Best roast potatoes are those that are crispy crunchy on the outer, fluffy, tender inside and perfectly seasoned. Roast potatoes are simple and easy to make, but do they always turn crispy, crunchy outer with incredibly fluffy soft inside? If answer is no, then you need to change your roast game!
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Ingredients you’ll need
Here’s what you’ll need-
- 2 lb floury potatoes (russet, red-skinned potatoes, Maris piper)
- ½ cup oil (sunflower oil, peanut oil or corn oil)
- 3 cloves garlic (optional)
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh herbs (I used fresh thyme and rosemary)
Potatoes – using the right kind of potatoes is crucial in making the best roast potatoes. You need to use high starch content potatoes like russet, red-skinned or Maris piper.
Oil – oil that has high smoke point. Oil is first heated in baking tray in the oven until it’s smoking hot. Butter or lard will burn at that heat. Use any of the oil mentioned in the options. Duck or goose fat can be used if easily available near you. Potatoes roasted in duck fat tastes spectacular.
Garlic – I’m all about flavors and seasoning. While potatoes cooked in olive with salt seasoning is enough I love to add in subtle flavors to potato to make it spectacular. Use large cloves of garlic with skin on and lightly smashed so it doesn’t burn while roasting at high heat and smashing helps release all it’s flavor to the pan.
Sea salt – always always season potatoes with sea salt. It tastes much better.
Herbs – I like fresh herbs, but you can use dried herbs and any herbs of your choice. Rosemary, thyme, parsley are some of the choices.
How to make roast potatoes?
Peel skin off potatoes.
Chop into even sized chunks.
Add potatoes to a large pot. Pour water until potatoes are fully immersed in. Bring it to boil. Let potatoes boil for 8 to 10 minutes. Note: 10 minutes may sound too long to par boil potatoes, but trust me it will create crispy outer and fluffy inside.
While potatoes are boiling, pour oil on a metal baking tray. Place it in oven at highest heat (450F) Let oil heat up for 10 minutes or until is smoking/sizzling hot. Note: do not use glass dish for making roast potatoes. Glass may break while cooking at high heat and potatoes will get stuck to the dish.
Drain potatoes into a colander.
Shake it vigorously to roughen it up. Roughening the edges creates the surface of potatoes to absorb more fat thus turning extra crispy. You also want to roughen up the potatoes to make it fluffy.
It’s okay if some of the potatoes break and fall apart while you are shake it.
Test if oil in baking tray is ready by placing a small piece of potato. It should immediately start sizzling.
Transfer roughened potatoes to baking dish. Quickly flip potatoes to coat in oil using an egg flipper or tongs. Spread into even layer.
Add lightly smashed large garlic cloves with skin on to the potatoes along with fresh herbs.
Crank down heat of the oven to 425F.
Roast potatoes in oven for 30 to 40 minutes, flipping once or twice in the last 15 minutes roasting time. Roast time will largely depend on your oven setting and the size of potatoes. Adjust roasting time accordingly. Roast until potatoes golden brown and crispy on the outside.
Remove from roasting tray, transfer to serving dish. Sprinkle with sea salt as per your taste.
Serve immediately.
These best roast potatoes will retain it’s crunchy for 30 minutes. But it’s always best served immediately.
Secret tips to make the best roast potatoes
Secret to best roast potatoes are:
- Par boil: par boiling potatoes first. I do not recommend you skip this step.
Why can’t you directly roast potatoes?
While nothing wrong is directly roasting chopped raw potatoes in oven, but they do turn disappointingly chewy and hard.
2. Roughen the potatoes: give par boiled potatoes a good shake to roughen the edges. Roughening the edges creates the surface of potatoes to absorb more fat thus turning extra crispy.
3. Smoking hot oil: heat oil first in baking pan until it’s sizzling hot before you add the potatoes to it. Working quickly coat par-boiled potatoes in hot oil.
4. Season: the best roast potatoes in the one that is seasoned well. Sea salt is all you need. I like my potatoes seasoned inside out. Add generous pinch of salt while par-boiling potatoes so they are seasoned inside and sprinkle generous amount of salt soon as potatoes come out of the oven.
FAQS
You need to use high starch content potatoes like russet, red-skinned or Maris piper.
No. Butter will burn at the temperature used for roasting. Use one of the oil mentioned in the list.
If you don’t have time, skip par-boiling step. Directly roast chopped raw potatoes in oven. Bare in mind it doesn’t turn as crispy, crunchy, fluffy as with par boiled potatoes.
You can use metal baking tray or cast-iron dish to roast potatoes. DO NOT use glass baking dish.
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📋The Best Roast Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 lb floury potatoes russet, red-skinned potatoes, Maris piper
- ½ cup vegetable oil you must use oil with high smoke points – like sunflower oil, peanut oil or corn oil. Duck fat or goose fat can be used if easily available near you. Do not recommend you to used olive oil or butter.
- 3 cloves garlic optional – use large cloves of garlic so it doesn’t burn
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh herbs I used fresh thyme and rosemary
Instructions
- Peel skin off potatoes and chop into even sized chunks.
- Add potatoes to a large pot.
- Pour water until potatoes are fully immersed in.
- Bring it to boil. Let potatoes boil for 8 to 10 minutes.10 minutes may sound too long to par boil potatoes, but trust me it will create crispy outer and fluffy inside.
- While potatoes are boiling, pour oil on a metal baking tray. Place it in oven at highest heat (450F) Let oil heat up for 10 minutes or until is smoking/sizzling hot.
- Note: do not use glass dish for making roast potatoes. Glass may break while cooking at high heat and potatoes will get stuck to the dish.
- Drain potatoes into a colander.
- Shake it vigorously to roughen it up. Roughening the edges creates the surface of potatoes to absorb more fat thus turning extra crispy. You also want to roughen up the potatoes to make it fluffy.
- It’s okay if some of the potatoes break and fall apart while you are shake it.
- Test if oil in baking tray is ready by placing a small piece of potato. It should immediately start sizzling.
- Transfer roughened potatoes to baking dish. Quickly flip potatoes to coat in oil using an egg flipper or tongs. Spread into even layer.
- Add lightly smashed large garlic cloves with skin on to the potatoes along with fresh herbs.
- Reduce heat of the oven to 425F.
- Roast potatoes in oven for 30 to 40 minutes, flipping once or twice in the last 15 minutes roasting time. Roast time will largely depend on your oven setting and the size of potatoes. Adjust roasting time accordingly. Roast until potatoes golden brown and crispy on the outside.
- Remove from roasting tray, transfer to serving dish. Sprinkle with sea salt as per your taste.
- Serve immediately.
- These best roast potatoes will retain it’s crunchy for 30 minutes. But it’s always best served immediately.
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