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…..
Best tastiest potatoes ever. Left in one metal tray from the start. Extra lemon juice as per someone elses suggestion. Gorgeous.
I don’t usually leave reviews but this recipe was amazing!
I didn’t follow the extra step to crisp the potatoes because many potatoes already had brown crispy spots. Everyone loved them. Thank you!
Meade these tonight and they were delicious!! Just like the potatoes from my favorite greek resteruant.
These were delicious! I added some Dijon mustard to the juice/broth mixture. I am saving this one! I used small russet potatoes, peeled. Thank you for this great recipe!
This has been my go to recipe for 2 years now and everyone comments on them. We love them. One tip to crisp them up rather than transfer part is to use 250ml of water with a full stock cube – the stock packet says 500ml for a cube but I ignore that. Works a treat. If they do not look so crispy I will the up the oven to full temp for the last 15 min but rarely have to do that.
We were in Greece 2 years ago which is why I came back looking for a recipe and this one is the best. A few weeks ago we went back and my ever fussy teen and hubby said these were better 😀
These were divine! We managed to get the crispy edges, and the reduced sauce on top was so good. I ate far too many because they were so good. We will definitely make these again.
Ps I’m an Aussie living in Colorado and bought your book for 5 of my colleagues. They have repeatedly told me they love your recipes.
Quick question Nagi: to crisp the potatoes the recipe calls for another 35-40 minutes whilst the video states 20 minutes. I’m just at that stage now so I shall just wing it and see what works. It certainly looks amazing. Will report back! Love your recipes btw
Thank you Nagi for yet another crafted and carefully worded recipe. These potatoes were so so very good. On the tray, I used aluminum foil – some of the ‘crunch” goodness stuck to the foil. Do you have a recommended tray liner? Many thanks for all you do.
This recipe is amazing! I really don’t like potatoes, but after trying this, I have a new opinion. We love this dish and it has become a regular on our weekend rotation.
My husband raced about how good these were! I loved how easy they were and the savory, lemony taste. I used vegetable broth and mini red potatoes
Delicious! Worth the time since you can start these and do other things. Thank you 😊
Love these, they are always a hit. AND, I can trust your recipes. That is greatly appreciated. No fluff, puff or fake. Thank you
Wow, these potatoes are *chef’s kiss*… So so so good! These are worth the time so be patient! Another excellent recipe from Nagi.
These potatoes are beyond amazing. I don’t know how many times we’ve used this recipe – it’s wonderful. Actually, I think we had leftovers at breakfast this morning…
This recipe is a staple in my household! My husband and child absolutely love these potatoes!
O.M.G!!!!!!!
I will absolutely make these again, but will shorten the first round of roasting to maybe 25 minutes??? They were completely done after the first 45 mins, so I just did 10 mins for the second round of baking followed by a couple mins of broil. They were kind of sticky crispy in the best best way. Yum! Oh, and I only had the little yellow potatoes (halved), so that probably is why the quick baking. To the store for more potatoes!!!!!
My only regret is that I didn’t make more. These went quick at my house. It was sufficiently crispy for us. Lovely lemon flavor! I added dill in as well. Also made a nice tzatziki to accompany the potatoes. Served it with chicken drumsticks and a salad
Best greek potatoes!
These were the best lemon potatoes, my family ate every one ! Thank you for this wonderful recipe!