If you like potatoes, you may wonder if you can’t eat potato skin without any side effects. This is a common question as many people see potato dishes being served with a potato skin removed.
This might lead people to think that there’s something wrong with potato skin or that they shouldn’t be eating it. As there are certain kinds of produce where the skin should be removed before you eat it.
Turnips, for instance, taste better if the skin is removed, as the skin is quite tough and fibrous. Oftentimes, ruining the overall experience of eating a turnip as the skin has such an unpleasant texture.
Though the skin of vegetables is often removed based on personal experience as some people do not like the skin. Keep reading to find out whether or not you can eat potato skin and if so, if there are any health benefits.
Potato Skins Are Safe to Eat
If you enjoy eating potatoes, you may be wondering if potato skins are safe to eat. The good news is that you can’t eat potato skins just like you would the inside of the potato without any safety concerns or drawbacks.
This is why you will often find potatoes being served with the skin on, as there is nothing wrong with eating the skin of a potato. In fact, the skin of a potato is considered to be the most nutritional part of the potato.
There are a lot of vegetables that are often skinned, but there is really no need to do that. Oftentimes, you will find that the skin of a vegetable contains a lot of good health benefits.
Certain types of potato dishes may have the skin removed in order to improve the experience, such as french fries, hash browns, and tater tots. Though most potato dishes would be perfectly fine if the skin were left on the potatoes.
Doing this can also help you to save time in the kitchen as you do not have to skin the potatoes. Something that can take a lot of time and result in you wasting some of the produce.
Are Potato Skins Healthy?
Now that you know that you can safely eat potato skins, you may be wondering if potato skins are healthy. The good news is that potato skins are considered to be very healthy, maybe even the healthiest part of the potato itself.
This rule applies to a variety of vegetables that have skin that is often removed. As the skin is often full of good stuff that you could benefit from eating instead of removing.
Here are some of the health benefits of eating potato skins so that you have some motivation to leave the potato skins on the next time you eat potatoes.
Vitamins and Minerals
The skin of potatoes is chock-full of vitamins and minerals that can be very beneficial to your health. Especially considering the fact that the potato flesh itself does not contain a lot of vitamins or minerals when compared to the skin.
This is also going to depend on the type of potato that you are eating, as white potatoes, red potatoes, brown potatoes, and sweet potatoes will be different. The different types of potatoes will have different minerals and vitamins in their skin.
But either way, the skin is a good part of a potato to eat as it will give you those additional vitamins and minerals that your diet needs.
Fiber
One of the best aspects of eating potato skin is the fact that it is full of fiber. In fact, potato skin is mostly made up of fiber, which is absolutely necessary to promote good digestion.
Fiber is what helps your body to process food and illuminate waste, making it extremely important. If you do not get enough fiber in your diet, you are bound to realize this and suffer for it.
Potatoes themselves are quite low in fiber, so it is a good idea to leave the skin on and eat the potato with the skin. So that you are able to enjoy the health benefits of the additional fiber whenever you eat potato dishes.
How to Eat Potato Skins
One of the easiest ways to make sure that you eat potato skins is to simply leave the skin on the potatoes. Instead of peeling potatoes before cooking them, just wash the skin very well and leave it on the potato to cook as well.
Though you can also remove the skin from potatoes, creating two half cups that you can bake and feel with all kinds of different foods. This is very common and is often referred to as stuffed potato skins.
You can also sauté potato skins or throw them into other dishes like sauces, soups, and casseroles.
Conclusion
If you enjoy eating potatoes, you should also eat the potato skin as that is a very healthy part of the potato. It is full of vitamins and minerals as well as healthy fiber that aids in digestion and eliminating waste.
There are also many other ways that you can eat potato skins if you do choose to peel your potatoes.