Have the perfect roast potatoes eluded you? You know the ones. They’re golden and irresistibly crunchy on the outside while soft and fluffy inside. Well, this ultimate roasted crunchy potatoes recipe is just what you need.
The best crunchy roast potatoes are an essential part of any roast dinner. I’ve made this recipe many times, and if you follow my easy golden rules, you’ll be serving up perfectly crisp and delicious roasties in no time. This simple method works every time, and they’ll be your go-to side dish for the perfect Sunday roast or Christmas dinner.
Why not serve some gorgeous Mustard Maple Roasted Carrots or this Rainbow Vegetable Tray Bake alongside.
This recipe was first published here way back on November 2nd, 2017 and has been updated with new images and more detailed information. To skip straight to the recipe tap the recipe button above.
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The golden rules
If you want those perfect roasties; where one bite and the crisp crunch gives way to a fluffy middle, you need to follow these simple golden rules and I promise the whole family will be coming back for more. Here’s an outline and each step is given more detail through the post below.
- Choose the right potatoes
- Twice cooked – aka boiled first, then roasted
- Boil until fork tender – a fork can easily break into them
- Drain, then dry them out in the pan
- Shake, shake, shake the pan to rough up the edges
- Chill until cold
- Season lightly
- Add the potatoes to hot oil on a baking tray
- Roast without touching for 40 minutes, then turn and roast a little more
Roast potato ingredients
You only need 3 very basic ingredients for the best roast potatoes – potatoes, fat and salt. There are a number of fats you can use. Beef drippings or duck fat are quite popular but I always use a light flavoured olive oil (not extra virgin) or a basic vegetable oil.
Detailed quantities and instructions in the recipe card below.
Choose the right potatoes
So which potatoes are best for roasting? The short answer is floury potatoes. The higher starch content in floury potatoes is what results in a fluffy inside and the way they crumble on the edges is what results in crispy edges. The particular type of potato will depend on where you live in the world.
In Australia, try to get Royal Blue potatoes (pic above, top) for their creamy, well-flavoured, starchy flesh. In the US, Russet potatoes and in the UK, Maris Piper are your best bets.
Other varieties will work too. Aim for floury; if you can’t get those, go for an all-rounder; your last choice should be a waxy potato (they just don’t get the fluffy inside like the others do).
An all-rounder will work well too; Sebago, Coliban, King Edward and Yukon Gold potatoes all have a moderate starch level and hold their shape well but still get a good texture on the inside. Most red potatoes are waxy varieties so not great for roasting as they don’t get such a fluffy interior.
A final note on the right potatoes for roasting would be to use large potatoes that you cut down to size. Smaller potatoes like baby potatoes are younger and have not developed as much starch. The more mature a potato is, the more starch it will have developed.
How to make perfect roast potatoes
With just a few steps and 3 ingredients you’ll have a tray of hot crunchy roast potatoes that you’ll be happy to eat just on their own.
Detailed quantities and instructions in the recipe card below.
1. Prepare your potatoes
For perfect roasties, with those crunchy golden edges, you’ll want to peel your potatoes first. Of course, you can roast them with the skin on but it will add a slight chewiness – not what we’re after here. Peel the potatoes and chop them into chunks roughly 1.5 to 2 inches.
These large chunks are the perfect size for that great ratio of crisp and soft since they remain a good size even after you’ve given them a good shake and break in a pan.
2. The first cook – boil
Boiling your potatoes first is key to getting the greatest roast potatoes you’ll ever make. This step will cook through them – this is not a par boil. Place your potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water (just tap, not chilled), bring it to a boil, then boil for 7-10 minutes or, more importantly, until you can break it open with a fork (aka fork tender). Starting with cold water ensures the edges of the potatoes are subjected to the heat longer than the middles, which will help them get all rough and crumbly – perfect roasties texture.
3. Drain and dry
Drain the boiled potatoes through a colander, then return them immediately to the saucepan over medium heat. Let them steam for 30-40 seconds, shaking the pan every few seconds to help break and rough them up.
This is another key step; drying the potatoes out remove any moisture that might interfere with the crunchy exterior we want, whilst shaking them gets lots of little mashed bits of potato stuck to the outside and these become irresistibly crispy potatoes.
4. Chill the potatoes
Transfer your potatoes to a large bowl and chill in the refrigerator, uncovered, for a minimum of an hour or longer. Overnight chilling is even better, making crispy roasted potatoes a brilliant make-ahead side dish. Air-drying them like this in the fridge will evaporate even more moisture from the outside, and it also sets their shape so they are ready for roasting.
5. Preheat the oil
Preheat your oven first, then pour the oil (or whatever fat you’re using) onto a baking dish or lined baking sheet. I always use a metal baking tray and line it with aluminium foil, then baking paper on top of that.
Place the tray into the oven and preheat for 10 minutes so the oil gets nice and hot.
6. Roast the potatoes
It’s finally time to turn your perfectly prepped potatoes into perfect crunchy potatoes. Toss them with a little salt (and you can add some black pepper if you like). Take the baking tray out of the oven being careful not to tip the oil out or towards you. Carefully tip your cold potatoes onto the tray and you should hear them sizzle. Immediately but carefully toss them through the hot oil so they’re coated all over.
Place your potatoes into the oven and roast for 40 minutes without touching them.
7. Turn them
Once they’ve roasted for 40 minutes, flip your potatoes over and roast for a further 10-20 minutes until golden brown and crunchy all over.
Tips and tricks
- Make sure all your chopped potatoes are roughly the same size so they cook evenly.
- Put them into cold water, not hot. Why? Because the inside will be only just cooked, whilst the outside is soft enough to rough up.
- When boiling the potatoes, you can tell they are done when they are fork tender. Poke in a fork and you should not feel resistance. Further, if you twist your fork a little, they should break apart.
- Don’t overcook. You don’t want the potatoes to be totally breaking up and falling apart by the time their done or they’re overcooked.
- You must dry out the potatoes. Soggy potatoes will never get that shattering crunch we’re after.
- While you shake the pan, you’ll see small bits break off and the edges get rough – aka perfection.
- Chill the potatoes. This allows the potatoes to firm up and, in a sense, set. The fridge also has a drying effect.
- Always heat the oil first; it gets those edges cooking immediately
- Leave them alone – there’s no need to turn the potatoes for at least 40 minutes, just let them roast and get crisp in that hot oven. Once you turn them, cook for another 10-20 minutes.
- Don’t use extra-virgin olive oil – the flavour is too heavy, though it will mellow as it cooks. It’s also not suitable for cooking at high temperatures. Use an oil well suited to high temperatures, like rice bran oil, sunflower oil, peanut oil or even a light-flavoured olive oil. Goose fat, beef fat or duck fat also work really well.
The testing process
I had a bit of fun experimenting to see if and what differences you would find between different fats, pans and potatoes and here’s my results. The photos didn’t necessarily catch the differences that they did to the naked eye but here goes.
The fat test
Using the same pan, oven, oven temperature, cooking time and spacing between the potatoes;
- Vegetable oil: Produced a potato with great crunch and soft inside and it’s the fat that I’ll stick to when making roast potatoes.
- Ghee: Produced a much darker coloured potato with just as much crunch on the outside as the oil version but had a very strong flavour of ghee which I felt interfered with the potato flavour.
- Duck fat: A good result but not quite as crunchy as the oil or ghee versions. It seems like the crust on the duck fat version was thinner than the other two. The flavour was fine but gave nothing over the oil version.
The potato variety test
Using the same pan, oven, oven temperature, cooking time and spacing between the potatoes;
- Floury variety: It confirmed my thoughts on it being the best for texture. It had the super crunchy extrerior with the perfectly fluffy inside.
- Waxy red potato variety: Seemed more greasy, though I guess it’s possible that one had been sitting in more oil than all the others. Other than that, it had a much chewier crust than the floury variety but still a yummy roast potato. Slightly darker colour than the floury variety.
- All-rounder white potato: This also had a chewier crust, rather than the crispness the floury variety gets. This one was the palest in colour.
The pan test
Using the same oven, oven temperature, cooking time and spacing between the potatoes, I found a dark metal pan gave the nicest colour and most crunchy finish. A ceramic dish gave a similar crunch – very close – but the potatoes were paler in colour. In summary, I think any pan will work just fine though you may find a difference in colour.
FAQ’s
Yes, you can boil your potatoes ahead of roasting. I like to do mine at least 3 hours prior to roasting, so they have plenty of time to get nice and cold. Overnight is even better.
Roasted crunchy potatoes are best roasted right when you want them, but you can take them up to the boiled and roughed up step, then freeze them.
After you’ve boiled, shaken and dried the potatoes, lay them out on a baking tray that’s been covered with baking paper. Place the tray in the freezer until the potatoes are fully frozen. Transfer them to an airtight container and freeze for up to 2 months.
You can roast them from frozen, but you may need to roast an extra 10-15 minutes.
Leftovers won’t get quite as crispy as the were fresh, however, they’re still delicious. You can also add them to other dishes like tortilla or quiche. Frying them in a dash of oil makes a great breakfast, or turn it into bubble and squeak. Chop them up and use them in pies like this steak and mushroom pie or these cute little lamb pies.
Variations
Here’s some ideas for flavouring up your roasties;
- Bacon and cheddar: For a decadent side, crisp up some bacon in a pan and sprinkle it over with some cheese in the last 10 minutes or so.
- Fresh herbs are lovely added in the last 10-15 minutes cooking time. Rosemary is a classic, as is thyme.
- Parmesan: Try sprinkling over some parmesan cheese for the last 10 minutes of cooking or upon serving.
- Spanish spice: Add some smoked paprika, cumin, mustard powder and pepper at the start
- Garlic: Add whole cloves of garlic, maybe just lightly crushed but still with the skins on. It will impart a light garlic aroma and flavour into the potatoes as they cook. This is a great addition with rosemary.
- Cajun: Similar to the Spanish spice mix but also add some onion powder, garlic powder and dried oregano or simply use a Cajun spice mix.
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Did you try these roasted crunchy potatoes? Leaving a rating and comment below the recipe is so helpful!
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Ingredients
- 1.4 kg potatoes (3lb) (notes 1)
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil (80ml) (notes 2&3)
- ¾ teaspoon cooking salt / kosher salt (notes 3)
- Flaky sea salt to serve
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- Large saucepan
- Large baking sheet or baking dish
Instructions
- Peel the potatoes and chop them into 4-5cm /1 ½–2 inch chunks, ensuring they're all a similar size.
- Place the potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with cool tap water. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook for approximately 7-8 minutes until fork tender (the edges should be soft and break away easily).
- Drain in a colander, then return the potatoes to the saucepan and back over medium heat. Shake them around fairly vigorously every few seconds, while they steam and dry for a total of 30-40 seconds. Don’t worry if lots of bits break off, they’ll crisp up beautifully in the oven.
- Place in a dish in the fridge uncovered until completely cold (at least 3 hours, overnight is even better).
- Preheat your oven to 230C (210C fan forced) / 440F. Line a baking sheet with aluminium foil and baking paper (or you can use a ceramic or glass baking dish).
- Pour the oil into you dish and heat in the oven for 10 minutes until it’s very hot. While that’s happening, toss your potatoes with the salt to coat evenly.
- Tip the potatoes onto your baking tray/dish, taking care not to let the hot oil splash at you. Turn the potatoes over through the oil to cover.
- Roast for 40 minutes on the ovens middle shelf without touching them, then turn them over and scrape any stuck bits off the bottom of the pan.
- Bake for at least another 10-20 minutes until the roast potatoes are perfectly golden and crispy.
- Season with flaky sea salt to taste and serve while hot.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- Royal Blue, Russet, Maris Piper are all great. Coliban, King Edward, Yukon Gold and other all-rounders are good. Waxy potatoes are best to steer away from.
- Don’t use extra-virgin olive oil – the flavour it too heavy, though it will mellow as it cooks. It’s also not suitable for cooking at high temperatures. Use an oil well suited to high temperatures like rice bran oil, sunflower oil, peanut oil or even a light flavoured olive oil.
- You can also use other fats like ghee, goose fat, beef fat or beef drippings or duck fat.
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15 Comments on “Roasted Crunchy Potatoes”
Great potatoes recipe!
So happy to hear that, Maria. Thanks so much for dropping back to leave a review.
I haven’t made them yet but I surely am going to do so today. As I read through this recipe my mouth could almost feel the texture as well as the crispness.
I can’t wait for you to try them, Cheryl.
Only way to roast potatoes from now on!
So glad you loved them! Thanks for making my recipe 🙂
The potatoes look so delicious.
We made these last night – one word, amazing. These turned out just as described with crunch golden exterior and a fluffy inside. This is my new go to recipe
So glad you loved them 🙂
I love my potato creamy on the inside and crispy on the outside. This recipe does exactly what I want, such a keeper!
Thanks so much Trang, so glad you like them.
Potatoes are a worldwide available vegetable. It’s cheap to buy and rich in nutrients. It is low carb food and provides fiber, vitamins, and minerals for human health. Thanks, Marie for showing this perfect and healthy roasted potatoes recipe.
Thank you so much for your comment and additional info ?
Yesss! Crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside is exactly how I’d love my roast potatoes!
haha 🙂 I could eat a plateful on their own