How to Roast Potatoes

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Heather says:

Roast potatoes are a simple side dish. This recipe comes together quickly and can easily be made while the main dish is cooked. In our home we use two different methods to roast potatoes.  Don’t forget that roast potatoes can serve as the basis for other one dish meals like homemade breakfast skillets.

Depending on time I use two methods to roast potatoes.

The first method to roast potatoes is very easy and yields good results with little effort.

How to Roast Potatoes

  • 4- 5  Yukon Gold or Idaho potatoes, scrubbed and cut into a 1″ dice
  • 2 TBSP olive oil
  • garlic powder, or Creole seasoning, or Ranch Mix, or Lawry’s, or or or -you get the idea, right? Season the potatoes as lightly or as heavily as you’d like with whatever seasoning floats your boat.
  • salt to taste
  • cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 425F.  Toss the diced potatoes in the olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning, skip the salt if there is salt in a spice mix. Spray the baking sheet with cooking spray and bake for 45 minutes or until the potatoes are a deep golden brown.

These make a great, no fuss side item. The potatoes are dense and flavorful. Don’t be scared to experiment with different flavor combinations to compliment your main dish.

Sometimes though, we want a fluffier version with a crispy outside and that requires two extra steps.

Roast Potatoes Method #2: The Great Parboil

Dice the potatoes into a 1″ dice and place in a pot. Cover with cold water and add a teaspoon or two of salt. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook for 8 minutes.

Drain the potatoes in a colander and wait until they stop steaming.

Shake the colander vigorously, sort of tossing the the potatoes about. This roughens the outside of the potatoes improving their texture and ability to hold seasoning in all the little nooks and crannies. Remember, the potatoes are shaken, not stirred.

Dump the potatoes onto a greased baking sheet (if I go to the trouble of parboiling the potatoes, I use olive oil with a pastry brush to grease the sheet).

Sprinkle with the desired seasoning and a little extra olive oil, if desired.

Bake for 45 minutes at 425F. Sometimes I turn the potatoes or give the baking sheet a good jiggle to move them around a bit halfway through, but the potatoes are just as lovely if I ignore them completely.

Optional Roast Potato Additions:

After the potatoes come out of the oven, they are ready to serve, but sometimes I take it an extra step.

For a breakfast skillet, sauté some diced onions and bell pepper* in olive oil, while the potatoes are cooking. If desired, add some diced ham or crumbled bacon. I’ve even enjoyed this with broccoli and cauliflower added to the mix.  Just make sure the vegetables are fork tender .

Just before serving, stir the potatoes with the sautéed vegetables, sprinkle with cheese -if desired- and top with a fried egg or two.

Enjoy.

*When bell peppers aren’t $2 each for the green ones, anyway. What is up with that? Is there a bell pepper blight or something I’m unaware of?

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17 thoughts on “How to Roast Potatoes”

  1. I'm wondering the same thing about the bell peppers! Red ones here are $2 EACH.

    I love roasted potatoes. My favorite way to do them is to use the red potatoes, dice, and mix with an equal amount olive oil and butter (not margerine), salt, pepper, garlic, and dill. YUM. You can also do them in a microwave. Seriously. It only takes about 15 minutes. Place them in a microwave safe casserole dish and cover with plastic wrap or a lid. I stir it about halfway through.

    Reply
  2. Re: red bell peppers – the least expensive way to get those is at a warehouse store like Sam's Club – they're closer to $1 each there.

    Reply
  3. I just picked up green peppers 2 for a $1.00 in MN! I recently found your site and made your chicken with peppers and mushrooms last night (because peppers were on sale and everything!) and WOW was it awesome. Can't wait to try some of your other recipes. Thanks for the fun site: )

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  4. So, you had three different ideas in this recipe, but I want to make sure I get the third one. Were you saying that once you have parboiled them, you then cook then in a skillet with the cheese and such? Or did you mean that once you have parboiled and roasted them, then you can also cook then in the skillet? I'm thinking it's the former, not the latter, but wanted to be sure.

    Also, I've done the first one lots of times. Everyone seems to like them a lot that way. And I was just looking at bell peppers tonight, and they were $1.50 each for organic, and maybe $1.20 for non-organic. I thought that was high, but $2 or more each is really a high price. Yikes. I love red bell peppers, and I always wish they were cheaper when I see them. We have been talking about starting a garden, but we'll see.

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    • I'll clarify in the post. The tossing with onions & bell peppers only happens after the potatoes come out of the oven.

      The red bell peppers have been 2.50ish. I have no idea what's going on down here, this isn't even for organic, just conventional produce. I don't enjoy going to the flea market for produce, it's a nightmare to enter that stall with kids, but. . .

      Reply
  5. Up in the grocery here (the really good one I trust) there have been signs up apologizing for the cost of the peppers and stating that their growing season wherever we're importing them from for the last couple months hasn't been good. Boo.

    Reply
  6. Tried doing potatoes in the microwave a few nights ago – disaster, as I got the timing wrong. Anyway tried them out again after reading your two methods above and although they were not officially ‘roasted’ being in the microwave, they came out really well, nice and powdery on the inside and I seasoned them with Italian herbs, salt and pepper, very tasty! Did them for twelve minutes as they were baby potatoes. Going to try the actual roast method in the oven for 45 minutes this weekend.

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