Make the best Crispy Roast Potatoes with the following tips and tricks. Recipe with step-by-step photos.
The Best Roast Potatoes
For me, the best side dish would have to be a generous serving of roast potatoes. Whether I am making a Roast Chicken, Duck Confit, or even just plain grilled sausages, roast potatoes just makes the meal a bit extra special.
But don’t think that roast potatoes has to be limited to a side dish … there are days when all I want for dinner is a big plate of roast potatoes with lashings of gravy – nothing else!
Why This Recipe Works
- Par-boiling the potatoes first will give them a soft and fluffy interior as well as soften the edges to help them crisp up while roasting.
- Pre-heating the roasting pan, together with the fat, will give the potatoes a crispy and crunchy exterior.
- Use duck fat for extra crispy roast potatoes, but vegetable shortening or vegetable oil also works well.
Roast Potatoes with Duck Fat
As someone who makes Duck Confit regularly, I always have a jar of duck fat in the fridge.
Duck fat keeps for a long time in the fridge when stored properly and, personally, I think duck fat makes for the best roast potatoes.
Not only does the duck fat add flavour to the potatoes (it adds a touch of savouriness), duck fat also has a high smoking point, which means that you can roast your potatoes at a high temperature without the duck fat smoking or developing an unpleasant flavour.
Goose fat or lard would work similarly well in this recipe.
Roast Potatoes with Vegetable Shortening or Vegetable Oil
If you can’t find duck fat, or you want to keep your roast potatoes vegetarian, you can also make crispy roast potatoes with vegetable shortening or vegetable oil.
Vegetable shortening or vegetable oil (or even sunflower oil) have a high smoking point, so you can use them in this recipe to achieve crispy and crunchy roast potatoes.
I would not recommend using olive oil in the following recipe, mainly because olive oil has a low smoking point, which means it would smoke if you heat it at a high temperature and for a long period.
Roast Potatoes Recipe
Making perfect roast potatoes includes the following steps:
- Par-boiling the potatoes first;
- Pre-heating the roasting pan with the fat in the oven;
- Chopping the potatoes to create maximum surface area;
- Using duck fat or another fat with a high smoking point.
This roast potatoes recipe is partly inspired by Nigella Lawson’s recipe where she suggests slicing the potatoes in a particular way so that you have maximum surface space on each piece, which means maximum crispiness.
How to Make Roast Potatoes
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 220°C/430°F (without fan).
Place 3-4 tablespoons of duck fat (or other fat) into the roasting pan. For this recipe, I use a roasting pan which measures 36 x 24 cm/14 x 10 inches.
Place the roasting pan in the oven to heat up while you prepare the potatoes.
Step 2
Peel and wash the potatoes.
Cut each potato into three segments as show in the photo below – you are basically aiming to cut a triangle piece from the middle of the potato.
As these roast potatoes will be quite crispy and crunchy, it is important that the pieces are also big enough so that there is enough soft interior for contrast.
Step 3
Place the chopped potatoes into a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring the pot to the boil. Once the water starts boiling, add the sea salt.
Cook the potatoes for about 10 minutes.
You do not need to fully cook the potatoes at this stage. You also do not want the potatoes to be overcooked or too soft at this stage.
Step 4
Drain the potatoes well. Return the potatoes to the same pot.
Place the lid on the pot, and give the pot a gentle shake a few times to rough the edges of the potatoes. It is these softened edges which will turn crispy in the oven.
Step 5
Remove the roasting pan from the oven.
Use a pair of tongs to transfer the potatoes to the roasting pan, one at a time. Turn each piece of potato so that it is coated on all sides in the fat.
Step 6
Return the roasting pan to the oven and bake for 1-1.5 hours, or until the potatoes are golden and crispy. Turn the potatoes once or twice during this time to make sure they are evenly coloured.
What to Serve with Roast Potatoes
Duck Confit (Confit de Canard)
Jamie Oliver’s Get Ahead Gravy
Crispy Roast Potatoes
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 1.5 hours
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: Serves 4-6
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Australian
Make the best Crispy Roast Potatoes with the following tips and tricks. Recipe with step-by-step photos.
Print
Pin Recipe
RateIngredients
- 3–4 tablespoons duck fat or vegetable oil (see Kitchen Notes)
- 1.5 kg potatoes (see Kitchen Notes)
- 1 tablespoon coarse sea salt
- parsley, finely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220°C/430°F (without fan).
- Place 3-4 tablespoons of duck fat (or vegetable oil) into a large roasting pan. Depending on the size of your roasting pan, you may need more or less fat.
- Place the roasting pan into the oven to heat while you prepare the potatoes.
- Peel and wash the potatoes.
- Cut the potatoes into large chunks, ideally by cutting a triangle from the middle of the potato.
- Place the chopped potatoes into a large pot filled with cold water.
- Bring the pot to a boil.
- Once the water is boiling, add the sea salt.
- Cook the potatoes for about 10 minutes (depending on how large you have cut the potatoes). You don’t need the potatoes to cook through fully at this stage.
- Drain the potatoes well.
- Return the potatoes to the pot, which should still be hot.
- Place a lid on the pot.
- Shake the pot gently to roughen the edges of the potatoes. You want the edges of the potatoes to just slightly soften.
- Remove the roasting pan from the oven.
- Use a pair of tongs to place the potatoes, one at a time, into the hot fat. Turn each piece of potato so that it is coated on all sides in the fat.
- Return the roasting pan to the oven.
- Roast the potatoes for about 1-1.5 hours, or until they are golden and crispy to your liking. Turn the potatoes over once or twice during this time.
- To serve, sprinkle immediately with sea salt, plus a light garnish of chopped parsley.
Kitchen Notes
WHICH POTATOES TO USE
I recommend using floury potatoes when making roast potatoes as they tend to have a nice, fluffy interior which contrasts nicely with the crunchy coating. So look for varieties such as Maris Piper or King Edward, or varieties which are recommended for making baked potatoes or jacket potatoes.
WHAT TYPE OF FAT OR OIL TO USE
For roast potatoes, choose a fat or oil with a high smoking point, such as:
* duck fat
* goose fat
* lard
* vegetable shortening
* vegetable oil
MAKE AHEAD TIPS
To prepare roast potatoes ahead of time, par-boil the potatoes and give them a shake in the pan. Let the potatoes cool completely before storing in the fridge for up to a 2-3 days. When you are ready to roast the potatoes, preheat the roasting pan with the fat in the oven, and proceed with the rest of the recipe.
OVEN TEMPERATURES
All recipes on this website state temperatures for a regular oven (i.e. a conventional oven without fan). If you have a convection oven with a fan, please consult the manufacturer’s handbook on how to adjust the temperature and baking time accordingly.
CONVERSIONS
To convert from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this handy Conversion Chart for Basic Ingredients.
I didn’t have duck fat but used vegetable oil. Potatoes came out nice and crispy. Would love to try with duck fat when I find some.
Hi Simon,
Duck fat adds a bit of extra savouriness to the potatoes. I hope you will get to try it sometime!
Goose fat is also great, but this recipe is THE way to crisp roast potatoes, and it even works great using oil. A variation used a lot in Ireland is to add rosemary and garlic to the spuds while roasting.
I made these roast potatoes for our Sunday roast today and they were perfectly crispy! I used vegetable shortening as we have some vegetarians in the family.
Fantastic roast potatoes! I always use olive oil to roast potatoes but tried it with duck fat this time and the flavour was amazing.
The only way to roast potatoes! I keep duck fat in the fridge just to make these roast potatoes.
Spectacular! I’ve made these roast potatoes twice and they outshine the roast meat every time, ha! This recipe is a keeper.
Great recipe, a keeper!
Ok these were the best roast potatoes ever!!
Works like a charm!
Hi Kate,
So glad you enjoyed this recipe!
These potatoes are so good my family kept stealing pieces while we were waiting for the chicken to finish roasting. Next time I will be making a double recipe. 😂
Hi Carolyn,
Yes, doubling the recipe is a good idea 😂 So glad you all enjoyed this recipe!