There is nothing more frustrating than preparing the perfect main course and not having any idea what to pair with it as a side dish. Even worse, many people are stuck without a standby side dish when asked to bring something to a work pot luck or family reunion. Well, my friends, you can put those terrible times behind you with today’s recipe…..simple, tried and true Roasted Potatoes! Take the instant mashed potatoes flakes out of your cupboard and toss them in the trash. Don’t even think about reaching for those frozen French fries next time you are fretting for a side. Roasted Potatoes are simple, relatively quick, and fit the bill for most meals and occasions. You don’t even have to worry about Aunt Sally’s fake food allergies or the kids whining because these Roasted Potatoes keep things simple yet deliver a ton of flavor everyone can enjoy! Using a few pantry staples, Roasted Potatoes are sure to fill the plate and the family’s bellies on a budget….Let’s get cooking!
Obviously, you can’t have Roasted Potatoes without potatoes, eh? Any variety will work for this recipe so use what you and your family prefer or already have in the pantry. Keep in mind, certain varieties may take a bit more or less cooking time depending on their starch content and texture, but the process remains the same. Begin by dicing your potatoes into small bite-sized pieces. The smaller you dice the quicker the cook so I highly suggest taking the prep time now and aiming for something along the size of an actual dice, like you use for board games… ½ to 1 inch cubes. You don’t have to be perfect, but try to make the entire batch similar in size so everything cooks evenly. You can peel your potatoes or leave the skin on for those extra nutrients. I prefer medium red potatoes, which happen to have a great skin flavor, so they are a bit quicker and easier for prep!
Keeping things simple, pull out a disposable roasting pan to cook these potatoes in rather than your fancy ceramic dishware you will just have to wash later. Fill up the pan and give the potatoes a good dousing with some tasty olive oil or other preferred over-priced avocado/grape leaf nonsense from the mountains of some foreign land requiring slave labor to harvest and press…you do you! While we are hard at it, dice the onion into similar sized pieces and add it to the pan.
Add a metric dump truck of minced garlic, a handful of Italian herb seasoning mix, and toss everything until well combined. Each cube of potato should be seasoned and looking like Julia Child’s little love child of flavor.
Cover your roasting pan with some aluminum foil and toss it in the oven to bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 60-90 minutes. You will need to check the doneness of the potatoes after 60 minutes and judge from there before moving on. They should be softened but not mushy since we are not making mashed potatoes! Once you are feeling pretty good about things, give the potatoes a good stir and stick them back in the oven for an additional 30 minutes, but uncovered this time. This will help put a nice crust and semi crunch exterior on the potatoes and leave the inside soft and pillowy yum. Check them after 30 minutes and decide if you want a bit more crunch or happy as is to serve immediately. If you think they need to cook a bit longer, stir them again to get the bottom cubes up top and top down low, and let them cook up to 15 additional minutes. Any longer and you might as well swap lanes and turn towards mashed potato town.
Pretty simple if I do say so myself! A few minutes of prep and into the oven while you finish preparing the rest of your meal simply can’t be beat! These Roasted Potatoes are great fresh out of the oven or even reheated with leftovers the next couple of days. The kids are probably going to sink them in Lake Ketchup, but be happy they are at least eating their veggies. I have found this recipe works great on the grill as well if you don’t want to heat your kitchen up or the oven is already taken by other food. If you really pour enough oil in the pan, the potatoes will almost fry on the bottom making a wonderful crust. Try them out and let me know what you and your family thought of this simple, yet delicious side dish….just keep cooking!
GARLIC HERB ROASTED POTATOES
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