Peeling potatoes can be much easier than you think

Even the most experienced and capable cooks might huff a sigh of indignation at making dinner after a long day, especially when you haven’t got something you can whip up with minimal fuss or washing up.

Some things are a chore no matter how many times you’ve done them, and peeling potatoes is one such kitchen headache.

If you’ve got to whip through a half-dozen of them for a Sunday roast, it can feel like you’re peeling forever. Then you’ve got to get rid of the peels, you might nick yourself with the peeler, you might drop one of the slippery things on the floor; it’s a whole thing.

There's no need to show off... (Manuel Breva Colmeiro/Getty Images)

But what if we were to tell you that you can cut out at least 90% of the effort with a simple trick that doesn’t add any extra work?

Well, that’s exactly what we’ve got, courtesy of a TikToker who shared the ‘life-changing’ hack that could save you hours over a potato-peeling lifetime.

In the clip, the TikToker (@quitmyjob) explains how she cuts a shallow ring around each potato before putting them on to boil. The cut shouldn’t go much deeper than a couple of millimetres, if you’re boiling them whole, but the trick will work just as well if you chop them in half and drop them in the pan with their skin still on.

Once the potatoes are soft, she then slipped the skins off with little to resistance like little brown socks.

She said, disbelieving the hack worked so well: "So crazy that's incredible!"

The TikToker added in the in-video text: "Why did I ever peel a potato?"

Her video has had dozens of millions of views, with 2.4 million likes from similarly mind-blown viewers.

"This is IMPORTANT INFORMATION!" raved one comment.

Another added: "I saw this hack years ago and am baffled how it hasn’t caught on yet. It’s the only useful hack I’ve learned from the internet."

"I've learned more on the TikTok than anywhere else," said another. Please note that peer-reviewed sources of information are also available.

"Perfect. You saved me an hour of time this week," said one user with a particularly heavy potato-peeling workload.

Once potatoes have been boiled, the skin easily peels away (Sergio Amiti/Getty Images)

"This is LIFE-CHANGING," said yet another from the 13,300-strong comments section.

The video added that the trick works just as well with sweet potatoes, which can be particularly knobbly and fiddly to peel traditionally.

So there you have it! If the thought of slaving away over some spuds has stopped you from whipping up a roast for your loved ones, treat them to one this Sunday with minimal faff.