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…..
John says
I followed the recipe and they were the best lemon potatoes I’ve ever had.
Nagi says
I’m happy that you enjoyed it John! N x
Limelite says
Recipe modifies nicely. Roasted potatoes on convection roast @ 375 F. for the entire cooking time, which I reduced to a total of 50 minutes. I marinated them before hand in oil, lemon juice, garlic and herbs, adding some chopped fresh rosemary. Because I had beef stock open I used it instead of chicken, which gave the potatoes a rich complexity. They were a hit and I’ll be making them again and again. I treated fresh asparagus in the marinade remaining in the plastic bag before adding them to the potatoes when they had 20 minutes to go. Served up with your crispy pan fried fish fillets and lemon dill sauce. Superb dinner washed down with a nice German white wine. Thanks for all the offered modifications for us highly “flexible” cooks!
Christi Barnes says
Hi Nagi! First time I tried your recipes. Pulled up your slow cooker pork loin and saw this recipe for the Greek Lemon Potatoes and made them too. OMG! Both recipes of this world!!! Thanks!!
Jacci says
Have you tried this recipe using canned potatoes and skipping the braising step? I’m going to try it tonight and I’ll let you know how it goes.
Kelly Booker says
I’ve had better luck getting Greek Potatoes to crisp up by using tiny new potatoes or fingerling potatoes. I think keeping the skin intact helps with crisping. Try a half and half batch? The wedges do a better job soaking up the lemon broth, so they are more flavorful, but this way your get both the flavor and some crispy texture.
Nagi says
That’s an awesome idea Kelly! I’ve struggled a bit with that very same issue when testing! N x
Bobbi says
Didn’t see anything in the comments (probably because not all comments shown), but did anyone try using garlic powder instead of the fresh to prevent the burnt garlic problem?
Virginia says
OMG…they worked!!!! AND… tasted sooooo good. Followed the recipe to a T and they even crisped up. Yum. Thanks again.
Penny says
Ok just when you thought there was no other way to cook yummy potatoes, along comes this recipe! These are perfect, my only comment, you don’t need to change pans to crunch these baby’s up, just let them keep cooking on and maybe turn over again. These are not a recipe to cook in a hurry. “All good things come to those who…….
Gwin says
Omg… You’re the best! I Tried a random recipe in the past and it was awful…. I bought Greek lemon potatoes in a bag from the deli and they were awful. But yours is the best recipe EVER for Greek lemon potatoes…. you are the best Nagi. Soooooo appreciate you! Xoxo from Vancouver, Canada
Glen Crawford says
I will give it a go ..want to Thank You for all the easy recipes you have given to us on F.B over the years and want to wish you a Happy New Year .regards
Nagi says
Happy New Year Glen! N x
Lefkie Hunt says
Can these be made ahead of time?
LC says
Ok, I’m a lazy cook and didn’t care if they were crisp (which I love, but was too hungry to get to that step), but this was still by far the best potatoes I’ve ever made. The next time I tried to make them, I’d forgotten this recipe, so I did my own version with guessing at measurements–nope, not nearly as good. Now I’ve got the recipe saved! Thanks! (I’ve never commented on a recipe before, but these were SO good…..)
rcms says
I had to cook the potatoes for a lot longer during both parts of the process. But it was worth it! The hours(!) it took only made the potatoes more precious and delicious! I also served this alongside lamb and it was kinda perfection. Thanks so much.
Mike says
As a chef in a previous life i certainly appreciate your thoroughness with your recipes!
First saw the 12 hour lamb on the Rick Steves show, he was on one of the Spanish islands in the Mediterranean and I’ve been wanting to make it since. I have a quarter lamb doing it’s 12 hours at the mome 😉
I tried to sign up for the 3 cook books but it wouldn’t accept my email
Rosalynn says
Thanks, Nagi! My husband and I absolutely loved this one. I have a fan-assisted oven so my potatoes crisped up without having to transfer them to a baking tray.
Alice says
Thank you. You are brilliant. I did the whole recipe in a large cast iron frying pan and it was perfect. My stepson recently eyeballed me at our favorite greek restaurant, lemon potato on his fork, and said “These are delicious, but yours are better.”
Made with both homemade chicken stock and a quick veggie stock, equally good. The type of potatoes is definitely key.
Nagi says
Yes you have to get the right potato to get the right texture! N x
melz says
this is going to sound crazy i came across this recipe as i was just making lemon potatoes & for some odd reason my broth is not evaporating! this has never happened! what could be the reason? they are golden potatoes. So strange! Your beautiful potatoes are what mine looked like in the past! not even sure 🤷🏻♀️
LinLee says
Mine didn’t get nearly as golden brown as yours, but they were still delicious…and would definitely make again.
Nagi says
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Lin! Your oven may not be as hot as mine – they vary. N x
Chantelle Stiff says
I didn’t have stock used feta brine and omitted the salt from the written recipe. So good! Thank you Adding the extra steps. Perfection and better than what I’ve had from Greek restaurants.
Nagi says
Good idea!! N x
Kelly Kelly says
OMG – just simply delicious and thank you for taking the time to share the extra steps for perfection !!
Nagi says
You are very welcome Kelly! N x