The Crispiest Oven Roasted Potatoes

These oven baked potatoes are a regular side dish for us. They’re simple, incredibly tasty, and make great leftovers (especially for breakfast potatoes!). Use Yukon gold, fingerling, or red potatoes: it’s up to you!

We sous vide a lot of protein in our house, whether it be steak, chicken, salmon, shrimp… you get the idea. And my favorite thing to serve with these proteins? On any given day, it’s a toss up between mashed potatoes and crispy potatoes… but usually crispy wins out. They’re simple and always delicious! Add Spicy Chimichurri and you’ve got a meal.

So delicious, in fact, they made it into my latest cookbook (Sous Vide Pesto Chicken Meatballs with Whipped Feta and Crispy Potatoes), Sous Vide Meal Prep.

What You Need to Make this Recipe

You likely already have a lot of these ingredients in your home. My favorite kind of recipe! You’ll need:

• Potatoes. You get to pick.
  • Yellow potatoes. my personal favorite for roasting. They’re somewhere in between red and russet on the waxy to starchy scale. The outside gets crispy and the inside gets fluffy!
  • Red potatoes. The waxiest of the potatoes, often used in potato salad. They’ll get nice and crispy, but will be tender on the inside, not fluffy.
  • Fingerling. Usually a mix of textures. More skin and less (or no) dicing.
• Kosher salt. You’ll need a LOT for this recipe. My favorite is Diamond Crystal.
• Olive oil. You (always) want extra virgin. California Olive Ranch is a good one.
• Garlic. We’ve all got garlic!
• Your fav seasoning blend. This is optional – plenty of salt and garlic will be enough flavor if you want a more neutral flavor for lots of dishes throughout the week! I usually use an herby seasoning like Italian Seasoning or Super Gyro.

In terms of equipment, you’ll just need:

• A stockpot. Use a relatively big one – don’t try to boil in a saucepan or you’ll make a mess.
• A colander.
• A rimmed baking sheet.
• I like to use a fish spatula to flip the potatoes but you absolutely don’t need one.

The Trick to Really Crispy Potatoes

Here’s the secret to fluffy on the inside, perfectly crispy on the outside potatoes:

Boil first, return to the stockpot with olive oil, garlic, and seasonings, then shake the stockpot until the outsides of the potatoes are super beat up. Grab it by both handles, take it off the stove, and really shake it around!

A smooth surface is more difficult to get crispy, but when that surface has lots of edges and nooks and crannies, it’s much easier to crisp up!

You want them to have almost mashed potato like texture on the outside before baking them.

How to Make Crispy Potatoes

Get a stockpot of water boiling. Don’t make the mistake I have made before: use a big pot! While you’re waiting for it to boil, dice up your potatoes. Skin is optional (I always leave it on).

When the water is boiling, add a ton of salt. Start with 3 tbsp and then taste the water. It should taste salty. Add more salt if you need to. Add the potatoes and boil for 7-9 minutes, until just fork tender. Drain and rinse with cold water.

Add olive oil, garlic, seasonings and potatoes to the stockpot, pick it up by the handles, and shake it around until the outside of the potatoes are quite beat up. (See photo in previous section for reference.)

Add to an olive oil greased cooking sheet and spread them out so they aren’t touching. Bake in oven preheated to 425 degrees F for 15 minutes, flip, and bake for another 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

You’ve got crispy potatoes!

Frequently Asked Questions

• How should I store leftovers?
  • In an airtight container in the refrigerator. These containers are my favorite!
• How can I reheat these?
  • My favorite methods are in a cast iron skillet or in the air fryer! They make great breakfast potatoes this way. Please don’t microwave them. They’ll be sad and soggy if you do.
• Can I prep these potatoes ahead of time?
  • You can boil them and then store in the refrigerator, but I recommend following the rest of the steps just before serving.
• Can I cook these in the air fryer?
  • You can! You may have to cook in batches to keep in a single layer. 400 degrees F for 10 minutes, toss, then another 8-10 minutes until golden.
• Do I really have to boil them first?
  • I know, I know: it’s annoying. But yes! This is the only way to get that fluffy on the inside, crispy on the outside texture we’re after.

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You can also view this recipe as a step-by-step web story here.