Our roasted potatoes have a gorgeous golden-brown color and a delicious contrast of textures with a buttery, tender, creamy interior and a tasty, crisp exterior.
The flavorful seasoning of herbs, spices, and olive oil makes them a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. They are the perfect side dish, from cozy family dinners to festive holiday meals.
Table of Contents
Oven-roasted potatoes can be tricky to master! Here you’ll learn a few simple tips to make the best oven-roasted potatoes.
From this recipe, you can expect potatoes that are:
- Buttery-creamy, and an ultra-tender texture inside.
- Never dry and with the perfect amount of moisture.
- With a gorgeous and delicious golden brown crust.
- Packed with flavor thanks to a simple spice mix.
The secret? Three easy steps:
- Boil the potatoes in lightly salted water for 6 minutes.
- Season them with herbs, spices, and olive oil.
- Roast them at high temperature!
Blanching helps the potatoes warm, soften, and cook on the inside without drying out – which is key!
Our roasted potatoes are excellent as an appetizer or side dish; we even love them as a healthier alternative to french fries.
Ingredients & Substitutions
Quantities are in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.
Potatoes
You can make oven-roasted potatoes with Yukon Gold potatoes; they are widely available, have yellow flesh thin skin, and are suitable for most cooking methods.
You don’t have to peel the potatoes, but you can if you want to.
Red potatoes, fingerling potatoes, and russet potatoes are also excellent for roasting.
Extra virgin olive oil
Choose a good quality extra virgin olive oil to roast your potatoes. Good quality EVOO adds a nutty and fruity flavor to the potato, and it helps them roast evenly.
Also, thanks to its high polyphenol content, EVOO is the most stable oil at high temperatures, resulting in a healthier roasted dish.
Avoid generic vegetable oils, canola oil, sunflower oil, and refined oils in general. They don’t taste good, and they are not as healthy.
Herbs
You can season your potatoes with fresh herbs and dry herbs.
We like combining fresh rosemary with dried thyme for an earthy, aromatic, rich flavor.
You can also use fresh or dried sage or an Italian herb mix.
Spices
Add a few cloves of crushed garlic to infuse the potatoes with a light garlic aroma without overpowering the dish.
We also like to add paprika for a richer flavor.
Other spices that work well with roasted potatoes are smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, and chipotle powder.
Salt and pepper
We recommend sea salt or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
How to make roasted potatoes
Preheat the oven to 430°F or 220°C.
Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise, then in quarters, and finally into large bite-size chunks of about 1.3 inches (3.5 cm).
Boil (blanch) the potatoes in a large pot of lightly salted boiling water for six minutes.
Drain them and add them to a large bowl. Season them with extra virgin olive oil, crushed garlic cloves, chopped rosemary needles, thyme, paprika, salt, and black pepper.
Toss gently to spread the seasoning, then arrange the potatoes on the baking sheet on a single layer without overlapping or overcrowding.
Roast at 430°F or 220°C for about 30 minutes or until the potatoes are fork-tender and have a golden-brown crust.
Note: You can flip them around with a spatula halfway through cooking, but we prefer not to do that because we like a more developed crust on one side.
Serving suggestions
As a side dish
Oven-roasted potatoes are obviously good with any meat, such as steak, chicken, turkey, meatloaf, and more.
But since we do primarily vegetarian recipes on this blog, we can also recommend them with one of our meatless protein-rich main. In particular, try our:
- Mushroom Wellington with a side of roasted potatoes and mushroom gravy.
- Zucchini boats with a rich lentil filling.
- Tofu with cacciatore sauce
- BBQ Tofu served in a bun with coleslaw.
- Tofu scaloppine with mushroom sauce.
As an appetizer
You can also serve roasted potatoes as an appetizer. Sprinkle them with fresh herbs (parsley, chives, coriander, etc.) and serve them next to a creamy dip like:
Variations
Air Fryer Potatoes
Air fryer potatoes are an excellent side dish with a tender, almost buttery core and finger-licking good, crispy skin.
Check out our air fryer potato recipe.
Roasted potatoes and carrots
Roasted potatoes and carrots are an excellent combination. They are perfect for festive holiday dinners. Everyone at the table will take seconds!
Check out our roasted carrots and potatoes.
Smashed roasted potatoes
Crispy smashed potatoes are a finger-licking delicious potato appetizer, side dish, or snack for a fun everyday dinner or a special meal.
Check out our smashed potato recipe.
Roasted potatoes and artichokes
Roasted artichokes are perfect with potatoes and cook at about the same time.
Check out our roasted artichokes with potatoes.
Roasted Potatoes with Breadcrumbs
Roasted potatoes with breadcrumbs are a delicious alternative to classic oven-roasted potatoes. To make them, you’ll need:
| 1 pound Potatoes |
| 1 cup Breadcrumbs |
| 5 sprigs Rosemary |
| 2 tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil |
| 3 cloves Garlic |
| 1 teaspoon Salt |
| 1/4 teaspoon Black pepper |
- Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Mix breadcrumbs, olive oil, chopped rosemary, salt, and black pepper in a large bowl.
- Wash and peel the potatoes, then cut them into wedges.
- Toss the potatoes in the breadcrumbs, then arrange the wedges flat on the baking sheet.
- Add crushed garlic and a drizzle of olive oil, then bake for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown outside and tender inside.
Roasted sweet potatoes
Roasted sweet potatoes are an excellent alternative to oven-roasted potatoes. They are easy to make, with the same ingredients, and have a shorter cooking time.
Also, sweet potatoes don’t require blanching before roasting.
Check out our roasted sweet potato recipes.
Questions
We recommend blanching the potatoes for six minutes before roasting them because they will turn out creamy, tender inside, and crispy outside without drying out as they bake.
You can make roasted potatoes without boiling them first; however, they might turn out harder and dryer on the inside and overcooked on the outside and will take about 10 to 20 minutes longer to bake. Blanching solves this problem.
If you peel the potatoes, you should soak them in cold water while you finish peeling the whole batch.
You soak potatoes in cold water because they will turn dark if let in the air due to oxidation. Water protects them from turning dark.
Also, water will remove some of their starch, making them crispier once baked.
Yes, you can cut the potatoes up to 12 hours in advance and leave them in a bowl with cold water in the refrigerator.
When ready, take them out of the water, rinse them with fresh tap water, and use them as described in the recipe.
Yes, you can. Of course, the potatoes won’t taste the same and will take a few minutes longer to cook.
Storage
Make ahead: it’s best to roast the potatoes before serving them. However, you can parboil them the day before, cool them at room temperature, and store them in the fridge. When you are ready to cook them, toss them in the seasoning and bake.
Refrigerator: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 48 hours.
Reheat: warm them in a preheated oven at 360°F or 180°C for 10 minutes in the air fryer or the microwave. Alternatively, you can reheat them on a skillet or nonstick pan with a drizzle of olive oil.
More Potato Recipes
If you liked these roasted potatoes, you might also enjoy our other potato favorites:
- Potato gnocchi: excellent with a rich marinara sauce or lentil bolognese.
- Potato leek soup (leek, potato, Greek-style yogurt, chives, nutmeg, thyme, etc.)
- Aloo Gobi (cauliflower, turmeric, potato, olive oil, garlic, ginger, onion, etc.)
- Mashed potatoes (potato, plant milk, butter or vegan butter, chives, nutmeg, etc.)
- Dill potato salad (vegan mayo, radish, dill pickles, celery, red onion, yogurt, etc.)
- Oven-baked potato frittata (without eggs and with chickpea flour)
More Roasted Vegetable Recipes
- Roasted vegetables: are perfect in rice salad and couscous.
- Roasted broccoli: with a mustard dressing or parmesan cheese.
- Easy roasted eggplant with garlic and fresh herbs.
- Roasted cauliflower florets: perfect for pasta and salads!
- Tender roasted Brussels sprouts with a creamy mustard vinaigrette.
- Roasted peppers: Learn how to roast and marinate bell peppers.
For many more side dish ideas, check out our sides category page.
Roasted Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2½ pounds potatoes Yukon Gold, Red, or Russet
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 2 sprigs rosemary the needles, chopped
- ½ teaspoon thyme
- 3 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 twists black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 430°F or 220°C.Cut 2½ pounds potatoes in half lengthwise, then in quarters, and finally into large bite-size chunks of about 1.3 inches (3.5 cm).Note: we keep the skin on but you can peel them if you prefer.
- Boil the potatoes in a large pot of lightly salted boiling water for six minutes.
- Drain them and add them to a large bowl. Season with 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 1 teaspoon paprika, 2 sprigs rosemary (the needles, chopped), ½ teaspoon thyme, 3 cloves garlic (crushed), 1 teaspoon salt, and 2 twists black pepper.
- Toss gently to spread the seasoning, then arrange the potatoes on the baking sheet on a single layer without overlapping or overcrowding.
- Roast at 430°F or 220°C for about 30 minutes or until the potatoes are fork-tender and have a golden-brown crust.
- Serve as a side dish or appetizer.
Notes
Nutrition
If you liked this roasted potatoes recipe, you might also enjoy:
