Roast Potatoes In Butter For Tender, Melted Textures

It is no secret that butter and potatoes are best friends. What would mashed, boiled, or baked potatoes be without butter providing its creamy flavor to the proceedings? However, as good as butter is in all of those recipes, butter-roasted potatoes are where it's at for texture and flavor. To be clear, we don't just mean tossing roasted potatoes in butter after they come out of the oven. We mean actually roasting the potatoes in butter.

You need some kind of cooking fat to coat the potatoes in. Usually, this is olive oil, but when the potatoes are roasted in butter, they will create a tender, creamy, and melted texture to the potato. The outside, too, will become wonderfully brown and crispy. You can also get a whole lot of flavor into the potatoes by using compound butters to roast them in. Herbs like rosemary, thyme, sage, and parsley, aromatics like garlic, or spices like chili powder, paprika, and cumin are all your friends when it comes to roasted potatoes.

The question is, then, how exactly do you go about using the butter to roast them? Butter isn't a liquid like olive oil. Do you melt the butter first and then toss in the potatoes? Do we just grease the pan with softened butter ahead of time? Well, actually, it's a mix of both.

The main problem with melting the butter ahead of time is that you'll be tossing it in with potentially cold potatoes. Butter reforms somewhat once it cools down and might not spread as easily over the potatoes. Solving this is a simple matter. First, parboil the potatoes so they are warm. While the potatoes are boiling, place your butter directly into the roasting pan and preheat both in the oven. This does two things. It allows the butter to melt gently in the roasting pan as the oven heats up. It also allows the roasting pan to heat so that, when you add the potatoes, you're more likely to get a crispy exterior, and they will cook faster.

Once your oven is around 400 degrees Fahrenheit for a good roast, remove the pan. The butter should be beautifully melted. Add your parboiled potatoes, season generously, and toss everything together. Roast for 30 minutes, flipping the potatoes halfway through for maximum crispiness.

The end result will be potatoes that are beautifully crispy on the outside, and wonderfully fluffy and tender on the inside. Along with whatever herbs you use, there will be nuttiness and sweetness from the cooked butter. What you get then is a true amalgamation. Everything serves to elevate the roasted potatoes to great levels of texture and flavor.