Potatoes have been so bad the past few years I have to cut a lot off anyway, so much easier when the knife is already in your hand!
I used to not peel a lot of my potatoes but I agree, a lot of them have a black spot way down in them. Baked a potato the other day and when I broke it open, only got to eat 4 spoonfulls of it due to roots INSIDE the potato. UGH!
My Mama(R.I.P.) used to make these when I was a child! Easy and yumo! lol
Thanks for evoking a great memory!
Thank you Christy! I was one of the whiners that wanted the recipe. I can’t wait to make these with your crockpot meatloaf. Hugs, girl!
This is hubbies favorite kind of potatoes! I better take your recipe and run into the kitchen and make him some! Thanks for the recipe!
oh how I adore potatoes… cutting back on them though! I use seasoned salt in mine, my kids love the orang-ish tint and hint of flavor it adds. guess I’ll be pulling a meatloaf out of the freezer to go with these tonight ^.^
I am SOOOO making these! I tried a recipe similar to your grandmama’s once. They didn’t turn out that well. SO I am anxious to try your recipe. Way easier and doubly delicious I bet!
I wonder if you could use the same method with sweet potatoes and then add a little brown sugar.
Thx, Christy!
My grandma always served these every single day no matter what was on the menu & they were always eaten up. She also called them stewed potatoes. I make mine a little different by addidng a 1/2 tsp oregano & 1/2 tsp garlic powder sometimes. Very good potatoes!
Just what kind of potatoes do you recommend for your stewed potatoes? I just use the Idaho or russets, and they cook all to mush. They do not stay whole. We love whole stewed potatoes, not mashed potatoes. Thanks
My mama made these growing up too. We usually add just a WEE bit of milk in right at the end. And my mother-in-law makes them too, but calls them soup potatoes.
You just can’t beat a good ol’ stewed potato! Mama used to thicken hers with flour, and as a child I frequently requested “potatoes with gravy”. Thanks for stirring up some good memories this afternoon!
ps – Went to Falls Mill this weekend after reading one of your posts last week….it’s even pretty in winter!
My mother would make hers with milk and flour, too, so that they were in sort of a gravy. I loved them! I used to ask her to make stewed potatoes, but more often than not she fried ‘em. Bleah. I don’t know if that was easier or if she just liked them better that way.
I have never heard the term stewed to refer to potatoes in my locale. Stewed fruits and tomatoes are a familiar term but potatoes would be just boiled or possibly buttered potatoes.If we thicken them they are called creamed potatoes. I love them though regardless of what they are called and a potato is a good source of Vitamin C.
I can’t wait to try these. They sound like my grandmothers.
You have my mother in law’s “thickened potatoes” recipe! Think I’ll make them tonight and surprise my husband.
[...] Butter Stewed Potatoes | Southern Plate [...]
We call them buttered potatoes. I never had them until my MIL fixed them and I love them! I quartered my potatoes and do just like you, only I add pepper also. I can’t tell you just how very excited I am about your cookbook, I can’t wait to buy a copy!!!! I also follow you on facebook, but never post b/c it’s under my husband’s name and I tend to say “girlie” things that makes people think it’s him and it’s really me saying it, LOL! Too funny! Anyway, the potatoes and the plate make me think of my MIL! Thanks for posting and also thanks to the reader that posted about topping it with cheese, yum!! I can’t believe I didn’t think of that! I guess the potatoes are just so good it’s hard to make them any better
My mother called them stewed potatoes. Sometimes I would mash mine a little with my fork, mixing in the “gravy”. Great with country vegetables and cornbread. Requires lots of butter and black pepper.
I don’t think I can mess these up!!! I’m a “mashed potatoes” girl, but I’m going to do this next time. Can’t wait to make the meatloaf this week tooooo!
Anyone want a little tater with their butter, man they got to be good with that much butter on them. Congratulations to the contest winners, enjoy.
They sounded so good when I was reading the post, I got hungery! I’m making these tonight.
[...] Butter Stewed Potatoes | Southern Plate [...]
I’ve been making stewed potatoes for years – as did my mother. I use corn starch in cold water to thicken the “sauce” & not so much butter since we try to eat “heart healthy”. I usually add a dash of milk, too. LOVE ‘em!
Meatloaf is on the menu for Wednesday night. I WAS gonna make mashed potatoes as usual with them, but will give these a whirl instead. Plus, I love the idea of having potatoes already cooked and ready to cut up and fry with breakfast the next morning, or add to dinner the following night!
That is what I grew up calling them!!!!!!!! “Stewed potatoes!” Yumm… with a lot of pepper, too!
Yep, my mom used to fix these all the time! I always smooshed mine up. We just called them taters
I’m a winner!! Thank you again!!
Wow! A whole stick of margarine! I love you!
My mama use to make these potatoes all the time, makes me homesick!