Crispy Roasted Potatoes

About This Delectable Potatoes Recipe

Roasted garlicky potatoes are cooked to perfect crispness and further flavored with finely chopped fresh herbs. We use a couple of culinary tricks to create a tender interior and a delectable extra crispy skin. You can serve these alongside steak or roasts instead of a vegetable side dish with great success.

Tips for Easy Roasted Potatoes with Crispy Skin

Before we go over the workflow let me summarize Chris' tried and true chef tips - you can follow all of them or skip a few - we explain the reasoning further below.

• Choose the right type of potato - see suggestions below.
• Cut the potatoes in uniform pieces.
• Soak them in cold water before cooking (optional).
• Toss in a mixture of starch (optional) and seasonings.
• Use a roasting pan or baking sheet that is large relative to the quantity of potatoes and line it with parchment paper (optional). 

Ingredients for Crispy Roasted Potatoes

Round up the following few ingredients and kitchen items.

Potatoes. Choose thin skinned potatoes that are neither too waxy nor too starchy such as fingerling potatoes, gold or red potatoes, purple potatoes or go with the all purpose Yukon Gold potatoe. These varieties are best for roasting - they can hold their shape well and their exteriors will caramelize nicely while their inside holds just enough starch to turn soft and creamy. Plus - you do not need to peel them (since we are after crispy skins). Avoid Russet potatoes. 

Olive oil. We like to use extra-virgin olive oil because it is more flavorful, but second pressing olive oil is just fine.

Garlic. Fresh garlic cloves - minced, and a bit of garlic powder (optional).

Salt and pepper. Use coarse salt - kosher salt or sea salt if you have it, and finely ground black pepper.

Corn starch. Not mandatory, but if you toss the potatoes in it it will create a coating that directly contributes to that extra crispy outside.

Herbs. You can add dried herbs (we used oregano) to the corn starch, but to finish the roasted potatoes we recommend that you go with fresh herbs such as rosemary (chop it very fine), chives or garlic chives, oregano, parsley. 

Large bowl, colander, clean kitchen towel. You will need them if you choose to soak the cut potatoes. 

Roasting pan (or baking sheet). Go with a larger one to be sure there is plenty of room. 

Parchment paper. Not only will it help you achieve crispy skin without any of the potatoes getting stuck to the surface of the roasting pan, but it will make clean up a breeze.

How to Make Crispy Roasted Potatoes

The workflow begins with preparing the potatoes for the oven.

Step 1. Clean and cut them in uniform chunks - about bite size. This will ensure that there is more outer surface to become crispy (as opposed to larger pieces), even cooking and faster cooking (smaller pieces will cook faster plus the minced fresh garlic will not burn).

Step 2. Place them in a bowl and top with cold water until fully submerged. Soak for 30-60 mins or even up to overnight, refrigerated. The cold water draws out excess starch and prevents the potatoes from sticking together during roasting. Optional step.

Step 3. After soaking, rinse the potatoes then pat them dry with a clean kitchen towel.

Step 4. Mince the garlic and mix it with the olive oil in a small bowl. Fully coat the potatoes with the mixture. 

Step 5. In another small bowl mix the corn starch, salt, pepper, garlic powder (if using) and any other dry seasoning or herb, sprinkle over the potatoes and mix well to coat evenly. 

Step 6. Transfer the potatoes to an oversized parchment paper lined roasting pan and spread them around in a single layer so that some space remains between individual potatoes. This will help the skins get crispy. Place the pan in the oven and after about 20-25 minutes turn the potatoes around thoroughly. 

TIP: We recommend that you roast at 375 - 400 F. Too strong of an oven is not the optimal solution - the garlic will burn and the skin of the potatoes might get too crispy too fast, before they are completely cooked through. Set the temperature based on your oven's calibration - if you know it to be too strong go for a slightly lower temperature. 

NOTE: The total roasting time will depend on the type of potato you are using in addition to the strength of your oven.

We roasted the garlicky, crispy potatoes to go with these Braised Lamb Shanks. Other meat dishes they'd make a great side for:

Baked Chicken Leg Quarters | Pork Shoulder Steaks | Lamb Chops in Oven | Lamb Shoulder Chops |Beer Braised Short Ribs