Crispy Roast Potatoes with Gooey Garlic
These crispy, garlic roast potatoes are a classic that delivers time after time. Enjoy as a side dish, or on their own, they’re that delicious!
Perfect roasties to me have a super crisp exterior and soft fluffy center. There are a few snag points in achieving this. The first key to extra crunchy roasties is to start cooking them in cold water, not boiled, and to chuff them in the colander once soft. The chuffing gives the surface texture which means more nooks and crannies to get ultra crisp. Secondly, the fat or oil needs to be hot.
If you are not vegan, duck fat can replace the canola oil. Duck fat does however, have a higher smoke point so follow the temperature adjustments in the recipe.
Frequently Asked Questions
What flavourings can I add to my roast potatoes?
Garlic: I love adding a whole head of garlic wrapped in foil into the roasting tray. The garlic will soften to a lovely sweet, gooey, texture. Squeeze out the gooey garlic from the papery exterior and toss it through the cooked potatoes.
Herbs: Scatter rosemary or thyme over the roasties during the last 10 minutes of cooking for a herby finish. Don’t add them too early or the herbs can burn!
Finely chop more delicate herbs like oregano or parsley and scatter these over when you’re ready to serve the potatoes.
Cheese: Finishing your roast potatoes with a little freshly grated parmesan is always a good idea!
Can I omit the roasted garlic?
Roasting the garlic will make it very mellow and sweet. If this is not to your taste, serve the whole roasted garlic next to the potatoes, as per the image. It can then be added to everyone’s taste.
Crispy Roast Potatoes with Gooey Garlic
- Total Time: 1 Hour 10 Minutes
- Yield: Serves 4-6
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
These crispy, garlic roast potatoes are a classic that delivers time after time. Enjoy as a side dish, or on their own, they’re that delicious!
Ingredients
- 1kg roasting potatoes
- 1/4 cup canola oil or duck fat
- 1 head of garlic
- salt
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 200C (or 220C for duck fat).
- While the oven heats up, peel and quarter the potatoes. Place them in cold, salted water and bring the water to boil over high heat.
- Once the potatoes are soft (just before they reach the stage for mash) drain off the water and chuff the potatoes in the colander, until the exterior is rough.
- Add the oil/fat to a deep roasting tray, and pop the tray in the oven to heat the fat (about 10 minutes).
- Slice the top fifth off the head of garlic to expose the cloves. Drizzle the whole head of garlic in a little oil, and wrap it up tightly in tin foil.
- Tip the chuffed potatoes into the oil using a spatula and toss them until evenly coated in the oil. Nestle the foil wrapped garlic between the potatoes.
- Roast the potatoes until lovely and golden brown, and the garlic until it is soft and squishy. The garlic may be done a little earlier than the potatoes, and can be removed while they finish cooking.
- Once the potatoes are golden brown, scoop the potatoes onto a serving plate (leaving the oil behind in the roasting tray).
- Squeeze the soft garlic cloves from their papery casing over the potatoes, and toss everything together until the garlic is well distributed. Finish the potatoes with a little more seasoning if necessary.
- Serve these alongside my Beer Can Chicken With Rooibos & Orange Salsa.
- Prep Time: 10 Minutes
- Cook Time: 1 Hour
- Category: Side Dishes
- Method: Bake
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 272.12kcal
- Sugar: 2.41g
- Sodium: 227.56mg
- Fat: 13.86g
- Saturated Fat: 1.06g
- Unsaturated Fat: 12.56g
- Trans Fat: 0.05g
- Carbohydrates: 34.47g
- Fiber: 5.03g
- Protein: 3.91g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
