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Best Crispy Oven Roasted Potatoes

Best Crispy Oven Roasted Potatoes

Best Crispy Oven Roasted Potatoes Recipe

This post includes some tips to show you how to produce the best crispy oven-roasted potatoes ever!

Roasted potatoes are one of the most common accompaniments to a typical British Sunday dinner.

A Sunday roast is not a Sunday roast without some delicious roasted potatoes. The best crispy oven-roasted potatoes are crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

In Britain, we have an age-old tradition of having a roast meal on a Sunday. This might be a leg of lamb, a roast chicken, roast pork or a roast beef which is roasted in the oven.

Whatever the meat is, there is always something common amongst all of these meals, and that is the presence of crispy roast potatoes on the plate.

This is because the potatoes can be cooked along with the meat in the same oven, and maybe even in the same pan, depending on the size of your oven.

crispy oven roasted potatoes
Roast Potatoes

People have their own ways of making crispy roasted potatoes, and over the years I have tried many alternatives.

Now, however, I am a convert and will use the same method, and tools each time to obtain the tastiest ‘roast tatties’ you will ever have sampled.

This roast potatoes recipe will show you how to make roast potatoes crispy.

Potato variety

First of all, select your best local potato. I could go on here for pages about the different types available here in Ireland, but everywhere is different.

I like using ‘Maris Pipers’ as I can get them easily here, they taste great and they give a slightly rough surface after parboiling.

This helps to give a nice crunchy outer layer when roasted. Try and find a floury variety that will remain fluffy inside after roasting.

Anyway, with Maris Pipers I have found you cannot go wrong.

Follow the link for a bit more about Maris Pipers. You will probably have other varieties where you live.

crispy baked red potatoes
Best Crispy Oven Roasted Potatoes

The right equipment

Next, make sure you have the right baking tin to roast your potatoes in. I have tried all sorts of pans over the years, but I always come back to using my trusted Le Creuset cast iron roasting dish.

This equipment retains heat when it is removed from the oven and just browns and crisps the potatoes better. It may be heavier, but that also means it is pretty much indestructible (and the enamelled cast iron products come with a lifetime guarantee!)

Le Creuset Roaster

You may wish to cook your potatoes in the same pan as the meat, so that they take on the juices of the meat. But beware when cooking chicken as they do produce a large amount of fat when you roast them. Though this may taste wonderful, this is not so good for your arteries…..😃

And remember you may wish to retain some of the chicken juices for your gravy…..

Size is everything…

Then you need to make sure you cut the potatoes to the correct size. I have realised now that the key to good crispy roasted potatoes (roasties) every time is to cut them quite small (say about 5cm / 2 inches max.)

I used to cut them larger, but not only do they take longer to cook, but for some reason, they are harder to crisp up. The smaller they are the easier they crisp.

Best Crispy Oven Roasted Potatoes
Crispy Potatoes

The best fat for oven roasted potatoes

The type of fat you use is also important to get the best taste in your roasted crispy potatoes. I like to use goose fat or duck fat, as it imparts a wonderful taste to the potatoes as it creates a crispy external layer.

But some people swear by beef dripping to make their roasties. It does also work well and gives a good taste. But I like to use beef dripping to make french fries.

You can also use vegetable oil or sunflower oil, but they will not taste quite as good.

The temperature of the oven for your roast potatoes

The final trick is to get the temperature right. This depends on many factors :

  • what is your roast meat?
  • is it in the same oven?
  • your roasting dish
  • the size of your potatoes
  • type of roasting fat etc.
Best Crispy Oven Roasted Potatoes

But you may need to vary this depending on these factors. You can always check how you are getting on by checking your potatoes in the oven and regularly basting and turning them.

I will normally jack the temperature up to about 200C at the end of the roasting process while the roast meat is resting before serving.

roast chicken dinner
Crispy roast potatoes with a roast chicken dinner

Make sure you serve these potatoes with some tasty gravy, and I guarantee they will all get eaten. All my kids love them!

You can find out how to make a gravy recipe in my roast chicken recipe.

Enjoy!

How to make Crispy Oven Roasted Potatoes

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crispy roast potatoes

Best Crispy Oven Roasted Potatoes

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

These roast potatoes are deliciously crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Make sure you make more than you think you need, because they will all go, guaranteed!!

Ingredients

  • 500g Potatoes, peeled and halved (max. 5 cm / 2 inch sized)
  • 2 tbsp Goose or Duck fat
  • 2 tbsp plain flour
  • Salt and Pepper

Instructions

Preparation

  1. Boil a pan of water with a pinch of salt, and parboil the potatoes for about 8 minutes. The smaller they are, the quicker they will cook. Make sure they do not overcook in the pan. They should still be hard but just beginning to rough up on the outside when you drain them.
  2. Drain the potatoes in the pan. I use the pan lid to hold the potatoes in the pan while I drain the water into the sink. It saves having to wash a colander or sieve. 
  3. Then sprinkle the flour to the potatoes and leave to cool.
  4. In the meantime heat the oven to 190C and heat the fat in the roasting dish in the oven.
  5. Season the potatoes in the pan (I do this by holding the lid on the saucepan and carefully rotating it upside down). This roughens up the outside of the potatoes which will give them a lovely crispy outside.

Roasting

  1. When the oil is hot remove the roasting dish from the oven, then add the potatoes being careful not to splash yourself with boiling oil. Baste the potatoes with the hot oil using a spoon.
  2. Then place the roasting dish back in the oven checking every 20 minutes to turn and baste if necessary. If you have a roast in the same oven you should roast the potatoes at the same temperature as the roast meat. 
  3. When you remove your roast from the oven to rest, then turn up the temperature of the oven to 190C or 200C to crispen up the potatoes if need be. If you are just cooking potatoes in the oven, you can put the oven at 190C and they should be ready within about 45-50 minutes. 

Notes

Serve up together with the meat - so you can ration the number of potatoes people can have 😃. If your gravy is good I bet they will all get eaten!

Do not worry about roasting at a lower temperature for a longer period. You do need to cook the potatoes properly. But to get them crispy you will at some time have to raise the temperature of the oven to about 190C-200C for a period.

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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 3 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 230Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 10mgSodium: 119mgCarbohydrates: 39gFiber: 4gSugar: 2gProtein: 6g

This nutrition information was automatically calculated by Nutritionix, but may not be 100% accurate.

Did you make this recipe?

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Roasties are obviously a perfect accompaniment for roast beef, pork, chicken or lamb:
READ
Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding
READ
Roast Chicken Dinner
READ
Pot Roast Leg of Lamb
READ
Pot Roast Pheasant
READ
Roast Rack of Pork with Crispy Crackling

Below you will find some other fine accompaniments for any roast dinner:

READ
Oven Roasted Asparagus
READ
Baked Carrots with Garlic
READ
Oven Roasted Long Stem Broccoli
READ
Baked Breaded Cauliflower
READ
Brussels Sprouts and Chestnuts Recipe
READ
Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta
READ
Mashed Potato Recipe - Make the creamiest Mash
READ
Honey Roasted Parsnips

Hope you find some inspiration!

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Eloise

Saturday 7th of October 2023

I'm going to make the "Best Crispy Oven Roasted Potatoes". The instructions tell me to use the flour in both step 3 and step 5. I think step 5 is the place. Is that correct?

Gav

Saturday 7th of October 2023

Hi Eloise, Actually it is in step 3. Cannot believe it has only been noticed now!! Many thanks I will correct!

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