Crispy double cooked potatoes are so delicious! Each bite sized golden mouthful is a bite of pure heaven. The coating can be customized with spice blends that work with your meal making these a great side dish for so many dinners.
I wanted to find a way to recreate those crisp baked potatoes had a Thanksgiving. You know the ones so crispy and delicious that go perfectly with roast Turkey. In order to bake a crisp potato it can take a really long time in the oven. With electricity costs being so astronomical these days no one wants to run their oven longer than needed. Which is why research was needed. Why were the potatoes taking so long. How could the process be sped up. That’s when I stumbled across a tip. Baking soda. What? Adding a little to water while boiling your potato changes the pH in the water enough to rough up the outside of the tater.
Well holy cow! I had no idea that this was a thing. So I tried it. The baking soda in water trick is amazing it really did rough up the tater and the science behind this is just cool. Big nerd here. The baking soda changed the water to alkaline which in turn breaks down the pectin in the potato. Something I never really gave any thought to was potato science. The parboiled potato that has its exterior roughed is where crisp comes from. All these years I thought it was from the butter that coated the potato. So it just goes to show that just because you’ve been cooking for 40 yearsyou can still learn something new.
So here we had these roughed potatoes. The next step was of course to bake these beauties.
Why this recipe for crispy potato is great
A potato is such a versatile thing. Maybe it’s my Irish blood or maybe its my upbringing, we grew a lot of spuds. Either way potatoes have always been a staple in my home. From the plain boiled tater in its most humble form to the more elaborate twice baked. These crispy golden potatoes are great because they are something different from the standard everyday potato preparation.
These crispy potatoes can be switched up with flavored herbs, spices, butters, to become dinner time potato magic!
Baking these crisp potatoes go well with virtually any meat as a side dish and potatoes are relatively still inexpensive.
Let’s get the show on the road and make these crispy golden taters.
The first step is to decide how many you want to make. If you’re a family of potato lovers like us you’re going to want to peel a lot. I would also like to make mention here that they make excellent morning hashbrowns for reheating. So again if you are having them for dinner you can make more for the morning as well.
After peeling the potatoes dice into cubes. Be sure to keep the cubes as uniform as you can because they will be parboiling for the same length of time and you want them to be the same level of doneness.
Get your stock pot out and cover them with just enough water to cover. It’s important to note your going to see some strange boiling action here when you’ve added baking soda. Normally a pot of boiling taters can boil over rapidly and the water looks familiar. When you’ve added baking soda your boiling water can look a bit like the foam at the bottom of a waterfall don’t be alarmed. It’s a normal reaction.
Boil the potatoes until semi-done. They will be soft but not fork tender like you want for a mashed potato. Although if you do overcook them they will still work for dinner. Again though you want to aim for less done they still have to bake.
Drain them and put in large bowl. You are going to add a sizeable amount of butter and whatever spices or herbs you wish here to coat.
Put parchment paper on your baking tray and heat the oven to a hot 400 degrees. Dump the spuds onto the tray and spread out as much as possible so they can get color on all sides. Bake them in the oven for half an hour at which point you will want to flip them over to continue getting golden. Return to the oven for another half hour.
The potatoes will be golden and crispy.
You can do this with any size of potato to get the golden color.
Your Questions Answered
Does the type of potato matter? There is some debate as to what potato is best. In my books the only potato that I haven’t had success with is a russet. They break down in the parboiling a bit more than I like.
Can I use olive oil in place of the butter? Yes any oil would be fine to replace the butter with. Remember results will vary in appearance because of that.
What spices do you recommend using? I love Italian seasoning but urge caution as it can be a stronger flavor. As well rosemary or Cajun seasoning are also good blends for potatoes.
How do I keep cooked potatoes for the next morning? Keep them covered in the fridge. Reheat in a fry pan for best results as hashbrowns.

Crispy Golden Potatoes
Equipment
- 1 Stock Pot
- 1 Baking pan
- parchment paper
- 1 bowl
- 1 Paring Knife or Peeler
Ingredients
- 10 Potatoes, small to mid-sized Make more as needed
- 1 Tbsp Baking Soda
- Water Enough to cover potatoes for boiling
- ½ Cup Butter
- 2 Tbsp Italian Seasoning Or other seasoning blend
Instructions
- Peel and cube potatoes in uniform size.
- Add potatoes to stock pot with enough water to cover.
- Add in the baking soda and heat until rolling boil.
- Cook potatoes until semi-soft not fork-tender.
- Drain potatoes and put in bowl.
- Add the butter and your spiced. Stir to coat.
- On a baking sheet spread parchment paper.
- Put the potatoes on the parchment and spread out as much as possible.
- Bake for ½ hour in 400℉ oven.
- Remove from oven and flip the potatoes. Return to oven.
- Bake for additional ½ hour. Remove from oven and serve immediately.
- Store extra potatoes in fridge in covered container after they've cooled. Can keep for two days.