This recipe for Crispy Herb Roasted Potatoes makes positively delicious, crispy, creamy and rich potatoes. The crispy exterior is coated in a bit of butter and herb while the inside is fluffy and creamy like mashed potatoes.
This recipe was inspired by an oven-baked French fries recipes I developed back in my food magazine days. For that recipe I cooked russet potatoes in acidulated water to change the Ph of the water and help create an extra crispy exterior. This recipe for oven-roasted potatoes takes similar inspiration, along with some basic food science, to create ultra crispy exteriors yet light and creamy interiors.
We eat a lot of potatoes in my household (it's right up there with all that pasta my family eats). I love them mashed like in our Yukon Golden Mashed Potatoes with Sour Cream recipe or air fried like these Air Fryer Steak Fries or Air Fryer Smashed Parmesan Potatoes.
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Ingredients that Matter
This recipe calls for a handful of fresh ingredients along with some easy-to-find pantry staples. Here are the ingredients you'll need for this recipe:
- Yukon Gold Potatoes. You don't have to use Yukon gold potatoes, but here's why I recommend choosing them for this recipe. First, they are buttery and slightly waxy, meaning the interiors will be creamy when cooked (as opposed to russets, which are starchier and will make for fluffier, airier roasted potatoes). Plus, they are readily available all year round in just about every grocery store.
- Baking Soda. Cooking potatoes in alkaline water helps the spuds breakdown (using acidulated water, by adding vinegar, does the opposite). Growing up, your mom or grandma (or father or grandfather) may have always added a pinch of baking soda to potato cooking liquid for this very reason. Just a teaspoon to 8 cups of water makes for super light and creamy spuds.
- Herbs. Roasted potatoes go very well with woody herbs like sage, rosemary and thyme. Use fresh if you can, but dried (use a third of the volume compared to fresh) will also work.
- Salt. A good amount of salt in the potato cooking liquid helps season the potatoes, but also helps make for creamy interiors (think salt potatoes!).
- Oil and Butter. Use regular olive oil and melted unsalted butter. The butter is there purely for flavor, so if you want you can just use olive oil (double the volume of the oil if not using the butter).
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
I'll go into a good amount of details on how this recipe comes together, but don't let that confuse you! This recipe is super easy and requires very little attention on your end. Here is how the recipe comes together:
Start by peeling the potatoes then cutting into oblong 1-inch pieces. You can simply cube them or roughly chop them, but I like funky size potatoes so there's more surface area for crispy bits. You can store the peeled and chopped potatoes in water (completely covered) and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 day.
Add water to a large pot then add the potatoes, salt and baking soda. Gently stir. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat then reduce heat to maintain a low simmer and cook until tender but not completely cooked through, about 10 minutes.
While the potatoes cook, add the melted butter, oil and fresh chopped herbs to a large bowl and stir to combine. Set aside. Preheat oven to 450F.
Once cooked, drain the potatoes well then return to the pot and turn the heat to medium. Cook, gently shaking the pan to prevent scorching, until dried out, 1-2 minutes.
Carefully add the potatoes to the bowl with the herbs and toss to coat.
Place potatoes on a parchment-lined baking sheet in a single layer. Scoop out any leftover herb mixture and drizzle over potatoes. Transfer to the oven and roast until crispy, 30-40 minutes. Stir halfway through.
The potatoes should be golden brown on all sides. Shake the pan halfway through and flip.
Sprinkle the potatoes with salt to taste and transfer to a serving dish. Serve immediately. If you want, par cook the potatoes for 25 minutes and set aside on the counter for up to 1 hour, then return to the oven to finish roasting just before serving.
Substitutions
There are plenty of ways to change up the ingredients of this recipe. Read below if you need to make some tweaks:
- Butter - If you want to make this recipe vegan or dairy-free, simply leave out the butter and double the amount of oil.
- Herbs - Don't like sage, rosemary and thyme? You can instead finish the potatoes with fresh parsley, chives or even tarragon.
- Seasoning - The sky is the limit when it comes to seasoning these spuds! Try adding garlic and onion powder, paprika, cumin, chili powder or coriander instead of the fresh herbs.
Potato Varieties
There are a handful of varieties of potatoes that work well for roasted potatoes. The potatoes you choose really have to do with what type of roasted potato you want. If you want crispy exteriors and creamy interiors, stick with Yukon golds. For crispy exteriors and light and fluffy interiors, use russet potatoes. And if you want less crispy exteriors and very creamy interiors, use a red potato.
The choice has to do with the water content of potatoes. In the book On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee, potatoes are essentially broken into two categories, mealy and waxy. Mealy potatoes, like russets, blue, fingerlings, tend to swell and separate as they cook, making for a fluffy texture. Meanwhile, waxy potatoes, like red and white spuds, when cooked are moist and more solid. Yukon golds fall somewhere in between, though they tend to be more waxy than mealy.
Speaking of McGee, I strongly recommend picking up a copy of On Food and Cooking as it is, essentially, an encyclopedia for all things culinary arts! I've had a copy since culinary school and use it regularly for reference.
Equipment
This recipe really only requires a good quality baking sheet like this Nordic Ware 3 Piece Baker's Delight Set. In addition, using parchment paper makes for easy cleanup! I like to have precut sheets, like this SmarTake Unbleached Parchment Paper Sheets.
Storage and Make-Ahead
There are a couple options to make these spuds ahead. First, you can peel and cut the potatoes and store covered in water (store the container in the refrigerator) for up to 1 day. This works well if you are prepping food for a big holiday meal.
If you want to cook them ahead, you can par-cook the potatoes just until simmered then cool and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 day. Or roast for about 20-25 minutes, then cool and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 day.
Finally, store fully cooked leftover potatoes in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Reheat in a hot oven for about 10-15 minutes, until sizzling.
FAQ
Nope, the butter in this recipe is there strictly for flavor. If you want to leave it out, simply use olive oil to roast the potatoes.
You want a very hot oven, 425F to 450F, for perfectly crispy roasted potatoes.
Roasting precooked (simmered in water first then dried) takes about 30 minutes. If you chose not to simmer the potatoes first, it'll take about 45 minutes.
Simmering potatoes in water with baking soda and salt helps breakdown the exterior of the potatoes, making for incredibly crispy roasted potatoes. Plus, it helps make for creamier interiors that are well seasoned.
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Recipe
Crispy Herb Roasted Potatoes
- Total Time: 50 min.
- Yield: 4 cups 1x
Description
This recipe for Crispy Herb Roasted Potatoes makes positively delicious, crispy, creamy and rich potatoes. The crispy exterior is coated in a bit of butter and herbs while the inside is fluffy and creamy like mashed potatoes.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs. Yukon gold potatoes
- 8 cups water
- 1 Tbsp. table salt, plus more to taste
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 2 Tbsp. melted unsalted butter
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh woody herbs (such as rosemary, thyme and sage), plus more for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Peel the potatoes and cut into 1-inch oblong pieces, or roughly chop into 1-inch cubes. If making ahead, place in a container and cover with water. Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 day and drain and rinse before using.Â
- Add potatoes, water, salt and baking soda to a large pot and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to maintain a low simmer and cook until almost tender, but still slightly firm, about 10 minutes.
- While the potatoes cook, stir together in a large bowl the melted butter, oil and herbs.
- Drain potatoes then return to the pot. Heat over medium and cook, shaking the pan occasionally to prevent scorching, until the potatoes are very dry, 1-2 minutes. Carefully add the potatoes to the bowl with the herbs and toss well to coat. Transfer potatoes to the prepared baking sheet in a single layer then roast until golden brown and crispy on all sides, 30-40 minutes, stirring and flipping the potatoes halfway through cooking. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with more salt to taste and serve garnished with more fresh herbs.
Notes
- This recipe makes about 4 cups of potatoes, which is a good amount to serve 4 as a side. If you want to make this recipe for more people, simply double the recipe. Use two baking sheets as to not overcrowd the potatoes.
- Store leftover potatoes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. To reheat, heat potatoes on a baking sheet in a 400F oven until sizzling, about 10 minutes.
- If you are making this for a big meal, you can make ahead by par-cooking the potatoes. Simmer then drain and cool and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. You can also roast the potatoes for about 20-25 minutes then set aside on the counter for up to 1 hour and return to the oven to finish cooking for another 10-15 minutes before serving.
- Consider adding more seasoning like black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, cumin, coriander or chili powder, if desired.
- If you don't like sage, rosemary and thyme, try using dried herbs like Italian seasoning or finish the roasted potatoes with parsley, chives or tarragon.
- Prep Time: 10 min.
- Cook Time: 40 min.
- Category: Sides
- Method: Roasting
- Cuisine: American
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