Roast potatoes will be even crispier when you add 2 ingredients

There is nothing worse than a soggy roast potato to accompany your roast dinner, especially on a special occasion like Easter Sunday when you may very well be entertaining a big crowd of loved ones. Simply throwing your potatoes in the oven will not give them the crispy golden skin that makes them one of the most loved dishes on the table. Serious eats has reexamined the traditional methods to achieve what they have claimed are “the greatest roast potatoes you’ve ever tasted”.

They have found some ingenious ways to help elevate the experience, to achieve that perfect crispy skin but fluffy on the inside. All it involves is adding two simple ingredients. To start with, the right variety of potato is key.



Russets and Yukon gold, two of the most common supermarket types should be chosen over varieties like the red potato, which have difficulty getting crisp and soon turn soft. Russets get the crispiest crusts and turn a pale golden brown, while Yukon golds roast a little darker dure to a higher sugar content, producing a more flavourful but slightly less crisp crust. The key step, however, is to add some flavour to the potatoes to make them more interesting.

Simply tossing the boiled potatoes with chopped herbs and garlic works reasonably well, but is not ideal, giving only a superficial flavour. Whats more, the high heat and long roasting time tends to burn the garlic, giving the roasties a slightly bitter flavour. So what’s the solution? According to serious eats, heat up the minced garlic and herbs, such as rosemary , in some olive oil, cooking them just until the garlic starts to turn golden.

Then strain it, separating them from the infused oil. Be sure not to throw away the solids though, they will be needed later. Using this method means you can use the flavoured oil to toss with the potatoes, building in plenty of flavour.

Then add back the garlic and rosemary - alongside some minced fresh parsley - at the end. This method will ensure you are left with roasties that have a beautifully crisp coating, with plenty of texture and a flavour that has infused itself right through the potato, not just on the outside..