How to Make Perfect Roasted Potatoes
on Apr 17, 2020, Updated Jan 17, 2025
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Crispy and golden on the outside, creamy and tender on the inside, perfectly roasted potatoes are so easy to make, and go with everything!
The secrets to amazing oven roasted potatoes are simple: a decent amount of olive oil, high heat, and a nice sprinkle of kosher salt. Soft and creamy inside, crispy and golden outside. Crunchy roasted potatoes go with just about anything, and couldn’t be easier to make. Make more than you think you’ll need because if your family is anything like mine, potatoes will be snitched from the baking sheet and serving bowl before they hit the table.
These oven-roasted potatoes are gluten-free, vegan, and dairy-free, so perfect for people with different dietary restrictions. Try these with Baked Chicken Legs with Herbs and Lemon, Dijon and Honey Crusted Pork Tenderloins, or Porchetta.
Table of Contents
Once you make these a few times, you might not even need this recipe. My mom is a great, intuitive cook, so I know it pains her a little bit to have to call me for a refresher on how to make perfect roasted potatoes. But call she does whenever she plans to make these. And every time I go over this with her on the phone, she says, “Right, right, of course,” and then doesn’t bother to write it down because it’s so ridiculously simple.
How to Make Perfect Roasted Potatoes: Crispy and golden on the outside, creamy and tender on the inside, roasted potatoes are so easy to make, and go with everything!
Ingredients
- Potatoes – The best potatoes for roasting are waxy red or white or Yukon gold potatoes, which have a slightly buttery flavor. For larger potatoes, cut them into 1-inch chunks. Or, use baby potatoes, as I did here, and cut them in half. Baby Yukon golds might also be labeled mini yellow potatoes. Tiny potatoes 1 inch or smaller can be left whole.
- Olive oil – Use a fresh olive oil with a good fruity flavor.
- Kosher salt – Season to taste.
Tips for Crispy Roasted Potatoes
- No need to peel the potatoes! The skin adds even more crispiness to the exterior.
- Mix the potatoes with the oil and salt right on the baking sheet (sprayed first with nonstick spray), which saves washing a bowl.
- If you cut the potatoes into bigger chunks (2 to 3 inches), you’ll have more creamy insides. Smaller chunks (1 to 1 1/2 inches) result in more crispy outsides. There’s no wrong way to go! But keep the potatoes of a similar size so they cook evenly.
- If you are roasting more potatoes than can be spread out in a single layer, use two baking sheets, and rotate them halfway through cooking so that each tray has a chance to be on top and — as things would go — on the bottom, so they brown up evenly.
- Don’t overcrowd the pan.
- You may have to tack on a few extra minutes of cooking time if you are roasting two trays at one time.
- If the potatoes are sticking to the baking sheet, just leave them be! After a little more time in the oven, they will crisp up on the bottom and be easier to flip.
FAQs
Boiling or steaming potatoes before roasting them will shorten the cooking time and create an extra creamy interior. However, it’s an extra step and not at all necessary — I’ve been roasting potatoes without boiling them my whole life, with no complaints!
You want to roast potatoes at high heat, which is the basic definition of roasting. 400 degrees is the best temperature for roasting potatoes, but if your oven is set to 425 or 375 degrees, those are also fine temperatures. Just adjust the cooking time, shortening it or lengthening it by about 10 minutes respectively.
At 400 degrees, potatoes should take about 40 to 50 minutes to reach golden perfection.
In likelihood, it’s because the temperature of the oven wasn’t high enough. Another reason might be that the potatoes were crowded on the pan without room for the hot air to circulate around the potatoes.
How to Make Oven-Roasted Potatoes
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Prepare the potatoes: Spray a rimmed baking sheet generously with nonstick cooking spray. Cut larger potatoes into 1- or 1 1/2-inch chunks, or cut baby potatoes in half. Spread them out on the baking sheet, drizzle the olive oil over, sprinkle the salt over, and toss with your hands to combine.
- Add the oil and season: Spread them out and drizzle them with olive oil. Sprinkle them with salt, and use your hands or a spoon to mix them up so that they are coated with the oil.
- Bake the potatoes: Spread them out in a single layer on the baking sheet. Roast for 40 to 50 minutes or so, tossing them once towards the end of cooking and spreading them out again. Add a sprinkle of additional salt if needed, and serve, but warn people that they are HOT.
Variations
You can also cut these like thick steak fries. They make a nice appetizer, served with a dipping sauce like Arugula Basil Dipping Sauce, Creamy Mustard Oregano Dipping Sauce, or Sriracha Sauce.
- Spiced Potatoes: Before they go into the oven, you can also sprinkle them with 1/2 teaspoon of paprika and/or ground cumin.
- Rosemary Potatoes: Before they go into the oven, you can also sprinkle them with 1 teaspoon of chopped fresh rosemary or 1/2 teaspoon of crushed dried rosemary.
- Garlicky Roasted Potatoes: About 20 minutes after the potatoes go into the oven, pull them out and toss them with 1 clove of minced garlic, then let them finish roasting.
- Roasted Duck Fat Potatoes: Whenever you’re cooking duck breast, save some of the fat for a delicious potato side.
Make Ahead and Storage
If you want to cook the potatoes ahead of time, take them out about 15 minutes before they are done. They can sit on the baking sheet for a few hours, then return them to a 425-degree oven to finish cooking, until they are hot and tender.
You can also toss them with the oil and salt and leave them on the baking sheet until about 50 minutes before you plan to serve them. Then roast them. They can sit uncooked on the baking sheet for a couple of hours.
Leftover potatoes can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days. Bring them to room temperature while the oven is preheating to 375 degrees. Reheat on a baking sheet until hot throughout, 10 to 15 minutes.
You can also dice leftover potatoes and use them in frittatas or add them to casseroles or stews. For a quick breakfast hash, sauté them with some chopped onions in olive oil for a quick breakfast hash. Also, see 7 Ways to Use Leftover Roasted Vegetables!
What to Serve Roasted Potatoes With
More Potato Recipes
- Herb-Roasted Fingerling Potatoes
- Air Fryer Baked Potatoes
- Crispy Sauteed Potatoes
- The Best Parmesan Roasted Potatoes
- Dutch Oven Idaho Potatoes
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How to Make Roasted Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Yukon Gold, new potatoes, or other waxy potatoes (peeled or washed; or baby potatoes)
- 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- 1 to 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 F.
- Spray a rimmed baking sheet generously with nonstick cooking spray. Cut larger potatoes into 1- or 1 1/2-inch chunks (bigger chunks=more creamy insides, smaller chunks=more crispy outsides), and cut baby potatoes in half. Spread them out on the baking sheet, drizzle the olive oil over, sprinkle the salt over, and toss with your hands to combine.
- Make sure they are in a single layer and roast for 40 to 50 minutes or so, tossing them once towards the end of cooking and spreading them out again. If they are sticking to the baking sheet, just leave them be! After a little more time in the oven, they will crisp up on the bottom and be easier to flip.
- Add a sprinkle of additional salt if needed, and serve, but warn people that they are HOT.
Notes
- You can use whole waxy red or white or Yukon gold potatoes and cut them into 1-inch chunks, or use baby potatoes, as I did here, and cut them in half.
- No need to peel the potatoes! The skin adds even more crispiness to the exterior.
- Mix the potatoes with the oil and salt right on the baking sheet, sprayed first with nonstick spray, which saves washing a bowl.
- If you cut the potatoes into bigger chunks (2 to 3 inches), you’ll have creamier insides. Smaller chunks (1 to 1 1/2 inches) result in crispier outsides. There’s no wrong way to go! But keep the potatoes of a similar size so they cook evenly.
- If you are roasting more potatoes than can be spread out in a single layer, then use two baking sheets and rotate them halfway during cooking so that each tray has a chance to be on the top and bottom so they brown up evenly.
- Don’t overcrowd the pan.
- You may have to tack on a few extra minutes of cooking time if you are roasting two trays at one time.
