These Oven Roasted Baby Potatoes are the perfect side dish to practically anything. So quick and easy to make, whilst absolutely bursting with flavour!
This is the perfect recipe for when you’re on the hunt for a quick, easy and delicious side dish to add to your meal. Because who doesn’t love crispy herby roasted potatoes!? Follow me…
Baked Baby Potatoes
Baby potatoes are absolutely perfect to roast due to the fact they require such little prep. Because really, is there anything worse than peeling and dicing large potatoes? For this recipe all you need to do is halve the baby potatoes. No peeling required (baby potato skins actually have a delicious flavour to them, especially when roasted).
Is it necessary to boil baby potatoes before roasting?
For a lot of roast potato recipes I do tend to parboil the potatoes before roasting, for a few different reasons:
- To soften the potatoes, so you can rough them up before roasting. This helps create a crispy texture on the outside, however, because we’re not peeling the baby potatoes, this reason becomes redundant.
- To speed up cooking. However, because baby potatoes are small, they roast pretty quickly anyway.
- To remove starch. Removing starch will help your potatoes go nice and fluffy in the centre as they roast. Because this is a quick and easy recipe, I skip this step. However, if you still want to remove starch you can just soak the baby potatoes in cold water (min 30mins), then thoroughly dry before continuing with the recipe.
Herb Roasted Potatoes
Potatoes lend themselves so beautifully to herbs, and this recipe is no exception. Sure, roast potatoes are great, but without the herbs, they’re just not complete. For this recipe the baby potatoes are roasted in fresh rosemary and thyme, then garnished with parsley.
Crispy Baby Potatoes
Okay, let’s talk crispiness. As soon as the bowl of roast potatoes are served, all eyes are trying to track down the crispiest potato. We all know it. As such, I’ve comprised a few tips to getting these beauties nice and crispy
Tips for getting Crispy Baby Potatoes
- Half them – A general rule of thumb is the smaller the potato is sliced, whether it’s fried, roasted or deep-fried, the crispier it will be. Whole roasted baby potatoes are much harder to get totally crispy. Also, halved baby potatoes work perfectly for the next tip.
- Piping hot oven tray – Getting the oven tray nice and toasty in the oven beforehand will give you a head start. Also, when you place the potatoes cut side down on the oven tray they come out gorgeously crispy!
- Spread them out – Potatoes, like most veg, have high water content. If you cram them all on a tray they are simply going to steam instead of roast. Give the potatoes some room, they’re divas.
How to Roast Baby Potatoes (quick summary)
- Slice baby potatoes in half.
- Add olive oil, rosemary, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper.
- Mix until evenly combined.
- Space out cut side down on a piping hot oven tray.
- Roast in the oven.
Roasted Baby Potatoes FAQ
Can I prepare these ahead of time?
I don’t recommend fully making them and reheating, they don’t come out quite as crispy/fluffy the second time around. In terms of prepping ahead of time you could consider these options:
- Slice the potatoes and rest in water overnight. You could also measure out the seasoning/oil, combine in a small pot then tightly store in the fridge. Thoroughly dry potatoes then continue with recipe.
- Fully prepare the potatoes WITHOUT SALT (it’ll draw out too much moisture as they rest and leave you with soggy potatoes) and store in a zip lock bag with the air squeezed out. The oil should prevent them from oxidising, at least for a few hours. Mix in salt then roast.
Can I use dried herbs?
Fresh herbs are definitely more suited for this recipe than dried herbs. I find dried herbs don’t infuse the potatoes quite as well in the short amount of time they’re cooking. It’s not a deal breaker for the rosemary and thyme, but the garnish (parsley) must be fresh.
Can I use different seasoning?
Feel free to switch up the seasoning if you’re confident in doing so! In terms of herbs, I recommend sticking with woody herbs as they withstand the heat better than leafy herbs.
Serving Roast Baby Potatoes
Once they’re out of the oven they should slide nicely off the pan. From there, sprinkle them with a good helping of fresh parsley. Try not to think of this as just garnish, it adds an extra layer of flavour!
What can I serve roasted baby potatoes with?
- Great as part of a Roast Dinner.
- Awesome as a side for a Steak (Steak & Creamy Mushroom Sauce or Steak & Blue Cheese Sauce).
- As part of a quick & easy Dinner (i.e Pan Fried Cod, Blue Cheese & Apple Pork Chops or Garlic Butter Chicken).
- Serve as finger food with a Homemade Dip!
Looking for EXTRA crispy baby potatoes? Check out my EXTRA Crispy Smashed Potatoes!
Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for these roasted baby potatoes shall we?!
How to make Roasted Baby Potatoes (Full Recipe & Video)
Roasted Baby Potatoes
Equipment
- Large Greaseproof Baking Tray (see notes)
- Large Mixing Bowl & Spatula
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
Ingredients
- 1.6lbs / 750g Baby Potatoes
- 1.5 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Fresh Rosemary, very finely diced
- 1 tsp Fresh Thyme, very finely diced
- 1 tsp Garlic, very finely diced
- 1/2 tsp Salt, or to taste (can adjust this when serving if needed)
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
- Fresh Parsley, to serve
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F/200C and place a suitably sized tray in there to get nice and hot.
- Meanwhile, slice your potatoes in half and combine in a bowl with olive oil, rosemary, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper. Don't do this ahead of time, the longer they rest the more moisture the salt draws out, and the more they'll steam in the oven.
- When the tray is piping hot, quickly take it out and add the potatoes cut side down. Pop back in the oven for 20-25mins or until fork tender and nice & crispy. Timings will depend on the size of your potatoes, so just be vigilant.
- Enjoy with fresh parsley!
Video
Notes
Your Private Notes:
Nutrition
Looking for more?
You’ll find plenty more delicious comfort food like this in my Debut Cookbook ‘Comfy’
If you loved this Roasted Baby Potatoes Recipe then be sure to Pin it for later! Already made it or got a burning question? Give me a shout in the comments below and pick up your free ecookbook along the way!
These are so easy to make and delicious. I was skeptical about the rosemary, thinking it would be too strong a taste. The rosemary, thyme and garlic was a great combination of flavors. The cut side was crispy but the inside was fluffy. Starting with a very hot baking pan is the key. I served them with a dollop of crème fraîche topped with caviar. A perfect bite. Will be a great addition to my Christmas Eve appetizers.
So happy to hear these went down well! Love the crème fraîche idea too 🙂 C.
Fantastic! I have tried to make crispy baby potatoes for ever, but never got it quite right….Clearly, it’s about the method(s) you provided here. The super hot pan starts cooking the potatoes immediately, and the cold water bath provides that fluffy, soft center.
We didn’t have fresh parsley (and frankly, my hubby and I could take it or leave it), so we used fresh Greek Oregano in its place. A slightly different flavor profile, but great nonetheless.
Next time, I may double the amount of fresh Rosemary and Thyme. We grow all these herbs, and have developed a pretty high threshold for the amount of fresh herb we prefer. Still, the amounts you recommend were very good.
I will tag you with pics. Thanks Again.
Such a lovely review, Carol, thanks so much. Glad to hear they went down well! C.
My dad doesn’t like potatoes at all and he had a full portion of these! Thanks for the recipe!
So great to hear! Thanks for the review, Emma 🙂
Could these be done using Italian salad dressing?
I can’t say i’ve ever tried to be honest!
Absolutely. Just watch it, too much sugar burns. Creamy ones you shoukd do on lower heat. It WILL burn.
Do you use curly parsley, or flat leaf parsley?
So excited to try these!
I use flat leaf parsley, but as it’s for garnish I’m sure curly will work just as well 🙂
Simple and awesome recipe. I used dill instead of parsley and made a yogurt dipp to go by with it. Absolutely amazing. Thnk you!
Oh yum! I’ll have to try dill – sounds delish 🙂