This Potato Bread is fluffy and soft on the inside, with a crusty golden exterior. You’ll be surprised at how easy this bread is to make and how simple and short the ingredient list is! Perfect for novice bakers.
If this is your first time hearing about this lovely loaf, listen up! We are replacing some of the flour used in traditional bread baking with potatoes! By using potatoes, we are adding a lot of great nutrients into the bread compared to the typical, over processed store bought loaves.
My potato bread recipe is a healthy, easy alternative that is both flexible and forgiving, so it’s a perfect starter recipe if you want to try your hand at homemade bread!
Why Make This Potato Bread
- Perfect For Toast or Sandwiches
- Easy To Make
- Simple, Short Ingredient List
- Versatile
This bread is so easy to make! It can be used for a multitude of different purposes, and it’s a great bread to try and make! If you’ve never made bread, don’t be afraid. The more you make the easier it will get!
My favorite thing about this potato bread is how long it keeps. Since we are replacing some of the flour in this recipe with potato, the starches react to absorb moisture. This means our bread will stay fresh for longer, without any worry of it going stale!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Potatoes – I used russet potatoes, peeled and cubed.
- Milk – Use your preference. Dairy or non dairy. I usually always use non dairy because that’s pretty much the only milk we have in the house.
- Butter – I always use unsalted butter, especially in breads, because we already add salt, so this way I can control how much salt is added to my bread. Did you know that small quantities of butter is added to breads because it results in a higher rise and a crisper crust!
- Yeast – I used instant yeast for this recipe. You can use dry yeast, but it will need to activated first in a little bit of water with a bit of sugar.
- Flour – I used all-purpose flour as it works best for this bread. You could also combine some whole wheat flour along with some all-purpose.
- Salt – Salt is such a needed ingredient in baking goods, without it, your bread will have no taste.
How To Make Potato Bread
Prep:
- Cook potatoes: Fill a medium size saucepan with 2 to 3 cups of water and add the potato cubes. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until fork tender. Drain and mash it with a fork.
- Heat the milk and add the potato: Add the milk into a medium size saucepan and add the butter and salt to it. Heat on medium heat just until the milk start to bubble around the edges a bit. Stir it then add the mashed potatoes. Pour this mixture into the bowl of your stand mixer and let it cool until still warm but not hot to touch.
- Make the dough: Add the yeast to the mixer bowl and 2 cups of flour. Using the paddle attachment mix until the flour is fully incorporated into the milk mixture. Switch to the dough hook and add another 2 cups of flour. Mix on low speed for 5 to 7 minutes. Add remaining flour as needed, it should mostly come clean from the sides of the bowl but should still be loose and a little gluey.
- First rise: Grease a large bowl with cooking spray then place the dough in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp clean towel and let it rise in a warm draft-free spot until doubled in size. You can also refrigerate the dough overnight, it should slowly rise in the fridge.
Finish:
- Place dough in loaf pans: Punch down the dough with your fist to let the air out. Turn the dough onto a clean and lightly floured surface. Knead it with your hands a couple time, then using a pastry scraper, cut it into two equal size pieces and form into loaves. Grease 2 8×4-inch loaf pans with a little oil or cooking spray. Place each half into the greased pans.
- Second rise: Lightly sprinkle the top of the loaves with a bit of flour and if preferred, cut 3 slits into each loaf. Let the loaves rest in a warm draft-free environment for another 30 minutes to an hour or until doubled in size.
- Bake: While the loaves are resting, preheat the oven to 375°F. Transfer the loaf pans to the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the bread sounds hollow when lightly tapped. If the loaves are browned on top but still not baked through, cover them loosely with foil to prevent over-browning and continue baking until done. The breads are baked through when the internal temperature is between 190°F and 200°F.
- Cool & Slice: Let the loaves cool for about 2 minutes in the pans, then gently run a dull knife along the edge of the pan to loosen the bread. Turn the loaf pans onto a cooling rack and let cool completely before slicing and serving.
FAQs & Expert Tips
FAQs
Potato bread is a form of bread in which potato flour or potato replaces a portion of the traditional flour we use! It is an excellent source of fibre (twice as much as white bread) and is thicker in texture, with a light potato flavor.
You can tell your bread is done when it sounds hollow when lightly tapped, but the best way to determine is with an Instant Read Meat Thermometer. The bread is baked through when the internal temperature is between 190°F and 200°F.
Yes! If you want to prep your dough in advance, you can refrigerate the dough overnight, it should slowly rise in the fridge.
Yes! Like most breads, this recipe can be made in advance and frozen for future use! See “freezing” section below for full instructions.
Dough thrives in a warm, draft-free environment. If your oven has a “proof” function, then use it. The “proof” function preheats the oven to 100 F degrees, causing a warm, but not hot environment for your dough to rise nicely. If your oven doesn’t have this “proof” function, I would still use the oven. What I usually do is preheat the oven to 200F degrees, or whatever the lowest setting is for it. Once it reaches that temperature, turn off the oven, then place the dough in there to rise. This will speed up the proofing process tremendously.
Of course! Although it will take you longer, you can still knead the dough by hand. The dough needs to be soft, smooth and elastic, so you’ll have to knead it for about 15 to 25 minutes. Kneading bread dough by hand might also require a bit more flour, so play with it and see what works for you.
Tips
- Let the loaves cool completely before slicing to make it easier!
- If the loaves are browned on top but still not baked through, cover them loosely with foil to prevent over-browning and continue baking until done.
- I highly recommend getting an Instant Read Meat Thermometer to make it easier to determine when your potato bread is done! This will especially help new/novice bakers.
- This recipe yields 2 loaves!
My Dough Didn’t Rise!
Probably one of the most common questions I get on this blog is why didn’t my dough rise? Since I’m not with you in the kitchen when you’re baking, it’s really impossible for me to pinpoint where you went wrong or what happened with your dough. There are many reasons why dough doesn’t rise, so here’s my list for possible reasons.
- Dead yeast – this is probably the number 1 reason 90% of the time. I know it’s frustrating, but if the yeast is old, that dough will not rise, and you’ll end up with a brick of bread. Make sure you store yeast properly, for some tips on how to store yeast, check out this article.
- Water or milk is too hot – yes, yeast loves a warm environment, which is why we usually add lukewarm water or milk to dough. However if that water or milk is too hot, it will kill the yeast. The best temperature of the water should be anywhere from 95 degrees to 105 degrees for this.
- Environment – if your room is too cold, this will also prevent dough from rising. Yeast loves a warm and draft-free environment. Refer to my FAQ section above on the best place for dough to rise.
- Not enough time to rise – patience is key. Sometimes your dough may take 2 to 3 hours to rise properly, even though mine only took 40 minutes. Just give it some more time, if the yeast is good, it will do its job.
Storing
This is a bread with staying power! Thanks to the starch in the potatoes, it will absorb more water, therefore giving us a softer texture for longer! Your potato loaf should keep for over a week, covered at room temperature.
Freezing
This potato bread is great for freezing. It’s important to freeze bread while it’s still fresh and not after it has gone stale. Let the bread cool completely before storing it in freezer bags. Bread will last in the freezer for 3 to 6 months.
More Delicious Bread Recipes To Try
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Potato Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 medium russet potatoes peeled and cubed
- 1½ cup milk
- ¼ cup butter unsalted
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2¼ teaspoon instant yeast 1 packet
- 4½ cups all-purpose flour up to 5 cups
Instructions
- Cook potatoes: Fill a medium size saucepan with 2 to 3 cups of water and add the potato cubes. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until fork tender. Drain and mash it with a fork.
- Heat the milk and add the potato: Add the milk into a medium size saucepan and add the butter and salt to it. Heat on medium heat just until the milk start to bubble around the edges a bit. Stir it then add the mashed potatoes. Pour this mixture into the bowl of your stand mixer and let it cool until still warm but not hot to touch.
- Make the dough: Add the yeast to the mixer bowl and 2 cups of flour. Using the paddle attachment mix until the flour is fully incorporated into the milk mixture. Switch to the dough hook and add another 2 cups of flour. Mix on low speed for 5 to 7 minutes. Add remaining flour as needed, it should mostly come clean from the sides of the bowl but should still be loose and a little gluey.
- First rise: Grease a large bowl with cooking spray then place the dough in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp clean towel and let it rise in a warm draft-free spot until doubled in size. You can also refrigerate the dough overnight, it should slowly rise in the fridge.
- Place dough in loaf pans: Punch down the dough with your fist to let the air out. Turn the dough onto a clean and lightly floured surface. Knead it with your hands a couple time, then using a pastry scraper, cut it into two equal size pieces. Great 2 8×4-inch loaf pans with a little oil or cooking spray. Place each half into the greased pans.
- Second rise: Lightly sprinkle the top of the loaves with a bit of flour and if preferred, cut 3 slits into each loaf. Let the loaves rest in a warm draft-free environment for another 30 minutes to an hour or until doubled in size.
- Bake: While the loaves are resting, preheat the oven to 375°F. Transfer the loaf pans to the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the bread sounds hollow when lightly tapped. If the loaves are browned on top but still not baked through, cover them loosely with foil to prevent over-browning and continue baking until done. The breads are baked through when the internal temperature is between 190°F and 200°F. Let the loaves cool for about 2 minutes in the pans, then gently run a dull knife along the edge of the pan to loosen the bread. Turn the loaf pans onto a cooling rack and let cool completely before slicing and serving.
Recipe Notes
- Recipe yields 2 loaves and nutritional information assumes 10 slices per loaf and it’s per slice.
- I used 2 medium russet potatoes, which should yield 1 to 1.5 cups worth of mashed potatoes.
- Let the loaves cool completely before slicing to make it easier!
- If the loaves are browned on top but still not baked through, cover them loosely with foil to prevent over-browning and continue baking until done.
- I highly recommend getting an Instant Read Meat Thermometer to make it easier to determine when your potato bread is done! This will especially help new/novice bakers.
- Thanks to the starch in the potatoes, it will absorb more water, therefore giving us a softer texture for longer! Your potato loaf should keep for over a week, covered at room temperature.
- This potato bread is great for freezing. It’s important to freeze bread while it’s still fresh and not after it has gone stale. Let the bread cool completely before storing it in freezer bags. Bread will last in the freezer for 3 to 6 months.
My grandson and I just had a warm piece of potato bread that I made today, and it’s delish! So nice and soft. I used leftover potatoes from last night that had a bit of milk and butter in it already (I still used the recipe as written) AND I’d left the peel on – those little dark pieces make them even more interesting. I also used 1 cup of AP flour and the rest was a mix of white and whole wheat. I usually make no knead bread, but I usually just use that for toast. This is nice without being toasted, but I’ll be trying it that way, too. Very nice, Jo!
Glad you enjoyed it, Sandra!
This bread was so easy to make and everyone loved it, especially right out of the over..yum!
I am going to make this bread. Just curious will instant potatoes work
If so, any idea how many cups, etc. Thanks
It’s about 1-1.5 cups of mashed potatoes! You can definitely try it out.
You could use instant, however you would need to add enough water to make approximately 1 to 1.5 cups of mashed potatoes. Hope this helps!
What is the quantity of the mashed potatoes? i.e., 2 cups?
I just used two medium potatoes, about a cup to 1 1/2 cup’s worth of mashed.
This recipe looks delicious! How could I adapt it to make in my bread machine?
Follow recipe as stated and read the guide of your bread maker to see how it will work! I don’t use a breadmaker so I can’t say I’m an expert on it.
Hi Joanna
Can you use other potatoes? If yes what is the weight? Also you mentioned two russets what is the weight?
You can use other potatoes! I didn’t weigh them so I couldn’t tell you exactly, just used 2 medium sized potatoes, but it’s about 1 cup to 1 1/2 cups worth of mashed that you’re looking for. The best potatoes for mashing are higher starch potatoes like Russets or Yukon golds. These potatoes will result in the fluffiest, smoothest and most flavor-packed mash. Of course you can use other varieties of red or white skinned potatoes, but they will require more mashing in order for them to become creamy, so save yourself the hassle!
Hi Joanna!! This bread looks delicious! My hubby just bought me a bread maker for Christmas and I’ve been making SO many different kinds 🙂 Do you think I could use this recipe in a bread maker or am I better off making the dough etc according to your recipe?
Thanks!!
Casey
You can definitely try it out in the bread maker!