Boiled Baby Potatoes (with Lemon Brown Butter)

Boiled baby potatoes with lemon and browned butter served with chives and parsley

5 from 6 votes

Boiled Baby Potatoes (with Lemon Brown Butter)

Boiled baby potatoes tossed in a rich brown butter sauce with fresh lemon, garlic and herbs. A simple yet seriously delicious side dish that's perfect with almost any dinner.

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Universal

Servings: - 5

Author: Chris Collins

Equipment

Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
Large Pot & Colander
Large Frying Pan & Wooden Spoon

Ingredients

1.6lbs / 750g Baby Potatoes, halved
4 tbsp / 60g Butter
1 clove of Garlic, finely diced
1 Lemon, halved (see notes)
1/4 cup finely minced Fresh Parsley
1/4 cup finely chopped Fresh Chives
Salt & Black Pepper, as needed (see notes)

Instructions

Place the halved baby potatoes in a large pot and fill with cold water. Stir in 2 tsp salt, then bring to a boil. Once boiling, cook the potatoes until fork tender (typically 10-15 minutes depending on size, so just be vigilant).
Drain the potatoes in a colander and leave to sit as you prepare the butter. This is important to allow the steam to escape the potatoes.
In a large pan, melt in the butter over medium heat. As it begins to foam, keep gently stirring as the butter turns from a lemony yellow to a light brown colour. After a few more minutes you will start to see tiny dark specks start to form on the surface, these are just the milk solids. Once you see the butter turning a deeper brown colour, it will release a nutty aroma. This is when your butter is properly browned. If at any point the nutty aroma smells more like burning, then simple reduce the heat. This process typically takes around 5 minutes, but might take a little longer, so don't rush the process.
Add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds or so (be careful it doesn't burn), then turn off the heat and stir in the potatoes until coated in the butter. Add the chives, parsley, juice of half the lemon and a generous helping of salt and pepper, then toss to coat.
Taste test one, and adjust with more lemon juice and salt if needed (make sure they're well seasoned to bring out the best in the simple sauce). Serve and enjoy!

Video

Notes

a) Potato Size - Try to make sure all the potatoes are the same size so they cook at an even rate. The smaller they are, the quicker they'll cook and the more 'saucy' they'll be.

b) Steam Dry - It's really important to allow as much moisture to escape as possible to make room for as much sauce to be soaked up as possible. Allowing them to steam dry will also help them be less sloppy and more fluffy.

c) Seasoning - The 2 tsp in the water is essential to help season the insides of the potatoes as they boil. After that, you'll want a good helping in the butter to help the potatoes shine (remember, potatoes suck in salt like no other). I like to use flaky sea salt to finish, but more fine table salt will work just fine.

d) Lemon - Lemon juice goes perfectly with potatoes, and I do like mine quite lemony, but start with 1/2 lemon if you're not sure and adjust accordingly.

e) Update - updated the recipe on 27/07/26 for house keeping reasons. New video, same ingredients, just tidied up the method a little.

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