Definitely a cut above the usual roasted potatoes! The unique thing about Greek Lemon Potatoes is that they are cooked in a heavily flavoured lemon garlic broth so they suck up all that flavour before roasting to golden perfection. They’re utterly addictive!
Greek Lemon Potatoes
Welcome back to the final instalment of GREEK WEEK!!! We started the week with Greek Chicken marinated in the most incredible yogurt marinade, served up a big pan of homemade Greek Baklava on Wednesday and we’re finishing up the week with the much anticipated Greek Lemon Potatoes!
We’re serving all these with a side of fresh Greek Salad and Tzatziki for dolloping (in the Greek Chicken recipe) – and see here for more Greek recipes.
Plate smashing is optional – but loads of garlic in everything is not!
Let’s be clear about one thing up front:
These are not your usual roasted potatoes
Don’t get me wrong. Throw spuds in the oven drizzled with oil, salt and pepper, and I’ll happily munch my way through them.
Make the effort to follow a few extra steps to make the crunchiest roast potatoes you’ve ever had, and it’s like all my Christmases have come at once. Thick, craggy crusts, perfectly seasoned, fluffy insides.
But these roasted Greek Lemon Potatoes….
These are unlike any other roasted potato I’ve ever had because they’re flavoured all the way through. Flavoured with all THIS ↓↓↓
How I cut potatoes for this recipe
We want chunky pieces for this recipe so they hold up to the relatively long cooking time. I cut medium potatoes into 3 pieces, as pictured below, and large potatoes into quarters or thick wedges.
HALF BRAISED, HALF ROASTED
The idea behind Greek Lemon Potatoes is that they are braised in a lemon-garlic flavoured broth so they suck up all that flavour, then you continue roasting them until the liquid evaporates, leaving behind just the oil to roast the potatoes until golden.
The concept sounds easy enough, but actually, it’s quite tricky to do in one pan. I swear, it’s scientifically impossible to roast potatoes until golden without the garlic burning. It’s one or the other – golden garlic or golden potatoes (unless, like I do with my Herb Roasted Potatoes, you add the garlic midway through cooking).
Also, I kept ending up with burnt ridges on the potato from the lemon juice and broth that caramelises on the base of the pan, and a disappointing lack of golden crusts promised by recipes I used.
After two, three, five, seven attempts, I threw every recipe I read out the window (virtually) and settled on an easier, less risky way of making Greek Lemon Potatoes so they come out as golden as possible: Braise in one pan to suck up flavour, transfer to a tray to bake until golden, drizzled with the flavoured oil from Pan 1.
How to make Greek Lemon Potatoes (my safer way)
You can skip the transference step if you want. But just be mindful that you’ll need to keep a super close eye on the potatoes and they won’t be as golden as you see in these photos, you’ll likely end up with thin dark burnt ridges and the garlic with burn (gee, I’m really making this sound appetising! 😂)
In the interest of total transparency …
Because I hate recipes that lie, I want to be 100% clear about expectations: these are not the crispiest roast potatoes in the world. I truly think it’s scientifically impossible to get seriously crispy roast potatoes once they’ve been submerged in all that lemon and broth (believe me, I tried my heart out!).
So if seriously crunchy potatoes is what you are after – and I’m talking seriously thick crunchy crust and they stay crisp for ages – use this recipe: Duck Fat Potatoes or Truly Crunchy Roast Potatoes.
But these Greek Lemon Potatoes do have nice crispy edges and some crispy surfaces (see video and photos) and in any case, you won’t miss major crunch factor because these have so much more flavour than any other roasted potato.
It was actually scary how much of these I was able to consume in one sitting. I just couldn’t stop – they are so darn good!! – Nagi x
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Greek Lemon Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1.2 kg / 2.5lb potatoes (Aus: Desiree, US: Yukon Gold, UK: Maris Piper) (Note 1)
- 1 1/2 cups chicken stock/broth , low sodium (Note 2)
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 5 garlic cloves , finely grated using microplane (Note 3)
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp salt (Note 4)
Garnish (optional)
- Lemon wedges, fresh oregano leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F (180°Cfan).
- Cut potatoes: Peel potatoes and cut large ones into thick wedges – about 3cm / 1.2" thick – and medium ones into 3 (see photo in post).
- Coat potatoes: Place potatoes in a roasting pan with all the other ingredients. Toss well.
- Roast 45 minutes: Roast for 20 minutes. Turn potatoes, roast for a further 25 to 30 minutes until the liquid is mostly absorbed by potatoes/evaporated and you're left with mainly oil in the pan.
- To crisp the potatoes (optional): Transfer potatoes to a separate tray. (Note 3) Tilt the original roasting pan and scoop off as much of the oil as you can (some juices is ok), then drizzle over the potatoes.
- Roast 35 minutes: Transfer potatoes to oven and roast for 35 – 40 minutes, turning once or twice, until potatoes are golden and a bit crispy on the edges.
- Heat pan juices: Return pan #1 with the garlic juices to the oven for the last 5 – 10 minutes or so to reduce down and make the garlic golden. (Optional, Note 4)
- Plate up: Transfer potatoes to serving platter. Drizzle over the reduced garlic pan juices (or toss potatoes in the pan). Serve, garnished with lemon wedges and oregano if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
When Dozer stole a dog treat at the pet shop while I was trying to take cute photos of him eyeing off the treats…..
Made these with the tiny bit of lemon juice I had, and some lime juice, didn’t crisp them but WOW they were so flavorful!! You have given us a new staple in this potato-loving household, thank you!
Hi, I would like to make these lemon potatoes with the 12hr roast lamb. As the cooking temperature of the lamb is much lower, at what stage do I put in the potatoes in orer for both dishes to be ready at the same time? TIA
These are the best potatoes I’ve ever had and it’s not even close. Amount of salt was perfect. Nagi, is there any way to combine this recipe with your semolina potatoes recipe to make these crunchier?
Thank you for giving amounts for salt. Lots of recipes seem to say salt to taste which is almost impossible, because everybody is trying to cut back. Those recipes are always under salted or over salted.🙄😁
this method produces beautiful potatoes but flavourwise way too salty for my taste – will dial down the salt next time.
Absolutely incredible! Used the leftover potatoes for breakfast this morning. Delicious and simple, so much flavour. Will make this recipe again for sure!
OMG!!! First, I screwed up and forgot the key ingredient – GARLIC. In a mad dash to save the day I tossed in Garlic Powder midway through the roasting. Didn’t matter. It was so insanely full of flavor it was literally like the best Greek Potatoes I’ve ever eaten in Chicago and the Greek Islands restaurant! Not really crispy but that chewy yum yum you get for stuff that isn’t ever going to crisp. Amazing and thank you!
These were sensational, served alongside slow roast lamb shoulder. Did final step in air fryer then drizzled garlic/ oil mix from pan over the top. Will most definitely be making these Greek potatoes regularly.
Hi, Pip! Can you please elaborate on what you did for the air-fryer portion? Thank you in advance, if you happen to see this and respond! 🙂
This recipe is really tasty, it crisps up nicely and the chicken broth makes the potatoes so savoury. I added a half teaspoon of paprika to the broth, and sprinkled a bit over the potatoes after transferring onto the pan. This is how I’ve had them in the past and love the paprika ontop!
The absolute most delicious spuds you’ll have. We pair them with Greek marinated lamb shoulder and salad!
Amazing spuds, super tasty, easy, and so flavourful. Plus, once they’re crispy, they can rest in a warm oven until the main is ready. Solid recipe,
Hi! I just love this recipe of your lemon potatoes! I am having a dinner party and I would love to make this recipe but I’m afraid to make it while my guests are arriving. Can I make this in advance ( earlier in the day) and then just warm it up later or will that not work?
I paired these with the braised beef short ribs in red wine and the Chinese crispy pork belly for a birthday dinner and it was so good. I had double the quantity of potatoes, but it doesn’t need double the liquids in a fan forced oven. Next time I would try the default quantities then have some extras handy if it gets low..
Awesome, but a little bit too much lemon for our personal taste. Great method and instruction. Will absolutely make again but just reduce lemon. Thanks for a great recipe!
Lemon tree is loaded at the moment & had been craving Greek potatoes despite never having had them until now! OMG these are SO GOOD! Had to itch standard lamb chops, carrots & beans – potatoes were the star of the show 🙌
Definitely packs a punch for flavour with minimal effort. Thats all that needs to be said. Toddlers and adults loved them.
Delicious! Had this with the slow cooker lamb and it was a hit. The lemon and garlic gave the meat a nice lift. Potatoes still had enough crispiness despite being cooked in chicken broth. I really loved this dish and will make again.
These potatoes were amazing! Thank you for a recipe that was easy to follow with great explanations. I made Greek dinner for my family tonight and also used your recipe for Greek rice. Both the potatoes and the rice were a hit!
These are so good!
The kids reckon these are better than the duck fat ones. Yum!