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
MORE POTATO GOODNESS
Watch how to make it
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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 yesterday and boy were they full of flavour!! They were good but I couldn’t eat too many as they were super tangy/salty but that could have been due to the lemon being super sour, or because I didn’t have low sodium Chicken stock? Regardless, I’d give them another go for sure but reduce the salt and maybe taste test the lemon/stock liquid.
I don’t know who I love more, Nagi or Dozer, I sure love all Nagi’s recipes I have used so far.
I always knew he’d steal he show Dan!! N x
Please, expound upon how making potatoes is equal to to 4 years of chemistry.
Tried these tonight, amaazing! So flavourful and juicy. Yet another successful recipe from you, Nagi. Thanks!
I have never left a review before, because I have never found a recipe that was exactly to the T what I was looking for. I made these roasted potatoes exactly as described. They tasted identical to the ones in my favorite authentic local Greek restaurant. I would give this recipe 10 stars if I could. My roommate can’t stop eating them either. I will be making them over and over again. Thank you for this recipe!
Can I make ahead this recipe amd reoven? Or maybe do some steps ahead the night before? Mom of 2 toddlers here and only has night time to cook. Thanks Nagi 🙏
Hi Tifany, you can cook the whole way through and then reheat in the oven before serving – they will be delicious! N x
These potatoes were amazing ans kids loved them. Just wondering if you can do everything but the last step in advance like in the am just do the last step at dinner would be ideal if you were having guests
I made these, but I was distracted. I remembered to turn them at the 20-minute mark but left them in for another 30 without supervision. They were certainly done, with very dark, but crispy edges. Some of them were burnt to the pan! I had to serve them and was surprised when everyone liked them. In fact, they ate all of them. I would definitely make them again — but set a timer and reduce the second roasting to maybe 15 minutes and take a peek. I did not transfer them to a new pan, but next time, I think I’d lay down a sheet of parchment paper for easier cleanup. Thanks again, Nagi-san! You’re the best!
I had really high hopes for these after all the wonderful comments but my husband & I found these way too salty. I used low salt stock & followed the recipe exactly. They did crisp up beautifully after all the liquid was absorbed but the reduction of the liquid was the culprit with the saltiness. If I made these again I would omit the salt completely as it could always be added if required once on the plate.
Sorry to hear that Kathryn! Yes for sure, feel free to omit the additional salt and that should solve it! – Nx
This was a hit at my Easter dinner. I probably should have made more than 2.5 pounds for 6 guests because every potato was eaten up. It looks like a lot of liquid to spuds but it works. After the first bake, I transferred the potatoes to a second sheet pan and baked an additional 20 min. Then I left them on low heat in the oven to stay warm until the main course. Someone decided they’d turn up the heat on the oven to rewarm a dish THEY’D brought (without checking inside the oven) so the garlic and remaining liquid I had spooned on top was burned to the bottom of the pan – but the potatoes themselves were still delicious. I had requests for the recipe.
I have made these Greek lemon potatoes around 10 times and they’ve been lip-smacking delicious every single time ! 😋
Air fryer to the rescue!
Once they are “done”, drain any remaining liquid and toss in the air fryer. I did 390 for 6 min and got nice crispy brown outer and creamy soft inner. Used minimal blast of canola spray on just the tray.
I’d like to decrease the overall cooking/baking time. Do you think the first part could be done in an instant pot, then transfer to oven/broiler to brown or crisp up?
Unfortunately you can’t as you need the liquids to simmer and reduce to almost nothing. I promise these are well worth the effort! – N x
Hi Nagi and Dozer, I made these again tonight for the (10th? 15th?) time, it is in my favorites file. This time I used the potatoes I had on hand, white mashing potatoes. I’ve never taken that final step before to crisp them up, although I love crispy potatoes, the Greek potatoes I know and love are more about the flavor. Tonight with the different potatoes? Beautiful, crisp edges, the most delicious ever. I may raid the fridge in the middle of the night for the leftovers! Just wanted to let you know, it still works with waxy (for me anyhow). Only thing missing, was your beautiful, Greek rice. I usually do both.
Wow these are AMAZING! Ever since I discovered this recipe we have not made potatoes any other way! Yes, that is how good these are. The cooking takes a little longer than I would like (esp if you are crisping them up) but it is totally worth it. It’s packed with flavor and I serve it with the Greek chicken along with some tzatziki sauce and it’s a hit every time. It’s my husband’s most requested side! Thank you for this gem of a recipe along with all of your other recipes. I try them all when I can and they never disappoint!!!
I loved these potatoes! With all the prep with one hand it took a long time for me to prep them,but it was well worth the all day effort for me and to see how fast my husband gobbled them up. I will plan for them again.
These potatoes were delicious!! It’s a good thing I only had enough for about half the recipe, or I could have easily eaten 2.5 lbs singlehandedly. They reminded me of the ones I used to have at a favorite childhood restaurant growing up! I swear it was the garlicy lemony pan scrapings part.