Got a skillet, salad, or casserole that needs a little umph? Roasted potatoes are the BEST add-in ingredient…sweet OR russet, either one will do!
I love potatoes and while the sweet ones obviously have a lot of beta-carotine (a precursor to Vitamin A), white potatoes have their own strengths…iron, fiber, and magnesium (see ALL the potatoes and their respective nutritional values here).
Easy roasting technique
Wash and peel 1-1/2 lbs potatoes. Peel then chop into consistent ½-3/4-inch cubes and soak in salt water for just a few minutes. Drain and put in large bowl. Top with some olive oil, and salt and pepper; toss to coat. Lay out in a single layer on parchment lined half baker’s sheet.
Cook at 425 for 30 minutes, stirring once and spreading out again halfway through. Check with fork for doneness.
Extra tips
- Roasting is probably one of the most flexible cooking methods for vegetables. Because potatoes take longer to cook, it helps if you cut them fairly small and consistent in size (½-3/4 inch cubes) to limit how long you have to spend in the cooking time. You can leave them in bigger chunks, but they’ll need longer in the oven.
- That saltwater soak keeps the cut or peeled edges from turning as quickly…no one like to eat potatoes that look gray or have dark spots.
- Spreading your taters out in a single layer allows for roasting instead of simply steaming. Roasting results in more browning and crisping than steaming would.
- If you’re going for the optimum cooking time of 30 minutes, 425 degrees is the setting you want. You could use 400 or even 375 if using the oven for some other cooking at the same time but be prepared to add more time (this is true whenever you cook more than one thing at a time).
- Feel free to add some other spices on your taters…garlic and onion powders, chili and cumin, basil and oregano.
The potatoes are roasted…now what?
They’re completely fine to eat as a side dish just as they are, of course. But here are some other options.
Add to a skillet-type meal. My favorite Breakfast hash (recipe here) is a recipe I love to add roasted potatoes to because it keeps the cook time of the skillet itself very low. Make the potatoes beforehand, then just toss ‘em in and allow time to heat through.
Fall Chicken Protein Salad (in the original Whole30 book) calls for roasted sweet potatoes. It’s one of my family’s favorite chicken salad recipes for this very reason.
Roasted potatoes are a natural in casseroles like this Creamy Chicken Potato Casserole from paleorunningmomma.com (recipe here). But they’d be equally great in a pot pie!
The perfect side OR add-in
I guess the question might be more a case of what CAN’T you put these lovelies in? Make a big batch then just toss ’em in wherever needed during the week…if they last that long. The roasted sweet potatoes in particular are great for snacking, too.
What would YOU add them to? Let me know in the comments below!
Looking for other roasting ideas? Check these out!
