Definitely a cut above the usual roasted potatoes! The unique thing about Greek Lemon Potatoes is that they are cooked in a heavily flavoured lemon garlic broth so they suck up all that flavour before roasting to golden perfection. They’re utterly addictive!
Greek Lemon Potatoes
Welcome back to the final instalment of GREEK WEEK!!! We started the week with Greek Chicken marinated in the most incredible yogurt marinade, served up a big pan of homemade Greek Baklava on Wednesday and we’re finishing up the week with the much anticipated Greek Lemon Potatoes!
We’re serving all these with a side of fresh Greek Salad and Tzatziki for dolloping (in the Greek Chicken recipe) – and see here for more Greek recipes.
Plate smashing is optional – but loads of garlic in everything is not!
Let’s be clear about one thing up front:
These are not your usual roasted potatoes
Don’t get me wrong. Throw spuds in the oven drizzled with oil, salt and pepper, and I’ll happily munch my way through them.
Make the effort to follow a few extra steps to make the crunchiest roast potatoes you’ve ever had, and it’s like all my Christmases have come at once. Thick, craggy crusts, perfectly seasoned, fluffy insides.
But these roasted Greek Lemon Potatoes….
These are unlike any other roasted potato I’ve ever had because they’re flavoured all the way through. Flavoured with all THIS ↓↓↓
How I cut potatoes for this recipe
We want chunky pieces for this recipe so they hold up to the relatively long cooking time. I cut medium potatoes into 3 pieces, as pictured below, and large potatoes into quarters or thick wedges.
HALF BRAISED, HALF ROASTED
The idea behind Greek Lemon Potatoes is that they are braised in a lemon-garlic flavoured broth so they suck up all that flavour, then you continue roasting them until the liquid evaporates, leaving behind just the oil to roast the potatoes until golden.
The concept sounds easy enough, but actually, it’s quite tricky to do in one pan. I swear, it’s scientifically impossible to roast potatoes until golden without the garlic burning. It’s one or the other – golden garlic or golden potatoes (unless, like I do with my Herb Roasted Potatoes, you add the garlic midway through cooking).
Also, I kept ending up with burnt ridges on the potato from the lemon juice and broth that caramelises on the base of the pan, and a disappointing lack of golden crusts promised by recipes I used.
After two, three, five, seven attempts, I threw every recipe I read out the window (virtually) and settled on an easier, less risky way of making Greek Lemon Potatoes so they come out as golden as possible: Braise in one pan to suck up flavour, transfer to a tray to bake until golden, drizzled with the flavoured oil from Pan 1.
How to make Greek Lemon Potatoes (my safer way)
You can skip the transference step if you want. But just be mindful that you’ll need to keep a super close eye on the potatoes and they won’t be as golden as you see in these photos, you’ll likely end up with thin dark burnt ridges and the garlic with burn (gee, I’m really making this sound appetising! 😂)
In the interest of total transparency …
Because I hate recipes that lie, I want to be 100% clear about expectations: these are not the crispiest roast potatoes in the world. I truly think it’s scientifically impossible to get seriously crispy roast potatoes once they’ve been submerged in all that lemon and broth (believe me, I tried my heart out!).
So if seriously crunchy potatoes is what you are after – and I’m talking seriously thick crunchy crust and they stay crisp for ages – use this recipe: Duck Fat Potatoes or Truly Crunchy Roast Potatoes.
But these Greek Lemon Potatoes do have nice crispy edges and some crispy surfaces (see video and photos) and in any case, you won’t miss major crunch factor because these have so much more flavour than any other roasted potato.
It was actually scary how much of these I was able to consume in one sitting. I just couldn’t stop – they are so darn good!! – Nagi x
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Greek Lemon Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1.2 kg / 2.5lb potatoes (Aus: Desiree, US: Yukon Gold, UK: Maris Piper) (Note 1)
- 1 1/2 cups chicken stock/broth , low sodium (Note 2)
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 5 garlic cloves , finely grated using microplane (Note 3)
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp salt (Note 4)
Garnish (optional)
- Lemon wedges, fresh oregano leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F (180°Cfan).
- Cut potatoes: Peel potatoes and cut large ones into thick wedges – about 3cm / 1.2" thick – and medium ones into 3 (see photo in post).
- Coat potatoes: Place potatoes in a roasting pan with all the other ingredients. Toss well.
- Roast 45 minutes: Roast for 20 minutes. Turn potatoes, roast for a further 25 to 30 minutes until the liquid is mostly absorbed by potatoes/evaporated and you're left with mainly oil in the pan.
- To crisp the potatoes (optional): Transfer potatoes to a separate tray. (Note 3) Tilt the original roasting pan and scoop off as much of the oil as you can (some juices is ok), then drizzle over the potatoes.
- Roast 35 minutes: Transfer potatoes to oven and roast for 35 – 40 minutes, turning once or twice, until potatoes are golden and a bit crispy on the edges.
- Heat pan juices: Return pan #1 with the garlic juices to the oven for the last 5 – 10 minutes or so to reduce down and make the garlic golden. (Optional, Note 4)
- Plate up: Transfer potatoes to serving platter. Drizzle over the reduced garlic pan juices (or toss potatoes in the pan). Serve, garnished with lemon wedges and oregano if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
When Dozer stole a dog treat at the pet shop while I was trying to take cute photos of him eyeing off the treats…..
Made these tonight with a Greek buttermilk air fried chicken, homemade pitas and taziki sauce (wrong spllng)
The potatoes were the best ever
Followed the recipe to the last detail
Sooooo good
Sounds divine Jodi!!!
Delicious! I followed your recipe to the letter, including transfer, and it was SO good it’s been added to our tried and true favorites. We had to stop ourselves from eating all the crispy browned things! Thanks for perfecting the recipe.
Oh the crispy bits are my fave, I’ll fight you for them!!
can I replace chicken broth with water?
Hi Anika, the broth gives the potatoes all the flavour, they will be a little bland using just water. If you don’t have access to broth/stock you can substitute with water but just add a little extra salt to taste – N x
These were the best potatoes I’ve ever made! So full of flavour, the zing of the lemon, the saltiness of the stock with the garlic/herb aromatics made these absolutely delicious. Will definitely become a regular addition to the menu in this household.
I made these last night..they were amazing! worth the extra step to roast…thanks for sharing!
They are so worth it Jessica, I’m so happy you enjoyed them!
Hi Nagi, we had family stay this weekend from interstate and I made your slow cooker pork loin (well actually shoulder) and these potatoes and they loved them so much they were asking for the recipes. I made over and above the normal consumable amount of potatoes and they were ALL eaten. I have sent them the link to your website as they were very keen to cook these dishes themselves. Guess you have some new followers!
Thanks so much Danielle, I’m so glad it was a hit!
These may have been the best potato side dish I ever made. Wow! Great recipe! I made them yesterday with slow cooked lamb, stuffed grape leaves and some cold salads and these were absolutely the perfect potatoes. I can’t emphasize enough how flavorful and scrumptious these were.
Woah what a great compliment! Thanks so much ❤️
Wow! I found your website yesterday, and I’ve selected so many recipes to try. Last night my husband made these potatoes…I knew they were going to be excellent when he tasted them halfway through and just kept saying, “oh my gosh, these are so freekin’ good”. He was right, they were awesome! Tonight we’re doing your Lime Chicken-can’t wait!
Wahoo! I hope you enjoy the chicken too!
I just made this recipe tonight, they have got to be the BEST potatoes I’ve ever had. Absolutely delish!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them Maria!
Just made this recipe exactly as written! I thought they were fantastic but the real compliment came from my Greek SO, who said they were the closest any have ever been to the potatoes his Yia Yia would make for him growing up that he hasn’t had in years.
Thank you!
I made these potatoes last night – to go with your chicken souvlakis, lamb koftas and your greek lemon orzo salad (these 3 are on regular rotation in this house).
The potatoes were delish – I was surprised at how flavourful the inside was. I did the end step of roasting for an additional 20 mins trying to get that extra bit of crispiness because my husband loves crunch. As you mentioned in your notes, this is not a crunchy roast potato but honestly the flavours are just so good it doesn’t matter.
Another winner from the queen Nagi!!!
Wahoo! They are so addictively good aren’t they?!
I made these in one step, in one pan. I followed your recipe but used unpeeled, halved salad potatoes, but cranked the heat up to full. They took about an hour or so and were amazing! Thanks so much!
Sounds great Catherine, I’m so happy they worked out for you!
The best lemon potatoes ever! Wondering if you have a suggestion on how to pre-prep for a large group? Could I do the first step (cook in the broth) and then refrigerate and complete the second step just before supper?
Absolutely delicious! Definitely worth the time and trouble. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
I’m so glad you loved them Anne!!
Best lemon roast potato recipe I’ve tried…and I’ve tried a lot. Worth every step!!
That’s terrific to hear!
These were fantastic! I’ve never thought to cook them in a broth like this and it made a huge difference in the flavor. Anything with lemon is great with me! Highly recommend. My husband who doesn’t love potatoes insisted I put these in our regular rotation.
My bf cooked in Greek restaurants for 12 years and he thinks this recipe is better than any of theirs! Definitely making again.
Woah, that’s amazing CWood!!!!
Can these be made ahead & re-heated? I need to take a meal to someone recovering from surgery.
Yes definitely Linda!
Nagi, can I use unpeeled potatoes for this recipe? Thank you.
Thank you for asking! I NEVER peel potatoes because I love the skins. I had to scroll this far down to find this question!
I prefer peeled so all that flavour soaks into the potatoes – but if you don’t peel them, I’m sure it will be fine
Thank you Nagi!!! These potatoes were sooo delicious!! I only got 3 wedges because my husband and son ate them all. But I am going to make them again tomorrow.
I’m so glad they were a hit Laurie, you’ll have to hide some before you serve them 😉
Great recipe, but try cooking them at 400, absorbs the liquid and roasts better!
I’ll have to give it a go Debra!