These are the ultimate crispy roast potatoes, and you need to make them this Christmas! They're light and fluffy on the inside and super crunchy on the outside. Cooking them in beef stock, garlic, rosemary and thyme adds loads of flavour to each potato. Enjoy!
Category
Lunch
Servings
6-8
Prep time
20 minutes
Cook time
1 hour 30 minutes
These are the ultimate crispy roast potatoes, and you need to make them this Christmas! They're light and fluffy on the inside and super crunchy on the outside. Cooking them in beef stock, garlic, rosemary and thyme adds loads of flavour to each potato. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 2kg (4.4 lbs) starchy potatoes (Sebago, Maris Piper, Russet Burbank)
- 6 cloves garlic
- 4 fresh Bay leaves
- 6 sprigs thyme
- 6 sprigs rosemary
- Sea salt, to season
- 2 L beef stock
-
beef tallow, for roasting (approximately 500ml/2 cups)
-
flakey sea salt, to serve
Directions
Parboil the potatoes
Peel the potatoes and rinse in cold water. Chop into 5cm (2in) chunks. Place them in a large saucepan.
- Add 2 of the garlic cloves, 2 bay leaves, 2 sprigs each of the thyme and rosemary, a pinch of salt and the beef stock.
- Cover and place over a medium heat. Bring to a light boil.
- Uncover and cook for 30 minutes, until the potatoes are fork tender and almost falling apart. While you’re waiting for these to cook, start step 1 and 2 in the First Bake section.
- Transfer the potatoes to a colander and leave for 6-7 minutes to steam, reserving the stock for another use (see notes).
First Bake
Preheat the oven to 200°C fan forced (390°F).
- Place a stovetop-proof roasting tray over a medium high heat. Add enough tallow to be 5mm (0.2in) deep and let it melt (or you can heat the tray with tallow in the oven if it is not stovetop-proof).
- Toss the potatoes in the colander to rough up the edges.
- Carefully add the potatoes to the tray in a single layer. Season with salt and cook for 5 minutes, until golden brown on one side.
- Carefully turn the potatoes over and transfer the roasting tray to the oven. Roast for 25 minutes.
Second Bake and Serve
Remove the tray from the oven and turn the potatoes over again. Add the remaining garlic, bay leaves, rosemary and thyme.
- Return to the oven and cook for a further 30 minutes, until golden brown and crunchy all over.
- Transfer the potatoes to a paper towel lined bowl to drain briefly, then place them on a serving platter and season with flakey sea salt. Serve immediately.
Recipe notes
Cook support
Heat the tallow in the oven if you don’t have a stovetop proof roasting pan.
Sieve off the tallow after baking and refrigerate for another use. It will be infused with the aromatics giving extra flavour when cooking with it next time.
Use the leftover beef stock in a gravy or as a soup base, just bear in mind that it will have taken on some of the starch from the potatoes, which can make it thicker.
Sourcing
Starchy potato varieties to use for this recipe include Sebago, Maris Piper or Russet Burbank. Starchy potatoes are best as they give you that crispy, fluffy finish.
Substitutions
You can use chicken stock instead of the beef stock when parboiling the potatoes.
You can use Duck fat if you can't find beef fat (tallow), you can also use a neutral flavoured oil but it won't give you the same flavour.
Storage
Any leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days, and they are best reheated in a hot oven to become crispy again.
FAQs
Can I make these ahead of time?
You can parboil and even do the first bake ahead. Just hold off on the final roast and aromats until you're ready to serve.
Why do you rough up the potatoes?
It’s all about surface area. The roughed-up edges go super crispy in the oven.
Can I make it vegetarian?
Sure, swap beef stock for veg stock and use oil instead of tallow. They’ll still be good, just not quite as rich.
