One recipe developer has shared her insider tips and tricks to achieving the crispiest roast potatoes – and it’s all to do with the oil
Everyone adores a good roast potato, but achieving the perfect spud can be a bit of a mystery with so many different methods out there. Recipe developer Amy Sheppard recently spilled the beans on her insider tips and tricks to achieve the crispiest roast potatoes, reports the Express.
In a TikTok video from September, Amy revealed how she was flooded with messages about how she achieves the perfect crisp every single time. The secret? It’s all in the oil.
Amy wrote: “I’m really not exaggerating when I say that the question I get asked most on here is how do I get my roast potatoes so crispy.”
We all know that potatoes need a good fat to help achieve the crispy skin while also keeping the spud fluffy on the inside. The recipe developer explained that you don’t need to splash out on pricey products like goose fat.
Instead, all you need is oil, which she described as the “most important” step. But not just any oil, Amy’s technique uses a blend of half vegetable oil and half olive oil.
When it comes to picking the best potatoes for roasting, you should opt for the Maris Piper variety. After parboiling, it’s a good idea to give them a shake in the saucepan – also known as chuffing – to make the edges all fluffy.
After boiling, place the potatoes on a cooling rack or in a colander and leave them to steam dry. Drying the spuds helps to remove any excess moisture that will prevent them from crisping up, leading to a soggy instead of a crispy exterior.
She wrote: “I always use Maris Piper potatoes. I place them in cold salted water, bring to the boil and simmer until just beginning to get tender. Drain the potatoes and give them a really good shake to fluff up all the edges.
“Place them on a cooling rack or leave them in the colander If you don’t have one – to steam dry. You can freeze them at this point if you like.
“Heat the oven to 220C (or as close to this as you can if you’re cooking other things. Forget about goose fat! Just use 50/50 vegetable oil and olive oil.
“Heat a good couple of glugs of oil in a thin bottomed roasting tin until hot. Tip in the potatoes, turn them over until coated. Be very generous with the salt – sea salt flakes ideally.
“Roast until crisp and golden, turning them over a couple of times in the pan and shaking them around in the hot oil.”
Amy’s clip has racked up more than 1.2 million views, garnering 71,500 likes and 302 responses. Bear remarked: “Those are the most beautiful roast potatoes I’ve ever seen ngl.”
Ash recommended: “I sprinkle mine with dried polenta and salt, the roast with 50-50 Lard dripping and neutral oil.”
Someone else penned: “Have been using purely olive oil on mine for years and recently used veg oil and the difference is amazing, so much crispier.”
A fourth declared, “My mouth is actually watering watching this. They look sooo good,” whilst Richard concurred, “It’s the only way I do my potatoes now.”
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