Nothing beats a side of Crunchy, Crispy Roast Potatoes with a soft and fluffy potato centre.Your friends and family will go nuts over these super crispy, super tasty roast potatoes.

Crispy roast potatoes have nothing to do with luck. This is a foolproof method for getting AMAZING crispy (yes, CRUNCHY KIND OF CRISPY) roast potatoes every single time! Once you've cooked them like this, you will never do it any other way.

What Potatoes Are Best For Roasting?

I know that most recipes recommend you use a Waxy potato to make your roast potatoes as they hold their shape well, but I'm going to go against the trend here and suggest you give a floury potato a try (you can use a general purpose potato too - these are usually the budget variety you buy in the big value bags at your supermarket).

The reason for this is that when you cook a floury potato, it has two unique characteristics:

The moisture content is low so the potato starts to roast as soon as it hits the oven
The outside of the cooked potato gets a little mashy and this is the bit that forms that oh so yummy crispy crust around your potatoes.

Floury VS Waxy Potatoes

Not all potatoes are created equal. The result you're getting in your recipes can depend on the type of potato you're using in your cooking. You need to keep texture in mind to get the result you want.

Potatoes varieties can vary from region to region, but are all generally divided into three categories:

Floury: These potatoes are "Fluffy on the Inside" when cooked. They are best suited to mashing, baking, roasting, frying. Examples of floury potatoes: Russet
Waxy: These are "Smooth on the Inside" and are great for boiling, braising, stewing as they keep their shape when cooking for long periods. New season potatoes are normally waxy and develop a floury texture the longer they are left to grow. Examples of waxy potatoes: Yukon Gold
General Purpose: these potatoes lie somewhere "Between Smooth and Fluffy". You can use them for pretty much any recipe, and they work (almost) as well - which suits many of us Mom cooks. Examples of general purpose potatoes: White potatoes

How To Make Crispy Roast Potatoes

Boil your Water - Get your pot of water boiling BEFORE adding your potatoes.
Add Salt - Add salt to your boiling water. I add ½ teaspoon of salt per litre of water.
Pre-heat your baking tray before adding your potatoes to the oven
Shake up your potatoes - Once your potatoes are cooked through (test this out by sticking a fork through them. They should feel soft), drain them in a colander. Give your cooked potatoes a good shake in a colander when draining. This mashes the outsides of your potatoes abit which is the part that crisps up in the oven.
Hot and long - you can't rush good roast potatoes. Your oven needs to be hotter than usual and be prepared to let your potatoes bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Ovens can be temperamental. If your oven runs on the hot side, check your potatoes in the last 10 minutes of baking to ensure they don't burn. About half way through cooking, give the tray a little shake to turn the potatoes a bit so that you give them an even roast all over.
Serve immediately - Roast potatoes are best served hot straight out the oven. If you want those 'ooohs and aaaahs' from your dinner guests (who am I kidding? When I say dinner guests, I mean kids and husband), then time it so that the rest of your dinner is ready to serve when those potatoes come out of the oven.

RECIPE TIPS

Don't overcrowd the potatoes on the pan. Overcrowding will cause your potatoes to steam instead of roast. The hot air needs to move freely around each potato.
Avoid hot water splashes. If you are worried about boiling water splashing on you when adding your potatoes to the pot, then either use a ladle to place the potatoes in the water OR boil your water in the kettle first, add your potatoes to an empty pot and pour the boiling water from the kettle into the pot after. This is a great way to do it if you've got kids helping in the kithen.

MORE VEGETABLE SIDES

clean eating vegetable side - crispy roast potato side

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Crispy Roast Potatoes

Course Clean Eating, Dinner, Sides, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Cuisine Clean Eating

Servings

Calories 51kcal

Author Stephanie

Ingredients

2 lb Potatoes general purpose or Floury - peeled, chopped into 1 inch pieces
2 tbsp olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ tablespoon dried rosemary
½ tbsp butter

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400F / 200C
Peel and wash your potatoes. Cut them into the size you'd like. I tend to quarter medium potatoes and half the smaller ones.
Bring a large pot of water to the boil, add 1 teaspoon salt. Boil water enough water to cover the potatoes (about 1 - 2 inches higher than the potatoes).
Salt the water. ½ teaspoon per litre of water. This will be drained later.
Once your water is boiling, add your peeled and chopped potatoes to the pot. Boil for 8 minutes until tender (test by putting a fork through them).
Use a colander to drain your potatoes. While in the colander, give the potatoes a little shake - you want to roughen up the edges of the potatoes without breaking them into little bits. So don't go crazy shaking them up. Just a little shake. Set aside to give the potatoes time to dry completely as the water evaporates from their surface.
While the potatoes are boiling, pop the baking tray in the hot oven for a couple minutes.
Use oven gloves to remove the hot tray from the oven and lay your cooked, roughed up potatoes on the tray. Pour the olive oil over the top of them, season with salt and pepper and place them in the oven. Make sure that you don't overcrowd your potatoes on the pan.
Bake for 20 minutes until the undersides of the potatoes start to golden. Use tongs to flip carefully and return to oven for an additional 20 minutes.
In a small bowl melt butter and rosemary together. In the final 5 minutes of cooking your potatoes, pour the butter and rosemary over the top of your potatoes.
Serve whilst hot.