Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: Learn how to make crispy roasted potatoes. It’s SO easy and they’re irresistibly delicious. Roasted potatoes go well with almost everything and are an easy side to make.
How long it takes: 35 minutes in the oven, plus an hour for soaking
Equipment you’ll need: sheet pan, bowl, clean towel
Servings: 5
This Is How You Get Crispy Potatoes
I might venture to say that oven roasted potatoes are better than fries (!) especially with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of fresh chives, or a drizzle of healthy ranch dressing. I also love them with tzatziki or Chick-fil-A sauce! I could eat an entire sheet pan of these in one sitting. You’ll get what I’m talking about when you try these potatoes.
What makes mine special:
- Simple ingredients: Aside from the potatoes, you likely have everything on hand: olive oil and salt and pepper (keep reading for more seasoning ideas!).
- Unique process to achieve crisp exterior: I’ll show you three special (but very easy) steps to ensure ultimate crispiness.
- No boiling needed: When you google crispy roasted potatoes, many require boiling the potatoes first, and who really wants to do that? Not me, and probably not you, either.
Potato IQ
Did you know that potatoes are good for you? While they are high in carbs (mostly starch), they also contain important vitamins and minerals, particularly potassium. The skin has additional benefits, including fiber and polyphenols (an antioxidant). Red potatoes are one of the healthiest choices (Healthline).How To Serve Roasted Potatoes
Breakfast: Consider making oven roasted potatoes for breakfast instead of hash browns or American fries. They are a healthier choice and you don’t have stand over the stove. Add a sheet pan of baked bacon to the oven and all you’ll have to do is scramble the eggs.
Salads: Add crispy roasted potatoes to fresh green lettuce or spinach, toss on a few radish slices, thinly sliced red onion, and tomatoes, and top with homemade red wine vinaigrette or honey mustard dressing. Make your own salad Niçoise with crispy roasted potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, olives, blanched green beans, and tomatoes. Add a drizzle of olive oil or a vinaigrette.
Side dish: Serve roasted potatoes with baked salmon or parmesan baked cod. They go great with grilled steak or chicken, too. I often make them as a side with sautéed pork tenderloin with apples and onions.
Meal bowls: Instead of a grain, consider using roasted potatoes for the base of your meal bowl. I often add a couple of over easy fried eggs!
“My go-to recipe for potatoes. Thank you!”
Ingredient Notes
- Yukon Gold Potatoes: You’ll need about a pound and a half of tender-skinned potatoes. Yukon gold potatoes work really well, as do red potatoes, or those really cool purple potatoes. Try a colorful mixture! You can also use russet potatoes but you’ll want to peel those.
- Olive Oil: Most oils are fine but I prefer olive oil because it adds flavor. If you choose a different oil, be sure to choose an oil with a fairly high smoke point.
- Kosher Salt & Coarsely Ground Black Pepper: Coarse salt is great for roasting because it gives nice little pops of flavor. If you use fine salt, use a little less.
How To Make The Best Crispy Potatoes
SOAK your potato chunks in cold water. This removes some of the starch and helps get them super duper crispy. Soak them at least one hour.
Preheat the oven with your pan in the oven. Then the pan will be nice and hot when you add the potatoes and the crisping action starts immediately.
DRY the potatoes after draining them. And then dry them a little more. Water = Steam = Soggy = BAD BAD BAD. I use a lint-free cotton kitchen towel. Paper towels are fine, too. Toss the potatoes with oil and seasonings once they’re dry.
DO NOT OVERCROWD your pan. Just don’t do it. If you do, they’ll steam instead of getting crispy. How many times have I said “crispy?” Crispy. Crispy. Crispy.
Sheet Pan Basics
A sheet pan is a kitchen work horse. I use mine nearly every day. Look for a shallow rimmed pan, 18 x 13 inches. Aluminum pans are popular because they heat up quickly. Some come with nonstick surfaces.
Possible Recipe Variations
- Slice the potatoes into wedges (like thick cut fries) or quarter them for a different look. If you have an air fryer, be sure to try my air fryer potato wedges recipe.
- Make a bigger batch. That’s just fine but remember: You don’t want to overcrowd the potatoes in the pan. It’s better to use two pans. Rotate the pans if necessary so that the potatoes bake evenly.
Get a head start. Prep the potatoes up to a day ahead. Scrub the potatoes, cut them into cubes, and submerge the cut potatoes in cold water. Refrigerate them overnight in the water.
Refrigerate: Roasted potatoes are the crispiest when served right away. If you have leftovers, put them into a tightly covered container after they’ve had a chance to cool down to room temperature. Store in the refrigerator for up to four days.
Freeze: Cooked potatoes can be frozen for up to six months. There’s no need to thaw them before reheating.
Reheat: Reheat the potatoes in the oven, toaster oven, or air fryer for best results (we love air fryer potatoes, too!). Single portions can be heated in the microwave but they tend to become soggy and just aren’t as tasty.
More Crispy Potatoes
- Rosemary Roasted Potatoes or Garlic Roasted Potatoes
- Roasted Fingerling Potatoes
- Smashed Potatoes
- Easy Loaded Potato Skins
- Seasoned Grilled Potatoes
- Air Fryer French Fries or Air Fryer Potato Wedges
- Parmesan Potatoes
More Potato Recipes
The Best Crispy Roasted Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds Yukon gold potatoes (about 5 cups diced)
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (other types of oil work well, too)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon coarse black pepper (or to taste)
Instructions
- Scrub the potatoes (no need to peel them) and dice the potatoes into ½ -inch pieces, as evenly as possible. You should have about 5 cups of cubed potatoes.1 ½ pounds Yukon gold potatoes
- Rinse the potatoes under cold water. Soak them in a bowl of cold water for at least 1 hour (or overnight). Change water if it looks cloudy.
- Place a rimmed sheet pan (18 x 13 inches) inside the oven. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- When oven is preheated, drain potatoes and rinse with more cold water. Put them on a clean lint-free towel and dry thoroughly. Dry the bowl and return the potatoes to the bowl.
- Add oil, salt, and pepper. Toss the potatoes in the oil mixture until they're well-coated. (Don’t do this step until the oven is preheated.)3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon coarse black pepper
- Carefully remove the hot pan from oven and add the potatoes. Spread them in an even layer and return the pan to the oven.
- Roast the potatoes for 25 minutes. Stir and return the pan to the oven for 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are golden brown and fork tender.
Notes
- Potato choices: Any type of potato will work but I prefer tender-skinned potatoes that don’t necessarily have to be peeled. Red potatoes or Yukon gold potatoes are my favorites. Russet potatoes can be roasted but they have thicker skins so you may want to peel those.
- With onions: Add 1 cup onion, cut into 1 inch chunks, to roasting pan if desired. Don’t cut the onions too small or they’ll scorch.
- Add seasoning: Try garlic powder or onion powder, paprika, dried rosemary or thyme, or even chili powder. Try my all-purpose seasoning or seasoned salt (omit salt and pepper). The potatoes can be seasoned any way you like!
- Convection bake: Convection ovens use forced air to cook foods (similar to an air fryer). Newer stove models are calibrated to take the guesswork out so you should be able to set the oven at the same temperature (425°F). If you have an older model, set the temperature 25°F less. Check the potatoes frequently to make sure they aren’t getting too done.
- Storage & reheating: Leftover roasted potatoes can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or in the freezer for six months. They do not need to be thawed before reheating. Reheat potatoes in oven, toaster oven, or air fryer for best results. Microwaving will result in soggy potatoes.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
Love crispy potatoes – can they be reheated? Thanks for the great recipe!
Absolutely! I recommend reheating them in a toaster oven or the oven to re-crisp them. They’ll become soft in the microwave. You could also reheat them in a hot frying pan with a little oil, make sure to not stir them constantly, let them sit for a bit in one place to get crispy. I hope that helps!
Can you use a non-stick spray to make clean-up easier?
Absolutely!
Forgot to rate it! oops!
Thank you!
These were good! Really good! i bought the baby potatoes, cut them in half and followed your recipe, except i baked it at 400. OMG! They were absolutely delightful! Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. i added a teaspoon of dried rosemary and 2 cloves of minced garlic. Thank you so much.
I’m so happy to hear you liked this recipe! Thanks for sharing your adaptations and for taking the time to come back and leave a comment – it means so much to me!
I have to admit, I was a little skeptical that they would actually be crispy as claimed but you made a believer out of me! I’ll never roast baby red potatoes another way!
That makes me so happy to hear! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
Hi, I was looking for a recipe for crispy roasted potatoes. Your site came up and I read your blog and the recipe. I then searched a bit more and found another person’s blog who also had a recipe for roasted potatoes. What was so odd is that the blog is almost identical to yours. Changed a few words here and there, but for the most part, it is verbatim. The website is [link removed].
Just thought this was so strange.
JC Shetterley
Hi JC,
I appreciate you reaching out! I’ve emailed the author of that site multiple times regarding that blatant theft, but surprise, surprise, I haven’t received a response and they haven’t taken any action. I removed the link from your comment only because I don’t want Google to think she has more authority on the subject of roasted potatoes due to a link from me to her. It’s so frustrating but unfortunately I can’t do much about it. I really really appreciate kind folks like you having my back, though! It means a lot. :)
Rach
A sprinkling of flour makes them even crispier! Thanks for the cold water tip, didn’t know that.
Good tip, thanks!
Thank you for this!! We did this last night and it was incredible. I made a few tweaks due to circumstance that I thought I’d share here to help others like me who may have only googled “how do I make crispy oven roasted potatoes” as they were in the kitchen, holding the knife over the potatoes.
When I saw it said at least an hour I said some expletives but then put on my thinking cap :) What we did that worked was cut them fairly small, of course (well-scrubbed too), then put it in a large bowl of icy water to soak, stirring a bit, and then I dumped that, got a splash mesh screen, put it over the bowl, then put the bowl in the sink letting cold water run over it for about 5 min. This did the trick! I very carefully dried them using quilted paper towels (no lint) and proceeded.
I would suggest flipping/stirring them in the oven at 15-20 min, not 25, because mine had already started to lightly burn on one part. I think that mid range would be better for uniform crispiness. I did not do onions but if I did, I’d add them at this time as well.
This process will be our go-to. Future variations will include olive oil and dry ranch dressing mix, dill, plain old sea salt, garlic & pepper, and honey-sriracha-olive oil.
The texture was great and flavor spectacular. Thanks Rachel!
Thanks for taking the time to leave such a thoughtful comment! Glad you liked this method!
Just cooked this recipe today.
It does what it promises: oven potatoes ridiculously crispy and I don’t think I will ever use any other recipe.
My onions were also burned but I suspect they added considerable flavour to the whole dish.
This recipe also opens lots of chances to add your own seasoning or herbs. Rachel, have you ever tried some rosemary/thyme/etc?
Wonderful, in any case.
I love rosemary on roasted potatoes! These are really a blank slate — you can put almost anything on them! I like garlic powder and paprika too.
I have these potatoes in the oven RIGHT now. The smell is outstanding. If they taste ANYTHING like they smell, I’ll never use another roasted potato recipe!!! 3 more minutes on the timer and then they’re ready!!!
I waited to post this until I actually tasted the potatoes so that I could give a rating.
The potatoes were definitely crispy! However, the onions were burned. I may use this recipe again in the future, but with modifications (lower temp so onions don’t burn and more spices to give more flavor).
Thanks for your feedback, Jennifer! I like the onions a little crispy (maybe I’m weird…I probably am!) but you could also cut the onions into larger pieces or add them partway through the cooking time to reduce the level of crispiness on those onions and still get the potatoes nice and crisp. Thanks again for taking the time to come back and leave feedback!