Brits have many ways to make the crispiest, most mouth-watering potatoes, and most of the time, an oven is used to achieve those results. But what if we told you there was another way to make delicious potatoes that doesn’t involve roasting them?
Potatoes are a staple of many British meals, particularly a Sunday roast. Instead of putting them into the oven to crisp up, you may want to try this method that actually takes less time to make than roast potatoes. One cook has shared her way of making potatoes without putting them in the oven. Instead, she uses a skillet to cook them to perfection. Christine Gallary, who writes for The Kitchen, shared her recipe that involves cooking potatoes in a skillet for 30 minutes, with only five minutes of preparation beforehand. She describes them as having a crispy outside but a fluffy inside, the exact consistency we look for when we are cooking potatoes. She serves them with herbs such as thyme, making them a delicious side dish to many dinners.
Additionally, it’s mostly hands-off, so you can just let the potatoes do their thing while you prepare other dishes you plan to enjoy. Plus, you don’t need to boil them beforehand, which is what people normally do before roasting potatoes.
Instead, the steam from the pan when it is covered helps the insides to soften while the outsides crisp up. For this recipe, she uses:
- 3 to 4 potatoes
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- Ground black pepper
- Finely chopped fresh herbs of your choice, such as thyme or rosemary
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
To cook these potatoes, start by cutting them, and then heat the oil in your pan over a medium heat. A cast-iron skillet is best for this.
Add the potatoes and salt, then cover the pan and let it cook for between 10 and 20 minutes. While that is cooking, chop the herbs you want to serve the potatoes with.
Uncover the pan and flip the potatoes when you notice the bottoms have gone golden brown on the bottom. Once flipped, let them cook for a further 5 to 10 minutes to let the other sides get just as crispy.
An optional step is to add butter and herbs to the pan while the potatoes finish cooking, but that’s only if you want a buttery, herby flavour before serving.
