Roasted Mini Potatoes Recipe - Cookin Canuck - Easy Side Dish (2024)

FAQs

Why do my roast potatoes fall apart? ›

The best potato for the job will change throughout the year, as the level of sugar fluctuates with each variety during storage. Dry matter – the non-water part of the potato – also varies. Too much and the potatoes will fall apart when they are cooked, too little and they will be soggy.

The phrase “baked potato” typically refers to a whole potato being cooked in the oven with the intent of being cut open and stuffed (commonly with butter, sour cream, cheese, etc.). Roasted potatoes, on the other hand, are cut into smaller pieces and cooked in the oven until they're perfectly crispy on the outside.

In a video online, Gordon explained: “For crispy roast potatoes, you can depend on them, my tip is to parboil them, leave them to steam dry, then sprinkle them with semolina or flour, and then give them a good roughing up.”

Once the internal temp is 185°F or more (210°F is ideal) pull the potatoes from the oven, and with one hand using a mitt, place each hot potato in foil and wrap. Ideally store in a heated bread warmer drawer.

Parboiling the potatoes is a good start, but if they're not getting crispy during roasting your temperature isn't high enough or there's too much moisture.

If you want to make this roast potatoes day before recipe and keep the potatoes crispy, ensure you put them in hot oil before baking them. This will help the potatoes stay crispy. If you're preparing roast potatoes in advance and find they have gone soggy in the fridge.

In most potato recipes, I recommend starting potatoes in cold water and bringing them up to a boil. This helps ensure that the exteriors don't turn to mush before the insides have a chance to cook through.

Goose fat is one of the first choices for roast potatoes because first of all – it tastes nice! It has a really rich flavour compared to your more common vegetable oils. It's a bit like how cooking your roast potatoes in dripping from your turkey can add more flavour to your spuds too – they're both animal fats.

The Best: Yukon Gold Potatoes

The Yukon Gold potato — which is also one of our favorites for mashing — is an obvious choice for roasting. Their skin is thin, so they cook through fairly quickly, and they're just waxy enough to hold their shape.

Why do you soak potatoes before roasting? ›

These tips are completely doable, actually pretty much fail-proof. SOAK your potato chunks in cold water. This removes some of the starch and helps get them super duper crispy. Soak them at least one hour.

Restaurants bake potatoes ahead of time and keep them warm until they are needed. It's called “made in advance”. Every restaurant out there has things that are prepped well in advance.

Not enough heat. The ideal roast potato has a crisp outside with a creamy inside. To get the crispness, the potato needs high heat. Without enough heat the moisture isn't going to steam out of the spud.

Cooked potatoes and other cooked vegetables can be safely kept in the refrigerator 3 to 4 days. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates fruits and vegetables, if more information is needed on produce, you can call the FDA toll-free at (888) 723-3366 or go to their website at FDA (www.fda.gov).

Overcooking: Potatoes can become mushy and fall apart if they are overcooked. To avoid this, it's important to boil them for just the right amount of time, usually around 10-15 minutes, or until they are tender but still firm.

Gently Boil

Once the water reaches a boil, carefully add the potatoes and reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Boiling the potatoes too vigorously can cause them to break apart.

Try placing oil in a spray bottle or using an aerosol to apply the oil to the potatoes. Lastly, ensure that the potatoes are dry before you add the oil. Excess moisture will increase the cooking time of potatoes and may result in soggy spuds.

How to Cook Potatoes that absorb too much water. For this season, if you've been struggling with potatoes that turn to mush, we'd recommend you steam them whole instead of boiling them. We've actually done a bit of testing on this and they definitely hold together far better if steamed whole (with skins on).