One Ingredient, Five Ways: Potatoes

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If you’ve been following my Tuesday posts, you know I’ve been talking about something I use when I shop:

I like simple foods that can do more than one job.

That’s one reason potatoes have always been a favorite in my kitchen.

They’re filling, versatile, and easy to turn into completely different meals. I don’t have to have one particular recipe in mind when I buy them.

I just know my family will eat them—and I know I can turn them into a lot of different meals.

That’s exactly the kind of food I want my grocery money buying.

So today, let’s take one simple ingredient and see just how hard it can work.

1. Baked Potatoes

A baked potato can be a simple side dish, but it can also become a meal.

Top it with butter and cheese.

Add leftover chili.

Use leftover taco meat.

Add broccoli and cheese.

Put leftover vegetables on top.

One basic potato gives you a lot of possibilities depending on what you already have.

And that’s one of my favorite things about simple ingredients: I don’t have to buy a special product to make them interesting.

2. Mashed Potatoes

Mashed potatoes are one of those foods that can make a meal feel bigger and more filling.

Of course, you can serve them alongside meat and vegetables.

But don’t overlook what you can do with the leftovers.

Leftover mashed potatoes can be used in potato cakes, added to other dishes, or turned into another meal with a few ingredients you already have.

I also like making more than I need when I know I’ll be able to use the leftovers.

That’s another way to make a grocery purchase work harder.

3. Roasted Potatoes

Cut potatoes into pieces, season them, add a little oil, and roast them.

That’s it.

You can change the flavor simply by changing the seasonings.

Garlic and herbs.

Paprika.

Italian seasoning.

Whatever your family likes.

Roasted potatoes work beautifully with meat and vegetables, but they can also be part of a bowl meal or used alongside leftovers.

You don’t need a complicated recipe.

Sometimes a basic food, cooked well, is all you need.

4. Scalloped Potatoes

Scalloped potatoes are a perfect example of how a simple ingredient can become something completely different.

Thinly sliced potatoes, a creamy sauce, and a little seasoning can turn an inexpensive bag of potatoes into a comforting side dish that can feed a family.

And you don’t need to think of scalloped potatoes as something reserved for a holiday dinner.

They can be served with ham, chicken, meatloaf, or just about any meal where you need a hearty side.

You can also use what you already have to change them up.

That’s the part I like.

One simple food can become something special without starting with a specialty product.

5. Potato Soup

Potatoes are wonderful for stretching a soup.

Add potatoes to a vegetable soup, chicken soup, or make a hearty potato soup.

They add substance and help turn a few ingredients into a filling meal.

This is especially useful when you have a little bit of something left over but not enough to make a meal by itself.

A few potatoes can help change that.

And this is where having basic foods on hand really pays off.

You can look at what you already have and build from there instead of deciding that you have to go to the store.

And That’s Only Five Ways

I could keep going.

Potatoes can also become:

• Potato salad
• Potato casserole
• Shepherd’s pie
• Potato pancakes
• Home fries
• Breakfast potatoes
• Stuffed potatoes
• Part of a breakfast casserole
• An addition to soups and stews

That’s why I consider potatoes such a hard-working grocery purchase.

I’m not buying one meal.

I’m buying an ingredient that can become many meals.

What About the Leftovers?

This is where I think we can get even more value from a simple food.

If I have leftover baked potatoes, I don’t automatically throw them away because dinner is over.

I look at them and think:

What can I do with these tomorrow?

They can be chopped for breakfast.

They can go into soup.

They can be added to a casserole.

They can be reheated and topped differently.

The same food doesn’t have to be served the same way twice.

That’s one of the habits I’ve developed after feeding a big family for so many years.

Before I throw food away, I try to see whether it can become part of another meal.

Buy the Food Your Family Will Actually Eat

Now, I know potatoes aren’t going to be the right staple for everybody.

Maybe your family doesn’t eat many potatoes.

Maybe rice is more useful in your kitchen.

Maybe beans, pasta, oatmeal, or another simple food gets used constantly.

That’s okay.

The point of this series isn’t to tell you what you have to buy.

It’s to get you thinking about how hard your groceries work after you bring them home.

A bargain isn’t really a bargain if your family won’t eat it.

And a pantry staple isn’t useful just because somebody online says it belongs in every pantry.

Your pantry needs to work for you.

My Potato Shopping Test

When I’m deciding whether something belongs in my grocery cart, I like to think beyond the price.

With potatoes, I can ask:

Will my family eat them?

Can I use them several different ways?

Can they become part of more than one meal?

Can I combine them with leftovers?

Can they help stretch another ingredient?

Can I store them so I have them when I need them?

If the answer is yes, I know I’m bringing home something useful.

That’s Strategic Shopping.

It’s not simply about finding the lowest price.

It’s about getting the most usefulness from the money I spend.

Simple Food Can Be Powerful

I think we’ve gotten used to shopping for foods that already have everything figured out for us.

A package tells us exactly what the food is supposed to become.

But there’s something valuable about bringing home a basic ingredient and deciding for yourself what you’re going to do with it.

That’s what I like about potatoes.

They’re not complicated.

They don’t need to be.

They give me choices.

And after feeding a large family for decades, I’ve learned that having choices in the kitchen is worth a lot.

So the next time you see a bag of potatoes at the grocery store, don’t just think about tonight’s dinner.

Think about all the meals that bag could help you make.

That’s how you make a simple ingredient work harder.

And that’s exactly what I want my grocery money to do.

Build a Better Pantry →

Build a Pantry That Works Harder

If you want to take this idea beyond individual foods and build a pantry filled with ingredients your family will actually use, Build a Better Pantry is designed to help you do just that.

Because a good pantry isn’t about having the most food.

It’s about having the right food for your family—and knowing how to use it.

More in Your Cart. More in Your Wallet. More for Your Family.

That’s Strategic Shopping.