How to Make Perfect Roasted Potatoes (English Style Roasted Potatoes). Forget mashed, roast those potatoes! Learn how to create a crispy outside with a steaming fluffy inside every time. Great with roast chicken, beef or pork and wonderful served with roasted garlic and sour cream. Soooo delicious.
How to make Perfect English Style Roasted Potatoes
The time has come for a potato revolution.
To be clear at the outset, I am not here to disparage the simple but somewhat utilitarian boiled potato. The boiled potato stands on its own merits and has served many a Jigg’s Dinner admirably over the centuries.
Even if familiarity has not bred contempt for this most common of boiled vegetables, one could never be blamed for proclaiming it…well, not to be unkind but…boring.
Crispy, creamy potatoes made even better with roasted garlic.
Having taken so much of our culinary heritage in this province from the United Kingdom, I have always thought it curiously surprising that we never adopted the iconic British roast potato into our own traditional fare.
If a juicy beef joint or succulent chicken is king of the time-honoured British “Sunday Roast”, then the roast potato is certainly a crown prince.
Roasted in oil, butter, or even in goose or other animal fat, no proper British Sunday dinner would be complete without them and once you’ve sampled a well prepared roast potato, I’ve no doubt you’ll discover why.
These Roasted Potatoes are so easy to prepare.
The straight-forward method of making these is also the secret to their success. The potatoes are parboiled before roasting, which loosens up the starches at the surface.
A “dry” potato like a plain, dependable, old russet variety is best for roast potatoes because their surface starches break down more easily. The fat then combines with those surface starches to create a crispy exterior which surrounds a piping hot, almost creamy, center.
With their crispy jackets and steaming fluffy inside, my family finds these spuds irresistible. My ten year old son, in particular, loves them; often having second and third helpings.
You may also want to try these Lemon Herb Roasted Potatoes. So crispy & delicious!
We like to roast garlic along with the potatoes. We love to squeeze the sweet, sticky, roasted cloves onto our plates to be eaten along with the potatoes and a generous dollop of sour cream; truly one of the simplest and best things I have ever eaten.
Give this almost effortless recipe a try and you’ll see why I say so. Viva la revolution!
Like this English Style Roasted Potatoes recipe?
You’ll find lots of other great ideas in our Side Dishes Category. For great weekend cooking ideas, be sure to check out our Slow Cooked Sundays Category.
To keep up with the latest home style cooking & baking ideas from Rock Recipes plus daily recipe suggestions from decadent desserts to quick delicious weekday meals, be sure to follow Rock Recipes Facebook Page and follow us on Instagram.
You may also want to check out our Thanksgiving Side Dishes.
- 6 medium to large sized russet potatoes peeled
- ¼ cup olive oil butter or other oil will work as well; a butter/olive oil combination is very good too
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp cracked black pepper
- 1 whole garlic bulb broken into about 4 pieces optional
-
Parboil the potatoes in salted water for about 5 minutes. Some people prefer to boil them longer; up to 8 minutes or so. This will produce a thicker and crispier jacket to the potato if you prefer.
-
Meanwhile in a 375 degree F oven, heat a baking pan of sufficient size to hold your potatoes without crowding them. A glass or metal pan is fine, as long as it is well heated beforehand. This will help to prevent the potatoes from sticking to the pan.
-
After parboiling, drain the potatoes and let them stand for 5 minutes. Then toss the potatoes with the olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic cloves.
-
Transfer the seasoned potatoes, garlic and oil to the hot baking pan. These should sizzle as they hit the pan; a good indication that they will not stick.
-
Roast the potatoes for about 1¼ to 1½ hours or until they are nicely golden brown all over, turning them every 20 minutes or so.
-
After the first 10 minutes, give the pan a shake to make sure the potatoes are not stuck to it.
-
The roasted garlic will have to be removed before the potatoes are finished as it generally cooks faster. 45 minutes or less should be enough to fully cook the roasted garlic.
Rock Recipes a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Our product recommendations are almost exclusively for those we currently use or have used in the past.
Luciana
February 24, 2010 at 12:45 pmThanks, your post is very useful, I will to cook the potatoes in this way…a kiss by Luciana
Rachael
February 24, 2010 at 1:33 pmOne thing I would say is to shake the pan after they’ve boiled.
bashing them up gives you lovely crispy edges 😀
doggybloggy
February 27, 2010 at 12:11 pmnice potato
Elin
September 6, 2010 at 7:18 amI am not wrong when I say I love your blog :p I love russet potatoes cooked with herbs. And garlic is my favorite herb 🙂 This is just perfect sides for my roast . Thanks Barry for sharing this . You have just given me an idea how to prepare and get the best out of russet potatoes 🙂
Michelle D
February 13, 2011 at 3:51 pmThese look so good! I am going to make these for supper tonight, now what to serve with them!!
grumergirl
May 20, 2011 at 4:03 amThese were the best roast potatoes ever! Thanks for the recipe!
Anonymous
June 12, 2012 at 11:23 pmThanks for the tip on the hot an always wondered why would stick.
We love roasted potatoes no roast beef dinner would be complete without them and now minevwon’t stick anymore.
Anonymous
June 12, 2012 at 11:42 pmknew i had read thia recipe somewhere before ,but couldnt remember what to cook on them ,so used a lot of different herbs& cheese,hehe….now i know the real recipe.must try it soon .thanks
Anonymous
July 5, 2012 at 7:27 pmDo you put the potatoes in cold water, than bring it to a boil, or do you add the potatoes to boiling water?
Barry C. Parsons
July 6, 2012 at 10:00 amI add them to boiling water and only count the boiling time from when they begin to boil.
Anonymous
July 17, 2012 at 8:48 amThank you, thank you. I will use this recipe for the rest of my days. I made these for my fiance and I, and we cannot get enough. I served them with a beef roast and it was a tremendous success. I have attached a photo.
I followed the recipe exactly. I sprinkled a bit of rosemary and oregano in the pan before I added the potato. Yummy!
Happy roasting! :o)
http://i45.tinypic.com/2uzw8xv.jpg
Barry C. Parsons
July 17, 2012 at 10:05 amThanks so much for sharing your photo! That potato made me drool! These potatoes are the bomb! We absolutely love them in our family.
Anonymous
September 24, 2012 at 12:03 amI made these potatoes. They are to die for. This only was to eat a potatoes. You 1st enjoy the outside crunch and you have the mash potato inside. Omg goodness
lisa
November 14, 2016 at 3:22 amNot sure if I’m missing something . .do I peel the potatoes?
What makes them look like the picture
Barry C. Parsons
November 14, 2016 at 3:54 pmYes the potatoes are peeled.
Cara Suley
October 2, 2012 at 8:56 pmJust made these potatoes for me and my husband, and they were the best baked potato I have ever eaten. I can’t wait to make them again for company. The skin was so favorfull and they were cooked to perfection. Not a hard spot in them.
Anonymous
December 25, 2012 at 12:08 amTried these today, and thumbs-up from everyone aged 5 to 40!
Sharon
April 30, 2013 at 3:50 amAwesome pic! I grew up in NB. Live in Walla Walla, Wa now. But am British, my Mum and Nana made some wicked roast potatoes.
This is the first time I’ve looked at your blog. My GF was RCMP in Harbor Grace and gave me local church lady cookbook. Love it!
penny
May 9, 2013 at 1:08 amMade these tonight. They were wonderful. Even my picky two year old loved them! Thank you for sharing.
Sandi
December 22, 2014 at 5:07 pmDid you slice the potatoes in half lengthwise? Or are they roasted whole? I can’t wait to try this for our Christmas dinner this year. Thank you for sharing this recipe. Merry Christmas!
Barry C. Parsons
December 24, 2014 at 9:19 amAny way you like them. I cut them to even out the different sizes if necessary.
Kahlen
February 20, 2015 at 4:40 pmThese look so yummy. I’m looking for a way to bake white-sweet potatoes tonight to pour chili on. Can you think I do this with sweet potatoes (not yams)? 🙂 Also, I plan to bake them whole, if that will work.
Thanks in advance for your help! 🙂
Barry C. Parsons
March 25, 2015 at 5:10 pmA lot of water in sweet potatoes. Not really possible.
toni
March 26, 2015 at 6:05 pmI’m cooking the English style roasted potatoes as I’m texting this,omg the smell alone is phenominal!I’m making baked pork steaks,with the potatoes,corn and sweet yeast rolls with whipped honey butter,omg I cannot wait for dinner,thankyou so much for your fantastic recipes,this one is definately a keeper!!!
Joanne
February 28, 2016 at 10:11 pmHi Barry, I made these tonight with braised roast beef (French onion) also a recipe from your site – which I highly recommend as it is the best roast I have ever cooked, according to my husband! These potatoes are delicious! I tried them without gravy and they were yummy and then with the gravy was the kicker! Lol Thanks for posting all this deliciousness 😊
Barry C. Parsons
February 29, 2016 at 3:29 pmNow that’s a comfort food meal to love!
Anne from Pintesting
November 24, 2016 at 6:34 pmI made these as part of our Thanksgiving dinner. I wanted something different than mashed potatoes and these were perfect. We thought they were delicious! I’ll be making them again for sure. Thank you for the wonderful recipe. 😀
Gabriel
December 11, 2016 at 11:47 pmMade these for the first time tonight I done them in butter, goose fat and a little mazola oil. Being from Ireland we do our roasties in a frying pan with the turkey drippings.
But these ones will become a favorite of the horde after today.
They disappeared to quick so i didn’ t get a picture
Thanks for a great site.
Gabe Hughes
Sally Doll
January 28, 2017 at 3:59 pmI am always looking for new ways to make potatoes
Can these be made with dripping from pan fried bacon?
Thanks
Barry C. Parsons
February 4, 2017 at 1:03 pmOh yes!
Joan Durham
March 27, 2018 at 7:50 pmOf course they can. They will be scrumptious. Xx
Debbie
August 13, 2017 at 12:10 amAMAZINGLY DELICIOUS. Followed the directions to a “T” and they came out looking just like the pic. Plus they tasted even better if you can imagine that. A keeper for sure. Thank you! 5 stars !!!!
Frimmy
October 6, 2017 at 11:50 pmI’m eating these right now. They’re really, really good. Exactly as described. Kind of a cool combination of baked potato and potato chip. But better. I did the half butter half oil option.
Joan Durham
February 15, 2018 at 4:58 amHi. Can I just add that the potatoes should be cut into even sized pieces before boiling. After draining away the water shake the pan to rough up the edges, tis makes them crisp up in the hot fat.45 minutes should be long enough in the oven. Joan UK.
Susan
February 17, 2018 at 10:14 pmTurned just the way you said they would! Awesome!
LindaK
February 18, 2018 at 1:02 pmCan they be made ahead and reheated? And if I make extra and have leftovers, will they reheat well (I’m assuming I’d reheat them in the oven)?
Barry C. Parsons
March 13, 2018 at 9:17 amI’ve found it depends on the kind of potato when reheating in the oven. Less waxy potatoes are best. My son chops them and fries them in butter in the morning to have for breakfast!
Dee
March 26, 2018 at 12:04 pmWhat do I do with the garlic?
Dee
Barry C. Parsons
March 27, 2018 at 1:25 pmSeve it with the potatoes and a little sour cream. Outstanding!
Sandra D
April 10, 2018 at 5:24 pmIs there any reason you couldn’t leave the skins on? Maybe pricking them all over before parboiling?
I’ll be trying them both ways, probably 🙂
Zay
April 23, 2018 at 7:26 pmCan you use regular salt? I dont have kosher…lol
Barry C. Parsons
May 2, 2018 at 12:59 pmSure.
Val
May 13, 2018 at 7:50 pmI made these for supper tonight. I halved the recipe because they were only for me and they were absolutely awesome. I will now share with all my sisters and friends. Definitely a keeper.
Cindy
June 25, 2018 at 8:08 pmI am probably on the wrong site to find heart-healthy recipes for my husband!!! But these looked awesome. Could I use just straight olive oil rather than olive oil butter for these and get the same results?
Barry C. Parsons
June 26, 2018 at 2:20 pmYes, I often do.
Janet Francis
July 1, 2018 at 11:31 amCan you leave the skins on and just scrub them first? I didn’t see the answer to this.
Barry C. Parsons
July 2, 2018 at 10:06 amNo. The crispy exterior requires them to be peeled and par boiled.
Jenni
July 22, 2018 at 6:55 pmI made these this evening, and they were fantastic. They did not look the picture, but did not expect them too. LOL. The only change I did, is I added a tablespoon of baking soda to the water as alkaline water helps break down the surface of the potato for an amazing crust. Thank you for this recipe, my boys LOVED it.
Carol
December 16, 2018 at 2:16 pmDELISH. i used half butter and half oil. They were very crispy on the outside, and very tasty. Would work will for a company dinner, with out that awkward potato skin in the way. I would roast more garlic – every potato deserves a garlic clove.
Rosemary
December 23, 2018 at 5:43 pmI just wanted to say that these are hands down the best potato I have ever made! I melted some duck fat and tossed them in it. Then into the oven. My husband has even requested them along with our prime rib for Xmas dinner!
Barry C. Parsons
December 27, 2018 at 2:36 pmThere’s no going back now! We have them with practically every roast dinner now.
Janet
February 25, 2019 at 7:35 pmI made them with russets and followed the recipe exactly. Best roast potatoes I’ve ever had!
Kelly
March 9, 2019 at 7:20 pmDo you peel the garlic?
Barry C. Parsons
March 11, 2019 at 9:35 amno