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…..
Tricia Ricchino says
Do you think the braising step could be done in the instant pot to cut down on time and then transfer to a baking sheet?
Nagi says
Hi Tricia, I haven’t tried to be honest – but it sounds like more work transferring them back and forth!
Dawn says
These are wonderful! My potatoes came out flavorful and crispy! I love that you included how much salt to use. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Nagi says
You’re so welcome Dawn, I’m so happy you loved it!
Alana says
Thanks for the great recipe. There was one single potato left in the serving dish – in fact no matter how many I cooked, I’m pretty sure they’d all have got eaten!
Nagi says
I love hearing this! You can never have enough potatoes 😂
Sacha says
These were amazing! Whole family loves them and they’re a fussy bunch,
Mine came out so crispy on the outside, even though I hadn’t expected them to, but were just so soft and perfect on the inside.
Definitely the best potatoes/wedges I’ve ever made!
Nagi says
Woah what a compliment, I’m so happy you loved them Sacha!
Vanessa B Maddox says
Thanks, Nagi! Made these yesterday for part of our Superbowl feast…delicious!
If I could eat potatoes everyday, these would be my go to. But will make again or my carb-reward. Thanks again!
Nagi says
I’m so glad you loved them Vanessa!
Sarra says
Oh wow, these potatoes are ridiculously good. I made them to go with your honey butter slow cooker pork and your garlic spinach and for the first time EVER my family praised my cooking! I felt really proud that I made an entire meal that was so so so tasty and just wanted to say thanks for making me look good. It seemed less of a chore too because I loved what I made and that never usually happens – I’m usually so tired it’s hard to enjoy eating dinner. I am going to be using your recipes religiously from now on!!
Brenda says
My sister and I made these to bring to a Greek themed potluck. One of the guests has family in Greece and has been there often. His comment on tasting these potatoes was “they taste like home”. The ultimate compliment! Dinner guests were asking to take some of the leftovers home with them. This recipe will be one of our “go to’s” from now on!
Jeannie Pelletier says
My family always picks a theme for Christmas Eve Dinner. This year it was Greek. These Greek Lemon Potatoes were a huge hit! Will be making these more often instead of regular roasted. Thanks for this recipe!!
deb havens says
these potatoes my kids said were the “Bomb” fabulous lemon garlic taste … never knew about the braising…
Sarah says
Thank you for the recipe. But your description prior to the recipe is too long. Please get to the point quicker. And some of your notes (ex: note 3) is not useful, if we follow your recipe, we trust the salt quantity), just makes for lots of going back and forth. Making succinct recipes is a must in the blogosphere these days, when some people just want the recipe.
Lisa Ryon says
There is a recipe link under the title that takes you right to the recipe if you don’t want to read the description. Most of us, however, enjoy reading her descriptions.
Chris says
And you are? Do you see all those huge brands and endorsements down below in the page. Why don’t you go follow your own advice and start a mega successful food blog, and if you try to say you have one, go put your energy towards that.
Park S. says
I appreciated the extra information. It helps me understand better what kind of dish this recipe will produce, and it also helps me know up-front that these are different from strictly traditional Greek potatoes and how they’re different.
Adrian says
Absolutely delicious 😋. Made these tonight and I’m very happy with them. Thanks Nagi
Nagi Maehashi says
Great!!! x
Johnny Fuentes says
Heavenly taters, will be my go to recipe. Just made them, under broiler for last 15 mins. luscious and amazing!
Nagi says
Glad you enjoyed it Johnny! N x
Caryn says
Hi Nagi,
These are the most amazing potatoes I’ve made; Even my picky fiance loved them! I did not do the transference stage – just left the potatoes in the pan and turned the oven onto grill/broil for 10 minutes after the potatoes became soft and there was still a tiny bit of liquid left. They turned out brown and lovely! Not super crispy but very very delicious.
Will be making this again and again.
Kimberly says
I made these! On the first try I followed the recipe but the potatoes ended up with a sore after taste.
I made them the next day, I used dill instead of oregano, used an olive oil basting oil and added extra lemon juice. The results were amazing!
Thanks for the recipe!
Leisel says
Hi Nagi, I want to try these potatoes but I have limes instead of lemons. Can I sub it but use less lime juice? I am usually a risk taker but I don’t want to spoil the taste and have rejected potatoes.
Your comments will greatly assist
Thanks
Leisel
Nagi says
Hi Leisel! I’m afraid limes will give it a completely different flavour 🙂 It will still be tasty! But it just won’t be lemon potatoes, it will be lime potatoes! N x
Mary Kinney says
Yummy, yummy!
Carol Wright says
Wow! I made these tonight alongside your Greek Chicken. What a flavour bomb!! A regular favourite from now on. A perfect match for a zingy citrussy Marlborough Chardonnay 😉
From Carol in Auckland
Jennifer says
I tried these potatoes after trying lots of different lemon potato recipes online and WOW. Just WOW. I don’t want to have potatoes any other way! Thank you so much. It is a bit of work but definitely worth every second of it. Cheers to a lovely dish!! X
Julia says
Nagi thank you SO MUCH for making my request! I finally had a chance to make these tonight and they were simply fantastic. My husband was also in raptures and together we smashed the lot. In fact, a friend literally just asked me if I wanted to go to our favourite Greek restaurant and I said I never need to go again now I have this recipe! You are amazing, thanks again!
Nagi says
Love hearing that Julia! Thanks for letting me know! N x
Alex says
I’ve made these 3 times and it’s never gone quite like the recipe says. Still they are amazing, just a bit of extra work. There is still probably 75% of the liquid left after the 20+30 min time when the recipe says it should be mostly absorbed. That’s at 400 instead of 390.
At that point. I just remove the potatoes to a couple of 12″ cast iron skillets put them back in the oven with the oil skimmed from the main pan and up temp to 450. Put the main pan with cooking liquid back in on the bottom of the oven. About 30 minutes later (turning the potatoes twice) the liquid is reduced to a paste and the garlic is perfectly golden. As are the potatoes. Put the potatoes in a big bowl, scrape garlic goodness over the top. Lightly toss. Perfect.
Nagi says
Hi Alex! Are you doing 20 minutes PLUS a further 25 – 30 min? Glad you find it tasty though!! N x
Fiona says
I’ve had the good fortune to travel since I was a child. My dad taught us the best way to find treasures in any place was to take off from the beaten path & turn corners. My husband & I were lucky to spend our honeymoon in the Mediterranean. After the usual sightseeing, we turned corner after corner in Athens until we came upon a beautiful, little, family-run eatery. They were closed, but offered us an al fresco, family meal (what the staff eats) ~ the most delicious lamb stew, with a house red & the best, roasted potatoes I’ve ever tasted. I’ve come close to recreating those potatoes over the years, but never quite nailed them until today, with your recipe. WOW! Thanks for taking us back to that magical time. I made the whole recipe. There are two of us. No leftovers! We couldn’t stop ourselves. Extra cardio tomorrow, eh? It was worth it! Cheers!