Best Crispy Oven Roasted Potatoes

Best Oven Roasted Crispy Potatoes Recipe

Roasted potatoes are one of the most common accompaniments to a typical British Sunday dinner. The best crispy oven roasted potatoes will be crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. This post includes some tips to help you produce the best roast potatoes in your kitchen.

In Britain, we have an age old tradition of having a roast meal on a Sunday. This might be a leg of lamb or a chicken or a cut of beef and it 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.

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.

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.

Le Creuset Roaster

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 best fat for roast 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 better taste to the potatoes.

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

The temperature of the oven

Finally, the last trick is to get the temperature right. This will depend on many factors including what your roast meat is and if it is in the same oven, your roasting dish, size of your potatoes, type of roasting fat etc.

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 them with the oil.

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.

 

How to make crispy roast potatoes in the oven

Best Crispy Oven Roasted Potatoes

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These roast potatoes are deliciously crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Make sure you make enough of them because they will go!

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 500g Potatoes, peeled and halved (max. 5 cm / 2 inch sized) - the best tasting local ones you can find
• 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 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 add the flour to the potatoes and leave to cool. I will then shake the pan around with the lid on top to roughen up the edges of the potatoes. This helps them to get a nice crispy outside.
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 and cover the potatoes with the flour and seasoning (I do this by holding the lid on the saucepan and carefully rotating it upside down, but not enough to damage the potatoes). This roughens up the outside of the potatoes which will give a lovely crispy outside.

Roasting

1. When the oil is hot then add the potatoes being careful not to splash yourself with boiling oil.
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 finish off 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 up the temperature of the oven to about 200C for a period.

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  Le Creuset Signature Cast Iron Rectangular Roaster, 7.0-Quart, Marseille

Roasties are obviously a perfect accompaniment for roast beef or roast chicken:

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

Hope you find some inspiration!

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