Crispy English Roasted Potatoes

I grew up in New England with an English mother, who fed me all sorts of things you couldn’t find in an American grocery store. Mind you, this was the ’80s and the concept of the “international aisle” just wasn’t a thing back then. My Mum would special-order boxes of Weetabix cereal at the local Grand Union. She would return with small jars of Marmite from her visits back home, and we would eat the yeasty spread on toast with lots of butter. We would have tea with scones, crumpets and digestive crackers, and we would set the figgy pudding on fire every year for Christmas. I have so many delicious food memories passed down from my mother, but the one that outshines them all is the roast potatoes.

The English know their roasting. It’s not an exaggeration to say my Auntie Gaysie’s roast spuds melted away a bout of homesickness I had while living abroad as an au pair after college. In fact, every time I’ve crossed the pond to visit family in England, I’ve been welcomed with a cozy Sunday roast dinner, a traditional meal featuring roast meat or game bird served with potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and other delicious things. And while the pheasant, duck or other roast meats are certainly delightful, it is the roast potatoes that I still think about, and salivate over, all these years later. 

The Keys to English Roast Potatoes

English roast potatoes are crispy on the outside and incredibly tender on the inside. I wanted to find out the secret to this potato perfection, so I decided to ask my mother and aunties and uncles who have fed me said potatoes for their insights into how to roast the perfect potatoes. 

1. Choose the Right Potato

What’s the best potato for roasting? The unanimous winner from all I surveyed is the Maris Piper potato, which is not available in the U.S. Yukon Gold or other waxy potatoes are a great alternative. 

2. To Peel or Not to Peel

This is a very personal choice. If you are using a thin-skinned waxy potato, you can leave the skin on. Leaving the skin on is a good choice for your gut as it retains more fiber and other nutrients. However, peeling and scoring the potato is what gets you that really crispy exterior (see No. 5 below), so I would highly recommend this step if what you are going after is the perfect English roast potato.

3. Parboil the Potatoes

You want to parboil the potatoes ever so slightly before roasting. According to my Auntie Sophie, that’s about 5 minutes, or no more than 10 minutes, depending on the size, says my Mum. You want to make sure they’re tender enough on the outside so you can score them but not so soft that they fall apart.

4. Make Sure the Potatoes Are Dry Before Roasting

After parboiling, you need to drain the potatoes and let them dry before roasting. According to my Uncle Richard, my Granny would do this by leaving them outside to air-dry for 20 minutes or so in the winter cold before putting them in a roasting pan. My Auntie Sophie has a simpler approach: just put them back in the pot and heat over low heat until the moisture evaporates.

5. Score or “Bash” the Potatoes 

My Mum likes to score the outsides of her potatoes with a fork so the entire potato is ridged. This helps build up some texture on the outside of the potato and creates more surface area to get crispy in the roasting process. Auntie Sophie prefers the bashing method: put the lid on the pot and shake, bashing them about for a bit until the potatoes are rough and scuffed up.

6. Preheat the Roasting Pan and Oil

You’ll want to heat your roasting pan with oil in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) for 3 minutes. “It has to be hot oil,” Auntie Sophie and my Mum both agree. Uncle Richard says he and my Aunt Carrie also use this same method, but they use goose fat instead of oil! I can attest that the potatoes roasted in goose fat are quite special, but trust me: plain oil is also A-OK.

7. Baste Your Potatoes and Check Every 15 to 20 Minutes

Carefully—it’ll be super hot—fill the roasting pan with the prepared potatoes and baste the potatoes with the hot oil. You can do this with a spoon or a basting brush. Carefully again, return the roasting pan to the hot oven and roast for 30 to 45 minutes. Auntie Sophie says: Check every 20 minutes, turning and basting the potatoes each time. “Ta-daaaa! Well, it works for me anyway!”

A Note About Salting 

“After you take ’em out of the oven, salt ’em,” says my Mum. And I would tend to agree, but maybe that’s an American perspective. Both my Uncle Richard and Auntie Sophie say: no salt. You are, after all, typically enjoying these alongside your well-seasoned roast.