As a nation of roast potato lovers, we all have our own way of making roasties and I wanted to share with you mine. We love ours extra crispy so I coat them in flour and if you’ve never tried that before - you really must! I also love to amp up the flavour so I always add in a few split cloves of garlic, some sprigs of thyme or rosemary and a sprinkling of sea salt. This Crispy Roast Potatoes recipe is the only one I will ever use for a traditional roast dinner.
I’ll also show you two ways to prepare these in advance, saving you time on roast day - whether it be for Christmas or any other day of the year.
See how to adapt this recipe if you are eating with a baby or toddler here.
Making My Crispy Roast Potatoes
Watch me make my Crispy Roast Potatoes step-by-step here, before or as you cook.
Crispy Roast Potatoes Ingredients
The Potatoes
I always use Maris Piper potatoes to ensure that fluffiness on the inside we all love. King Edward potatoes are another option you can use in the UK and in the US, the best type of potato to go for is Russett.
The Flour
We are going to coat them in plain flour for extra crispiness. The key is to add the flour a little at a time, I recommend adding it in three goes, tossing the potatoes in between to achieve a more even coating. If you are doubling the quantity of potatoes to feed more people, you’ll have more flour and so you’ll want to add it in 5 or 6 goes.
The Oil / Fat
I almost always use olive oil to cook my Crispy Roast Potatoes. Occasionally I splurge on duck fat which is lovely and gives the potatoes a slightly meaty flavour.
You’ll want to turn each piece of potato around in the oil until it is completely coated in it for the crispiest potatoes.
If you use duck or goose fat, you will need to pop the oven tray in the oven first to melt the fat for 5 minutes then remove and very carefully turn the potatoes around in the fat until completely coated.
The Garlic
Adding in a few cloves of garlic will give your Crispy Roast Potatoes a flavour boost. And before you add the cloves in, use the back of a spoon to split them open a little to allow the flavour to infuse the oil and in turn coat the potatoes.
The Thyme / Rosemary
Much like the garlic, nestling in some sprigs of thyme or rosemary is going to add more flavour to the roast potatoes as they flavour the oil they are cooking in. I usually use thyme because it’s my absolute favourite, but rosemary will compliments your roast and the potatoes well too.
Sea Salt
You can of course use regular table salt, but if you have it, go for sea salt for that extra flavour and minerals.
Make Ahead Crispy Roast Potatoes
There are two ways you can prepare these potatoes in advance for roasting. I ALWAYS prep my root veg the day before when I’m doing roast for lunch, and at Christmas taking one more step into the cooking process is even better. You can either do this days in advance and chill or weeks or even months in advance and freeze.
Preparing the Potatoes in Advance
You can prep the potatoes up to 3 days before roasting. Once peeled and cut add them to a large bowl of cold water, cover and transfer to the fridge or even the garage (in winter) to chill. The water will keep them lovely and fresh and stop them going brown. If you are cooking other root vegetables like parsnips and carrots, these can also be prepared ready for roasting and added to cold water and chilled. It’s best to take them out the fridge about an hour before roasting to bring them up to room temp. Then drain right before cooking.
Parboiling the Potatoes in Advance
You can go a step further ahead of Christmas Day or your usual roast day and prep and parboil the potatoes. To do this, peel and cut the potatoes and then parboil, drain, fluff up and coat in flour as per the recipe. Then leave to cool completely before transferring to resealable food bags and chilling for 1-2 days, or freezing for up to 3 months. If you freeze them, defrost for 24 hours in the fridge. Take them out of the fridge one hour before roasting time to come up to room temp.
Pro Cook Tips
The cooking part if this recipe is a breeze! Just make sure you turn the potatoes half way (or a little over half way) through their cooking time. I have accounted for this in the cooking time so there is no need to pause the timer.
Kids Cook Too
Younger children can get involved by tossing the potatoes in the flour and coating them in the oil(not hot fat/oil).
My Crispy Roast Potatoes Pair Perfectly With…
Roast Potatoes to Feed a Crowd
Need to roast more potatoes? No problem! Just remember you’ll need to increase the amount of flour you toss the potatoes in and for every 200g / 7oz of additional potatoes, add an additional tablespoon of oil to the pan. Plus, if your roasting pan is crowded, you’ll need to add an extra 10-15 minutes to the cook time. When I cook roast for a family gathering of 10, I would do 2.5kg / 2.4lb of potatoes (basically doubling everything) and roast for an extra 10 minutes. I couldn’t do it without my extra large roasting pan though!
Storing My Cooked Crispy Roast Potatoes
You can store leftovers in an air-tight container or resealable food bag in the fridge for up to 3 days (2 + day of cook). You can also freeze them, just defrost for 24 hours in the fridge and reheat until steaming hot all the way through. If you reheat in the microwave, bear in mind they will lose all crispiness. Best way to reheat them is to cook them in the oven on 180ºc / 160ºc fan / 350ºf / gas 4 for 10 minutes.
For more on safe food storage and reheating read here >
Diet Details
My Crispy Roast Potatoes are diary, egg and nut-free.
Making My Crispy Roast Potatoes Baby & Toddler Friendly
There a few different ways to serve roast potatoes to babies.
Baby-Led Weaning
You can either cut larger roast potato pieces into wedges or you can slice open a roast potato and fork out the fluffy inside for them to grab handfuls of it. If you decide on wedges, ensure they are cut just under ½ inch wide.
Spoon-Fed Weaning
6-12 months
Slice the roast potato open and then using a fork, pull out all the fluffy soft potato from inside. You can add the potato to the rest of their meal in your stick blender pot or food chopper and whizz or pulse until you reach the desired constitency for your little one.
1 year +
Choose the least crispy potatoes and use a sharp knife and a fork to chop up into bitesize pieces for your little one.
I’ve also added these notes to the bottom of the recipe so you have them to hand when you come to cook. For more info on how I keep my family meals baby & toddler friendly, read here >
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CRISPY ROAST POTATOES
Equipment
- Large sieve or colander
- Small tongs, optional
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons olive oil or duck / goose fat see note 1
- Up to 1.2 kg fluffy potatoes like Maris Piper, King Edward or Russett (US) peeled & quartered (small ones halved) see note 2 for increasing quantity
- 50 g plain flour
- 3 thyme or rosemary sprigs
- 3 garlic cloves
- Sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Add the peeled potatoes to a large pan and fill with boiling kettle water. As soon as the water’s gone in, turn heat to high and cook for 13 minutes. Once the pan comes to the boil you can reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook on a rolling boil.
- Then drain the using a large colander. Toss the potatoes carefully in the colander to fluff up their outsides. Leaving the potatoes in the colander, rest it on top of the pan and leave to steam dry and cool for at least 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200ºc/180ºc fan/400ºf/gas 6. See notes for parboiling in advance.
- In the meantime, using the back of a spoon, apply pressure to one side of each garlic clove to split it open (only needs to be split in one place). Set aside with your thyme / rosemary sprigs.
- Add the potatoes to a large mixing bowl and add in about ⅓ of the flour. Toss through the potatoes with your hands gently. Then add another ⅓ of the flour and toss through, followed by the final ⅓ flour and a final toss.
- Add the oil to a large roasting pan (extra large if increasing quantity). Add in the potatoes and turn each piece around until fully coated in the oil. Then space out a little and nestle in the garlic cloves and the thyme sprigs. Sprinkle over your sea salt.
- Transfer to the top of the oven and cook for 25 minutes, then turn them, return to the oven and continue to roast for another 25-35 minutes. They should be crispy and golden-brown when done. If you are roasting more potatoes or doubling the recipe they will need an extra 10-20 minutes to allow for crowding.
Notes
MAKING IN ADVANCE
Can be prepped and parboiled up to 2 days in advance and stored in an airtight container or resealable food bag in the fridge. Wait until the potatoes have cooled completely before you chill them. To make them weeks or months in advance, freeze in resealable food bags. Alternatively, they can be peeled, chopped and chilled in a large lidded bowl filled with cold water for up to 3 days in the fridge.BABY & TODDLER
BABY LED WEANING
You can either serve larger potato pieces cut into wedges a little less than ½ inch wide, or cut open the potatoes and fork out the fluffy inside.
SPOON FEEDING
6-12 MONTHS slice the roast potato open and then using a fork, pull out all the fluffy soft potato from inside. You can add the potato to the rest of their meal in your stick blender pot or food chopper and whizz or pulse until you reach the desired constitency for your little one.
1 YEAR + choose the least crispy potatoes and use a sharp knife and a fork to chop up into bitesize pieces for your little one.
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