Chat Potatoes

Chats Baby is built around one very useful idea, that dinner should not require a project. This is a bag of our smallest grade potatoes, sized for cooking whole, so there is no peeling, no chopping and no deciding. Wash the lot, tip them onto a tray, and you are most of the way to a meal.

The variety inside is not fixed. Chats Baby rotates with whatever Catherine and Kerri have coming in at smaller grades that week, which means the exact spud in your bag changes, and that is by design. Small potatoes from across the range tend to share the same convenient, mild, hold their shape character, so whatever turns up roasts and boils beautifully. When stock is live, the page tells you which variety is in the bag that week.

The flavour profile is clean and mild, the texture leans waxy to all rounder, and the whole thing is aimed squarely at easy midweek cooking rather than the showpiece end of the table. At Spud Sisters we love a humble hero, and Chats Baby is exactly that, the no fuss bag that quietly makes weeknights better.

• Potassium rich: supports healthy blood pressure, with more potassium in a medium potato than a banana
• Vitamin C and B6: helpful for immune function and energy metabolism
• Naturally gluten free: suitable for coeliac and gluten intolerant diets
• Resistant starch: cooked and cooled, these small chats develop resistant starch that feeds beneficial gut bacteria, handy for a chats salad
• Naturally low in fat: it is the oil and butter we add, not the potato, that changes the picture
• Carotenoids: where the flesh is yellow to gold, it signals carotenoids, the same antioxidant family found in carrots
• Skin on goodness: cooking these small chats whole and unpeeled keeps more of the fibre that sits just under the skin

Baby Potatoes or Chats are perfect for the weeknight, plain and simple, from a quick tray roast to a fast boiled side or a warm chats salad thrown together after work.

It is the bag you reach for when you want minimum effort and maximum ease.

A tray of small whole potatoes is a kitchen workhorse, the kind of effortless side that lets the main event shine. For home cooks, Chats Baby is the back pocket bag for nights when fuss is off the menu.

The signature method, and the whole reason this bag exists. Wash the potatoes, leave them whole and skin on, toss with olive oil and salt on a tray, and roast at 200C for around 25 to 30 minutes until golden and tender, shaking the tray once. Add garlic, rosemary or a squeeze of lemon near the end. One bag, one tray, one easy side.

Cover whole with cold salted water, bring to the boil and cook until just tender, around 12 to 18 minutes depending on size. Drain and finish with butter and herbs. Their small size means they cook quickly, so keep an eye on them.

Boil whole until just tender, then dress while still warm so the flesh soaks up the flavour. Their mild character and shape holding texture make these a natural for a quick warm chats salad.

Boil whole in salted water for 18–20 minutes until just cooked through. Drain and tip onto a tray lined with paper towel, letting them sit for a minute draws out excess moisture, which is what gets you a crispy result.

Transfer to an oiled baking tray, press flat with the base of a glass or a fork, and drizzle generously with olive oil.

Roast at 220°C for 20–25 minutes until the edges are deeply golden and the skin is blistered.

Finish with sea salt, crème fraîche, or a simple herb dressing.

Pierce the skin, place on a plate, and microwave on high for 4–5 minutes for a small batch. Rest for 2 minutes before serving. Fast and decent for a weeknight, though smashing or roasting gets significantly better results.

No need to peel, these are great for cooking whole and skin on, so a quick wash is all that is required. Try to keep the potatoes a similar size on the tray so they cook evenly, and halve any larger ones. \