Emily’s English Roasted Potatoes

Serves: 6 to 8

Ingredients:

• Kosher salt
• 3 pounds of large Yukon Gold pota­toes, peeled and diced into 1½ to 2‑inch chunks
• ½ cup veg­etable oil (or a neu­tral oil such as canola or sun­flower oil)
• Coarse sea salt or fleur de sel, for fin­ish­ing
• Minced fresh pars­ley, for gar­nish

Instructions:

Start by pre­heat­ing your oven to 425 degrees Fahren­heit to ensure the per­fect roast­ing envi­ron­ment. Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a rapid boil, adding 2 table­spoons of kosher salt to enhance the nat­ur­al fla­vor of the pota­toes as they cook. Once the water is boil­ing, care­ful­ly add the peeled and diced pota­toes, ensur­ing they are ful­ly sub­merged. Let the water return to a boil before reduc­ing the heat to a gen­tle sim­mer and allow­ing the pota­toes to cook for about 8 min­utes. You want the pota­toes to soft­en slight­ly but still hold their shape, ensur­ing a crispy exte­ri­or when roast­ed.

Once the pota­toes are par­tial­ly cooked, drain them thor­ough­ly using a colan­der. Imme­di­ate­ly return them to the warm pot, cov­er­ing it with a tight-fit­ting lid. Now, shake the pot vig­or­ous­ly for about 5 to 7 sec­onds—this rough­ens the edges of the pota­toes, which is a cru­cial step in achiev­ing a crunchy, crispy exte­ri­or. The more tex­tured the out­er lay­er becomes, the more sur­face area there is for crisp­ing up in the oven. Next, arrange the shak­en pota­toes in a sin­gle lay­er on a wire bak­ing rack set over a large sheet pan. Let them rest and dry for at least 15 min­utes at room tem­per­a­ture. If you have extra time, you can leave them uncov­ered for sev­er­al hours, or even refrig­er­ate them for up to six hours—this step helps remove excess mois­ture, which is essen­tial for a crispi­er fin­ish.

While the pota­toes are dry­ing, pre­pare your roast­ing pan. Pour ½ cup of veg­etable oil onto a sep­a­rate large sheet pan, tilt­ing the pan to ensure the oil spreads even­ly across the sur­face. Place the sheet pan in the pre­heat­ed oven for about 5 to 7 min­utes until the oil becomes smok­ing hot. This step is cru­cial, as it allows the pota­toes to begin crisp­ing imme­di­ate­ly upon con­tact, pre­vent­ing them from soak­ing up excess oil and becom­ing greasy. Care­ful­ly remove the hot pan from the oven and, using a large met­al spat­u­la, trans­fer the pota­toes into the hot oil. Be cautious—hot oil can splat­ter, so work slow­ly to avoid burns. Toss the pota­toes gen­tly, ensur­ing that every piece is coat­ed in the siz­zling oil, then spread them into an even lay­er to allow prop­er roast­ing.

Low­er the oven tem­per­a­ture to 350 degrees Fahren­heit and roast for 45 min­utes to 1 hour, check­ing occa­sion­al­ly to turn the pota­toes with tongs. This ensures that every side gets even­ly crisped and turns gold­en brown. Keep an eye on them—depending on your oven, they may require more or less time to achieve the per­fect crispy tex­ture while remain­ing soft and fluffy inside. Once they are gold­en, crisp, and slight­ly crunchy on the edges, remove them from the oven.

For the final touch, trans­fer the beau­ti­ful­ly roast­ed pota­toes to a serv­ing plat­ter and imme­di­ate­ly sprin­kle them with 1½ to 2 tea­spoons of coarse sea salt or fleur de sel to ele­vate their nat­ur­al fla­vors. Gar­nish gen­er­ous­ly with fresh­ly minced pars­ley, adding a burst of col­or and fresh­ness that bal­ances the rich, crispy tex­ture of the pota­toes. Serve them hot and fresh, as they are best enjoyed straight from the oven.

Serving Suggestions:

These clas­sic Eng­lish-style roast­ed pota­toes pair per­fect­ly with a vari­ety of dish­es, mak­ing them a ver­sa­tile side option. They are ide­al for accom­pa­ny­ing a Sun­day roast, grilled meats, or even served along­side a hearty break­fast with eggs and sausage. You can also ele­vate them with dip­ping sauces like gar­lic aioli, spicy ketchup, or a creamy herb-infused sour cream. If serv­ing for a fes­tive meal, con­sid­er toss­ing them in melt­ed but­ter and fresh herbs for an added lay­er of indul­gence.

Tips for the Perfect Roast Potatoes:

• Choos­ing the right pota­toes: Yukon Gold pota­toes are rec­om­mend­ed for this recipe because of their nat­u­ral­ly creamy tex­ture and slight­ly waxy con­sis­ten­cy. How­ev­er, if you pre­fer a fluffi­er inside, Rus­set pota­toes can also work.
• Dry­ing the pota­toes: Allow­ing the pota­toes to dry after boil­ing is cru­cial. This helps them devel­op a crispi­er crust, ensur­ing they roast rather than steam in the oven.
• Using hot oil: Adding the pota­toes to pip­ing hot oil is key to pre­vent­ing them from becom­ing sog­gy and ensur­ing an instant crisp.
• Turn­ing the pota­toes: Reg­u­lar­ly flip­ping them in the oven allows for even brown­ing on all sides.

These per­fect­ly crispy, gold­en-brown roast­ed pota­toes bring a delight­ful crunch with every bite while remain­ing ten­der and fluffy on the inside. They are sim­ple yet ele­gant, a true com­fort food that will impress guests and fam­i­ly alike. Enjoy them fresh out of the oven, savor­ing every crisp and deli­cious bite!