Easily Amp Up Roast Potatoes With Onion Soup Mix

Roasted potatoes are the perfect side dish. Cut em' up, toss them with some oil, salt, and pepper, and after about a half hour, you'll have creamy and tender potatoes that work as an accompaniment to just about any main course you can think of. Besides being delicious, which is pretty important, that set-it-and-forget simplicity is key to their appeal. Any side that you can prep quickly and leave unattended while focusing on the rest of the meal is one you are going to return to over and over again. Roasted potatoes also happen to be filling, affordable, and enjoyed by even the pickiest of eaters. What's not to love?

That doesn't mean roasted potatoes can't be improved on. The quick and easy way will turn out something good, but they can be pushed into fantastic territory with a few hacks and a little extra effort. You can go all in and parboil your potatoes before roasting to get them extra crispy, or you could go as simple as melting some cheese over top. While tasty on their own, yet another upside of roasted potatoes is that they are a great canvas for a huge variety of flavors. Hot and spicy, lemony, rich and fatty — you name it, and potatoes can do it. So why not embrace the maximum possible flavor for your roasted potatoes without adding to the hassle at all? That's what onion soup mix can do for you.

Using soup mixes as seasoning is an old kitchen trick, from a time before the term "hack," had much meaning, but that doesn't mean it won't work wonders. Soup mixes are essentially ultra-concentrated seasoning, so bouillon, either grated cubes or packs of powder, can give a huge flavor boost to any kind of meat. Onion soup mix can do the same for your potatoes, bringing rich umami depth and a hint of sweetness to your salty starch. All you have to do is toss your cut-up potatoes with a little oil and a packet of onion soup mix, roast them like normal, and you'll have a side dish that might outshine the main course.

You don't need to stop with the mix, either. Onion-flavored potatoes go great with anything that, well, onions and potatoes go with. You can skip caramelizing onions, go straight to shredding on some Gruyère cheese, and you've got yourself some French onion potatoes. Or how about scrambling up some eggs for the beginnings of the best breakfast hash you've ever made? Potatoes believe in you; and if you can dream it, they can do it. So next time you need a killer side, skip the hassle and let onion soup mix do the work for you.