There’s no shortage of ways to cook a potato. You can mash them into a buttery, cream-laced mountain like our Million Dollar Mashed Potatoes, smash them flat and roast until crisp, layer them into a bubbly gratin, or go full comfort mode with a pan of Twice-Baked Potato Casserole. But sometimes the simplest version, roasted on a sheet pan until golden and tender, is the one you crave most. And no one does simple quite like Ina Garten.
Ina’s Garlic Roasted Potatoes come from her 2001 cookbook, Barefoot Contessa Parties! The ingredient list is barely a list at all: potatoes, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and parsley. With so few ingredients, it’s easy to think, “How good can these be?” But as I’ve learned from Ina’s recipes in the past, there’s often magic in the minutiae, so I cranked up my oven and put my trust in the Barefoot Contessa.
Tips
Never lose a recipe again. Save recipes from your favorite food sites to MyRecipes so they’re easy to find when you’re ready to cook. With MyRecipes+, you can save recipes from Instagram and TikTok, too.
How to Make Ina Garten’s Garlic Roasted Potatoes
If you can hold a knife and work a timer, you’ll have no trouble with these. You need just 10 minutes of chopping and tossing, and the oven does the rest.
-
Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
-
Cut small red or white potatoes in halves or quarters. Toss them in a large bowl with olive oil, kosher salt, black pepper, and minced garlic until well coated.
-
Spread the potatoes in a single layer on the baking sheet. Roast until browned and crisp, 45 minutes to 1 hour, turning them twice during roasting so they brown evenly.
-
Toss the hot potatoes with minced fresh parsley, taste and adjust the seasoning, and serve hot.
Get the Garlic Roasted Potatoes recipe
Tips for Making Ina Garten’s Garlic Roasted Potatoes
When you’ve got just six ingredients, details matter. These are all the tidbits that Ina would likely give if she were walking you through the recipe in her own kitchen. (A girl can dream!)
-
Give the potatoes some space. Three pounds of potatoes (about 8 cups once cut) just fit in a single layer on a 13×18-inch rimmed baking sheet. Crowding the pan will make them steam instead of roast, and you’ll lose that prized crisp, golden exterior. Divide the potatoes between two smaller pans if needed to give them plenty of room.
-
Cut the potatoes evenly. Aim for pieces that are roughly the same size so they finish cooking at the same time. Halve potatoes that are on the smaller side and quarter the larger ones.
-
Start with less salt. Ina is famously generous with salt, and her recipe calls for 1½ tsp. I used 1 tsp. and found it plenty. You can always add more at the end, but you can’t take it away.
-
Line the pan with parchment. It makes cleanup a breeze, and the potatoes still developed deep golden color on the cut sides.
-
Don’t forget to flip. Turning the potatoes twice during roasting helps them brown on all sides and keeps the garlic from scorching.
-
Add the parsley at the end. Tossing it with the hot potatoes keeps it bright green and fresh, adding a pop of color right before serving.
-
Feeding a crowd? This recipe serves 8, and 3 pounds of raw potatoes yields about 7 cups roasted. It’s easy to double, with two sheet pans and a rotation halfway through.
The Verdict on Ina Garten’s Garlic Roasted Potatoes
These potatoes are a great reminder that a short ingredient list doesn’t need to mean short on flavor. The garlic is strong but not overpowering, since it mellows during its stint in the oven, and the potatoes are seasoned just right (even with my lighter hand on the salt). Texture-wise, they hit that roasted potato sweet spot: creamy and tender inside, with crisp, golden edges that crunch with every bite. And that last-minute toss of fresh parsley makes them look as good as they taste.
Now that I’ve made them once, I’ve got the “recipe” locked into memory, and I’ll pull it out whenever I need an easy potato side, whether that’s a holiday dinner or a Wednesday night. I love that after a little tossing and seasoning, it’s hands-off once the oven door closes, and one sheet pan makes enough for eight. With just my husband, me, and our toddler at the table, we had plenty of leftovers, which keep in the fridge for up to 4 days. To bring back the crunch, reheat them on a sheet pan in a 400°F oven until hot. I gave mine a quick revival in the air fryer, and it worked like a charm. Just skip the microwave, which will turn them soft.
Related: I Made Ina Garten’s Favorite Comfort Food, and I’ll Be Adding It to My Rotation
Read the original article on Better Homes & Gardens
