The Humble Potato Is the Most Underrated Weight-Loss Food
If I had to crown one single food the champion of feeling full, it would not be anything fancy or expensive or sprinkled with superfood dust. It would be the humble potato. Yes, really. The unassuming spud sitting in the bottom of your veg rack is, in my book, the most underrated weight-loss food there is, and I will happily defend it to anyone who'll listen.
For years we were all told to fear it. Potatoes were the enemy, lumped in with everything "starchy" and "carby" and banished from the plate. What total nonsense that turned out to be. Somewhere along the way we confused the potato with the way it is usually cooked, drowned in oil, fried into crisps and chips, smothered in butter and cream, and we blamed the poor potato for the company it was keeping. The potato itself was never the problem.
Why potatoes keep you so full
Here is what makes the potato such a quiet hero. It is wonderfully low in calorie density, which is just a fancy way of saying it gives you a big, satisfying amount of food without a heavy calorie load, because it is full of water and fibre. That combination is exactly what tells your body it is properly full and keeps it that way for hours. Potatoes are famous, genuinely, for being one of the most filling foods you can eat, and your tummy knows it even if the diet industry spent years pretending otherwise.
That means you can pile your plate high, eat until you are comfortably satisfied, and still be eating in a way that is light and kind to your goals. No tiny portions, no leaving the table peckish, no willpower required. Just a proper, comforting plateful that actually holds you. For a volume eater like me, who likes a big plate and has no interest in being hungry, that is everything.
Skip the oil and the potato shines
The one thing that turns this hero into a heavy meal is, you guessed it, the oil. Oil is the most calorie-dense food in the kitchen, and a roast potato glistening with it is a very different beast from a roast potato done without. So the trick is simply to leave the oil out, and the lovely news is that potatoes are so naturally satisfying they really do not need it.
Roast them on parchment with herbs and a sprinkle of salt until they crisp at the edges. Bake them whole and pile on a savoury bean filling. Mash them with a splash of plant milk instead of butter. Cube them into a cosy chilli or stew where they soak up all the flavour. Slice them into a traybake with other veg. Done this way, the potato stays exactly what it is meant to be: filling, comforting, and beautifully light. And it is cheap as anything, which never hurts.
Make the potato your daily friend
I eat potatoes most days, in one form or another, and they are a huge part of why I never feel like I am dieting. They are endlessly versatile, they suit every season, and they go with everything from a curry to a salad to a big bowl of greens. Sweet potatoes, white potatoes, new potatoes, the lot, all welcome at my table. Keep a bag in and you are never far from a satisfying meal.
If you have been quietly avoiding potatoes because some diet years ago told you to, I would love for you to give yourself permission to bring them back. They are not a treat to be earned or a food to be feared. They are one of the most genuinely useful things you can build your meals around.
Watch: I built a whole day of easy, cosy meals around them, including my epic potato wrap, in My Epic Potato Wrap Day. Have a look and see just how much lovely food a humble spud can give you.
Bring the potato back, my love. Your tummy will be ever so glad, and so will your week of easy dinners.
Related reading: the potato diet for weight loss: does it work? and how a starch-based diet works for weight loss.