Potato wedges are delicious chunks of potato and when you ask, are potato wedges healthy? Well yes, they can be, however, it does depend on how the wedges are prepared and cooked. When purchasing takeaway food it is actually better to get wedges than fries, and this is because the surface of the wedge is greater than the surface of the fry and therefore the wedge absorbs less fat during the cooking process. While a fry ends up saturated in fat, and consequently, with a very high calorie/kilojoule count. So, wedges are the healthier choice for everyone.
Are Potato Wedges Healthy?
Potato wedges are irregular-shaped sliced potatoes, cooked and sold at fast food outlets and diners. In some countries, they are served in bars with sour cream and chili sauce However, if you choose to eat them plain without sauce they will pair well with grilled steak or fish, and salad making a healthy meal as long as not too many are consumed. The good news is that you can make them at home, and when you do it yourself you will know exactly what is in them.
Are Potato Wedges Gluten Free?
Over recent years some restaurants have been able to provide gluten-free wedges. There is now a gluten-free flour sold in the supermarket and some cooks are experimenting with it. If you are gluten intolerant and want to eat wedges ask what is in them first. Otherwise, make them at home yourself. Restaurants usually have gluten-free choices on the menu, but you may find that wedges are not one of them. Life is hard for those who are gluten intolerant as consumption of gluten can make them unwell for a few weeks.
Are Potato Wedges Fried?
The potato wedges can be either fried or oven-baked. Many cooks say that oven-baked is the healthy option, and this is how it is done.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees
- Cut the potatoes into wedges
- Place them in a bowl of cold water for 15 minutes to remove the starch
- Dry potatoes on a tea towel or paper towel
- Coat lightly with plain flour or gluten flour-free, adding pepper or chili powder to the flour first.
- Line a tray with baking powder
- Lay the coated wedges on the baking tray and bake for half an hour
- Turn them once at the 15-minute mark.
Make sure they are golden brown before removing them from the oven. There are lots of different seasonings that you can mix with the flour to give different flavors to the wedge potatoes when cooking at home.
Are Potato Wedges Vegan?
Yes, if you don’t add any animal products to the potatoes they are vegan.
Certain restaurants will offer wedges for vegans plus other vegan choices are becoming more common.
There are so many different types of potato wedges like normal potato and sweet potato. When you are vegan. you will want them cooked in good olive oil, and you can always add the appropriate spices yourself if you are prepared to cook them. Making them from basics enables you to add spices and herbs to add that extra crunch. Knowing what is in the ingredients is important, especially when you are a vegan.
How Many Carbs in Potato Wedges
The know the carbs in potato wedges we need to take a look into the nutritional fact of this food.
| Nutrition facts | Potato Wedges | KFC Potato Wedges | Schwan’s Crunchy Potato Wedges |
|---|---|---|---|
| Units | 1 Serving (8 pieces – 83g) | 1 Serving (1 order – 108g) | 1 Serving (9 pieces – 84g) |
| Calories | 130 | 270 | 140 |
| Total Fat | 6g | 13g | 4g |
| Sodium | 370mg | 700mg | 330mg |
| Carbohydrates | 18g | 34g | 23g |
| Protein | 2g | 4g | 2g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2g | 3g | 2g |
| Calcium | 0mg | 20mg | 17mg |
| Iron | 0.3mg | 1.1mg | 0.3mg |
| Potassium | 330mg | – | 250mg |
As you can see, potatoes are very high in dietary fiber, and we need a certain amount of fiber daily to allow digestion and elimination to take place in our bodies. Having a serving of potatoes a day is essential to health, and in some cultures, in the UK, when making wedges they don’t take the skin off the potato, and as a lot of the valuable nutrients are contained in the skin, you may want to try leaving the skin on when preparing your wedgies at home.
Does KFC Still Have Potato Wedges?
Back in December 2019 KFC did a terrible thing and announced that they were developing classic french fries to add to their menu. By June 2020 they announced that the fries would be taking the place of the wedges. Of course, we were all outraged, and some of us stopped going there.
KFC has 21,000 outlets around the world, and when you live in a big city you are never too far from the nearest KFC. For the people out there that loved wedges with their chicken, this was a blow, as KFC was a place where you could purchase wedges ready to eat or take them home and eat them in front of the Television. It appeared to coincide with the proliferation of oven bake wedgie frozen packets appearing on supermarket shelves. Some people have even said that they prefer KFC’s new version of fries, the fries are a bit harder to cook at home, so fast food in the form of fries is welcome to many. Now when we want wedges, we cook them ourselves or go for pub food where they seem to always be on the menu every day.
Conclusion
Everyone loves potato wedges, and they can be healthy. On reading the catering catalog it said that certain brands of oven bake wedges are double-baked to make them crispier. This means extra additives, so it is possibly better to make your own wedges, and they are not that hard to make in the oven at home. This way you can tailor them to the dietary needs of your family, and they will think they are having fast food.
When you are asked, are potato wedges healthy? Yes of course they are when you make them at home, how could they be anything else.