Easy Roast Potatoes

Name: Easy Roast Potatoes
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 60 min
Ingredients: 4 tbsp olive oil; 800 g potatoes (peeled and chopped); 5 g fresh thyme; 8 garlic cloves (bashed and skin on); 1 pinch sea salt and black pepper

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One thing that everyone should know how to make are the perfect roast potatoes. Crispy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside. Our recipe for Easy Roast Potatoes is fool proof, and a must with any roast dinner or a simple side dish for a midweek treat.

A bowl of crispy roast potatoes with three garlic cloves.

It doesn't get much more comforting than potatoes and roasting them is the best way to cook them. They get perfectly crispy and they take on the delicious flavours of the garlic and thyme. But, amazing flavours don't have to be complicated. These potatoes take just 10 minutes to prepare and can even be made in advance.

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Why should you try it?
What you will need
Step by step
What potatoes to use
What to serve these with
FAQs
Extra tips
More potato recipes
Recipe

Why should you try it?

Perfectly crispy roast potatoes
Can be prepared in advance
Just 10 minutes prep
A must with a roast dinner

What you will need

Potatoes - you need to use floury potatoes for these, as that is what gives the crispy edges. Maris Piper or King Edwards are best.
Sunflower oil - some people prefer to use goose fat, but we like sunflower oil.
Garlic - potatoes and garlic are a delicious combination. We have crushed the whole clove, with skin on, and added it to the pan to infuse the oil that the potatoes are basted in.
Thyme - the fresh herbs add a lovely flavour. You can swap thyme for fresh rosemary if you prefer.
Salt and pepper -

All the ingredients needed to make this recipe laid out on a marbled surface.

Step by step

One: Add enough sunflower oil to your baking tray to coat the bottom of it. This was 4 tablespoon for our tray. Put it in a preheated oven at 200°C/400°F/Gas 6.

A large baking sheet with oil poured onto it.

Two: Meanwhile, add your potatoes to a pan of boiling water and cook them on a medium heat for 10 minutes.

A large pan full of peeled and cut potatoes in water.

Three: Drain the potatoes and then leaving them in the colander, let them steam dry for 10 minutes. Put them back in the saucepan and bash them around a little to fluff up the edges. Take the baking tray out of the oven and add the potatoes and garlic cloves, carefully turning them in the oil. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper.

Boiled potatoes spread over a large baking sheet.

Four: Cook them for 20 minutes and then turn them in the oil. Then add the garlic and fresh thyme and then cook them for a final 25 minutes, so they have cooked for 45 minutes total.

Roasted potatoes on a baking sheet with some cloves of garlic.

What potatoes to use

When it comes to the perfect roast potato, the type of potatoes that you use are important. Maris Pipers, Desiree and King Edwards are the best for roasting as they are floury potatoes. The floury edges are what give you all those crispy bits. Basically, avoid anything waxy as they just don't work very well for roast potatoes.

But, standard white baking potatoes will work too. All you need to do is to make sure that you have par-boiled them and then bashed them around the pan as that is the key to getting crispy bits.

crispy roast potatoes spread over a baking tray.

What to serve these with

Roast potatoes are a must with any roast dinner. If you are looking for some sides and mains that will compliment these easy roast potatoes perfectly, then here are our favourites:

A bowl of roast potatoes in front of a whole roast chicken.

FAQs

Can you make roast potatoes in advance?

This is a bit of a controversial topic, as some people will say that you can make them in advance and some people will say that is against some kind of roast potato law. We fall somewhere in the middle. There are some things you can do in advance, but try to do as much from fresh as possible. We peel them and chop them in advance and then keep them in a pan of cold water until we are ready to parboil them.
If you did want to do more in advance, then you could half cook them. Follow the recipe and cook them for 30 minutes, and then take them out of the oven and cool them on a plate and put them covered and in the fridge for up to a day. Then, bring them to room temperature and add them to a tray of hot oil and finish cooking them for the further 30 minutes.

What size to cut the potatoes?

If we are using Maris Pipers or King Edwards, we cut them in to quarters and they are the perfect size. Bigger or smaller potatoes will change the cooking time, so do use it as a guide.

Do you need to par boil them?

YES! We are very passionate about this step. Doing this softens them enough to bash them around in the pan and help them to get those crispy edges. Depending on the size of the potatoes chunks, you will only need to parboil them for 10 minutes.

What oil is best to use for roast potatoes?

This usually comes down to a preference thing. Some people like goose fat or beef dripping, however we use sunflower oil to get our perfect easy roast potatoes.

How long do roast potatoes take in the oven?

This is something that everyone has the opinion on as well. We find that 45 minutes is the perfect cooking time, however this will depend on the size that you have cut your potatoes.

How to store roast potatoes?

Leftover roast potatoes can be kept in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. To reheat them, just put them in a pan with a little oil and heat through.

How to use leftover roast potatoes?

We would happily eat them straight out of the fridge as a snack. However, we love chopping them up and adding them to a fritatta.

Extra tips

Don't skip the step of leaving them in the colander after you have drained them. This allows them to get rid of some of the extra moisture to help with the crispiness.
Make sure that the potatoes have lots of room on the baking tray. If the tray is too full and the potatoes are too close together, then they will steam rather than roast. If you don't have a tray big enough for all the potatoes, then use two trays.
The nutritional information for this recipe won't be accurate, and will be an overestimate. This is because they don't absorb all of the oil that has been added to the pan.

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