Satisfying Roast Potatoes With a Clever Flavour Injection
The humble potato never disappoints, whether boiled, sautéed, mashed, or fried, and these roasted Garlic Lemon Butter Potatoes, with an irresistible coating of butter, garlic, and fresh lemon, are beautifully crisp with a deliciously fluffy inside. As dreamy as they are, there is one more clever trick to make them even tastier: brining the potatoes before roasting.
Why Brining Potatoes Makes a Difference
Brining potatoes before baking significantly improves both texture and taste. Like salt brine tenderises meat, it works wonders on vegetables too. The salt solution seasons the potatoes inside and out, draws moisture from the skin to create a crispier texture, and helps develop an irresistibly fluffy interior.
The Ultimate Seasoning For Perfectly Roasted Potatoes
Dried garlic powder is a fantastic way to add instant flavour and avoid burning, which can occur with fresh crushed garlic due to high oven temperatures. First, a generous amount of butter and oil is used to roast the potatoes and soak into them, resulting in a crisp outer skin and a fluffy inside. Garlic powder is added in the last 10 minutes of roasting, and once removed from the oven, the potatoes are seasoned with salt and a big squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
Recipe: Garlic Lemon Butter Potatoes
Garlic Lemon Butter Potatoes
Ingredients
Salt-Water Brine
- 1 litre water
- 50ml salt
Potatoes
- 800g roasting potatoes
- 1.5 tsp garlic powder
- Sea salt flakes, preferably Maldon
- Freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 lemon
- 2 large knobs of butter
- 30ml olive oil
Instructions
- For the brine, combine salt and water and pour into a large bowl.
- Peel potatoes and cut into wedges (not too thick). Transfer to the brine and allow to brine for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 200°C
- Drain potatoes and pat dry.
- Add butter and olive oil to a roasting pan and place in the oven for a few minutes or until the butter has melted into the oil.
- Add potato wedges to the butter oil along with some cracked black pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice (if they have been brined for 30 minutes – 1 hour they should at this stage be salty enough). Toss potatoes around the pan coating well. Roast for 20 minutes.
- Remove pan from oven and increase the temperature to 220°C. Sprinkle over garlic powder and toss potatoes around again to coat evenly. Return to the oven for another 10 – 15 minutes or until caramelised and crispy.
- When done, remove the pan, and whilst still hot season potatoes with extra salt and pepper as needed and finish by squeezing over lemon juice one more time, toss to combine. Serve immediately.