Crispy Roast Potatoes

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!

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:

1. Par-boiling the potatoes first;
2. Pre-heating the roasting pan with the fat in the oven;
3. Chopping the potatoes to create maximum surface area;
4. 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

Creamy Tarragon Chicken

Duck Confit (Confit de Canard)

Jamie Oliver’s Get Ahead Gravy

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