Can you tell how crispy these are? This is one of our very favorite side dishes. And all you need is a potato, some butter, some olive oil and some spices. Yay for simple! We’ll start with a soak in hot water to remove some of the starch from the potatoes, which will allow them to to really crisp up in the oven Here’s how to whip these up:
- Cut a baking potato or a few red potatoes into bite size pieces and put the pieces in a bowl of hot tap water to soak. Let them soak at least 20 minutes, but mine sat in the water for a good 40 minutes last night and were fantastic
- Preheat the oven to 400F, and put your potatoes in a single layer on a couple paper towels to dry
- In a large cast iron pan melt a pat or two of butter over medium heat and add a Tbsp. or two of olive oil; adjust amounts for how much potato you’re using — you want enough butter/olive oil mixture to thoroughly coat all the potatoes
- Pat your potatoes dry one more time and toss them into the skillet. Stir to coat with butter and olive oil, then liberally sprinkle on the spice(s) of your choice — I used Miracle Blend last night, but it’s also great with Lawry’s or dry ranch seasoning or…? Make it your own!
- Roast at 400F for about 30 minutes, stirring or shaking around halfway through to ensure even browning. They’re done when a fork goes in easily and the edges are starting to brown
If you don’t have a cast iron pan (go get one! They’re cheap!) you can mix the potatoes, butter, olive oil and spices in a bowl, then roast on a cookie sheet. Couldn’t be easier!
One Particular Kitchen 
I guess I need a cast iron pan, because these look great!
You DO!! Everyone needs one or five. 😉
This would be so delicious for breakfast. With a fried egg. Maybe some bacon or ham…maybe I could use bacon fat in place of the butter and oil! Mmmm….so making this!
What a great tip about using the hot water first! I had never heard that. I will do this from now on. Thanks!
Ok. I think this is on “my list” for two weeks from now.
Mmm these look great!!
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Oooh! I just got a lot of stuff out of storage, and among this load was one of my cast iron pans and three cast iron muffin tins. My late husband’s cast iron pan (which is MUCH older than mine, which I got about two years ago, seasoned, and was promptly afraid of and never used) is still in storage somewhere – he used it all the time. I saw an episode of Good Eats last night where Alton Brown fixed a steak in a cast iron pan, and it took my cast-iron-fear away, so here I am surfing the web for good recipes, and you have a WONDERFUL blog! This recipe looks great! My pan is in the oven reseasoning as I type, and I have a steak in the refrigerator – but shoot, I only have ONE pan right now… hmmmm… 🙂
My muffin tins have quite a bit of rust on the bottom after being in a box for twelve years (I never used them after Ian died). The top part looks okay, though. Wish me luck scrubbing them down!
Cast iron MUFFIN PANS?!? I’m dying of lust over here. Will you send me a pic?? I wanna see! Yes, you can definitely do steak in cast iron — it’s really easy stuff to work with once you figure out the method.
I cleaned them up this morning – I can’t remember where I put the camera right now (I’m unpacking, and I moved it from where it was when I first moved in!), but I will definitely post pics! They are all three by Lodge – one is maple leaves, one is cacti, and the other chili peppers. They definitely have rust issues. 😦
I did my steak today – it was EASY! The only problem is that I cooked it 4min like he said on the show, and that was just too rare for me. Mostly my oven, I think – it was NOT medium rare. More like still moo-ing. 🙂 But now I will know how long for next time. Right now I have cut up sweet potatoes and some cut up fennel in the pan in the oven, roughly following this recipe (I didn’t feel like going to the store for any other potatoes and I was too lazy to fix the fennel in a different pan, but I wanted to use the rest of it because I used about a third of a bulb for juice the other day and wanted to cook the rest), so we’ll see how that comes out!
Ooh… sounds fabulous! I love sweet potatoes. Let me know how it goes, and good luck with those pans!! Can’t wait to see them. 🙂
Hey there – Thanks so much for the recipe – we made it last week and it was so incredibly EASY!!!. – Joanne
I tried this recipe, following the instructions carefully. The potatoes turned out great. We used barbecue spices and my family loved them!
Agree a cast iron skillet is the key. This recipe is a great crowd pleaser when you have company over.
I have followed the direction to a tee, then added onions and carrots? Mmmmmum
What does a pat of butter mean?
A pat is about 1/2 Tbsp 🙂
went to a local farm and picked little potatoes right out of the earth.. going to make your recipe tonight! thanks.. I have a well seasoned cast iron pan too! cant wait!
This was great. Just used a little sea salt pepper and garlic with some parsley and it came out awesome . Thanks
Tried the potatoes last night with my own twist. I started the potatoes with the hot water. I patted them dry. I didn’t have olive oil, so I used veg. oil. I put in heavy pan on high and the potatoes got browned. I then put them in the oven which dried them and made them really crisp.
Here is a tip about removing rust from your cast-iron pans. Scrubbing cleansers made with chlorine bleach do not work on rust. Cleansers made with oxalic acid do remove rust but they can be a little hard to find. (Many plants, including rhubarb, contain oxalic acid.) Some of these cleansers are: Zud, Bon Ami, and Bartender’s Friend. I have heard that plain yoghurt works but I have never tried it myself. Good luck. Using a cast-iron pan is a good way to increase your dietary iron intake especially if you cook an acidic food such as tomato sauce.
If you have a sandblasting company in the area they will clean your pan quite cheap. You will have to season the pan again when you get it back though. I clean mine in this manner every 6 months.
Do you put the cast iron into the oven?
Yep!
Made these tonight and they were delicious. I used Montreal Steak seasoning, and it added just the right touch. Thanks the tip about the hot water – I’ll be making these more often.
I removed the rust from mine by putting it on the burner low pour some salt in the skillet rub it with a paper towel until it comes of then dump it pour vegi oil in about a cap full and rub all over skillet and its like new
I do cakes, pies, breakfast stuff,, with cast iron pan and the oven,,,, love using it, when properly “seasoned” your only limit is your imagination,,,,,