Perfect roast potatoes, crunchy outside and fluffy inside
Genuinely crispy roast potatoes: parboiled, shaken to roughen the surface and roasted with rosemary and garlic until deeply golden and crunchy.
Are you looking for a way to make roast potatoes that are genuinely crunchy, rather than the pale soft ones that usually come out of the tray?
Then this is the recipe you need. I will walk you through the three steps that turn ordinary potatoes into a side dish with a thick golden crust and a soft, creamy centre, with no frying involved.
The first is parboiling with a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda, which raises the pH of the water and softens the outer surface. The second is shaking the drained pan, so that surface breaks up and coats itself in starch. The third is the scorching tray with already hot oil, which makes the potatoes sizzle from the first second.
There are at least three good reasons to do it this way: four ingredients you already have, no deep frying and no equipment, and a side that goes with any meat, fish or vegetable main.
The most common mistake is crowding the tray. Potatoes need space around them to let moisture escape: piled up, they steam and stay soft no matter how hot the oven. Two trays beat one overloaded one.
Serve them straight from the oven, when the crust is at its peak, with coarse salt and crisp rosemary. Sadly they do not wait: after half an hour they lose much of their magic.
Ready? Let’s get started with perfect crispy roast potatoes.
To make this recipe
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Oven tray or baking dish
Perfect for baking meatballs and vegetables. Choose a non-stick tray for better results and easy cleaning.
Steps
- Peel the potatoes and cut them into large irregular chunks of about four centimetres: those rough edges are the surfaces that will turn crunchy.
- Put them in a pan of cold salted water with the bicarbonate, bring to the boil and cook for 8 minutes from boiling, until the edges start to soften but the centre stays firm.
- Drain them well and let them sit for two minutes in the hot pan, so the remaining steam evaporates completely.
- Cover the pan and shake it firmly three or four times: the surface of the potatoes breaks up and takes on a starchy coating. That coating is what becomes the crust.
- Heat the tray with the oil in the oven at 220°C (425°F) for five minutes: the potatoes must sizzle the moment they land, otherwise they absorb oil instead of frying in it.
- Spread the potatoes well apart on the hot tray, turn them once to coat them and roast for 25 minutes without touching them.
- Add the unpeeled garlic and the rosemary, turn the potatoes with a spatula and roast for another 15 to 20 minutes, until deep golden and crunchy. Season only at the end with coarse salt and pepper.
Helpful tips
The bicarbonate in the cooking water raises the pH and breaks down the potato surface: this is the trick that multiplies crispiness.
Do not crowd the tray: the potatoes need space around them or they steam and stay soft.
Salt only at the end: salting early draws out water and softens the crust.
Add the rosemary halfway through, otherwise it burns and turns bitter.
Average nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 290 kcal
- Carbohydrates
- 42.0 g
- Sugars
- 2.0 g
- Protein
- 5.0 g
- Fat
- 11.0 g
- Saturated fat
- 1.5 g
- Fiber
- 4.0 g
- Sodium
- 320 mg
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