They may be one of my favorite sides to order in Greek restaurants, but I promise you these lemon roasted potatoes taste even better when you make them yourself.
Anyone who’s ever eaten at a Greek restaurant has probably had lemon roasted potatoes. They should be crispy on the outside, soft and pillowy on the inside, and bursting with lemon and olive oil flavor. I may do a ton of Italian cooking (because of my roots), but Greek and Mediterranean cooking reminds me so much of Italian cooking in one huge main way: you can transform a small handful of simple but highly flavorful ingredients into a magical dish. And these lemon roasted potatoes are the epitome of that adage. The ingredients are cheap and cost-effective (the most expensive one probably being a high-quality olive oil), but the finished dish is special in a way that could never be recreated with fancy ingredients or an overabundance of things. It’s a dish that is hearty, comforting and super easy to make, but overflowing with flavor.
FLAVOR SPONGES
Potatoes may just be one of my all-time favorite ingredients to cook with. And that’s because they’re like little sponges, primed to soak up any and every flavor you could pair them with. These lemon roasted potatoes are evidence of that fact. First, you’ll make a flavor-packed liquid for the potatoes to absorb while they cook. Since these are lemon potatoes, I used tons of lemon zest, lemon juice, a really nice quality olive oil, garlic and chicken stock. The lemon juice may give these potatoes their namesake, but it really is the chicken stock that will impart them with that savory, all-day cooked flavor. I’ve never tried it, but theoretically you could use any liquid with this technique to impart an abundance of flavor into potatoes; white wine roasted potatoes, mushroom-y potatoes… the possibilities are endless.
But let’s get back to these lemon roasted potatoes. Once, you add the potatoes and your lemony liquid to the sheet pan, you might be wondering how these potatoes will ever get crispy. Things will will seem really… well, wet. But don’t worry. Like the little sponges that they are, the potatoes absorb all of that liquid, and once it’s gone they are free to roast and get ultra crispy in the oven. The result is a potato that is all at once fluffy and mashed-potatoey on the inside, crispy on the outside, and absolutely bursting with lemon flavor.
Lemon Roasted Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2-3 lb russet potatoes, scrubbed clean and cut into 1 inch wedges
- 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp lemon zest
- 5 cloves garlic, grated or minced
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400. In a large bowl, whisk lemon juice and zest, stock, garlic, olive oil, oregano and salt to combine. Add in potatoes and toss until evenly coated.
- Add the potatoes and all excess liquid to a large rimmed baking sheet (you may need to use two baking sheets to ensure that the potatoes are not touching and have ample room to get crispy.) Roast for for 1 hour, checking and tossing halfway through. By the end, all of the liquid should be absorbed and the potatoes should be crispy on the bottom. If not, you can broil them for a few minutes until golden brown.
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