Emily Blunt’s 3-Ingredient Roasted Potatoes Are a Thing of Wonder
She serves them as part of a traditional British Sunday roast. I could eat them all day, every day.
Remember the deep dark days of the pandemic when foods like whipped coffee, pancake cereal, and sourdough everything went viral? Unlike these recipes, there's one I came across during that time that I still make today. While it’s not a particularly "trendy" dish, it was made viral by two famous women: Emily Blunt and Ina Garten.
In 2018, Ina hosted Emily at her home for an episode of Barefoot Contessa. Emily shared her family’s trick for making the crispiest roast potatoes, which they served as part of a traditional British Sunday roast.
Ina loved them so much that she included the recipe in her cookbook, Modern Comfort Food, which was released in 2020. While promoting the book, Ina shared a photo of these incredible potatoes on Instagram, and they pretty much broke the internet.
And for good reason! These potatoes are everything good under the sun: crisp, crunchy, golden brown, perfectly seasoned, and light and fluffy on the inside—pretty much perfection.
What Makes Emily's Roasted Potatoes So Good
Can you throw some cubed potatoes on a sheet pan and simply roast them until tender? Sure, but they won’t be anything like Emily's roasted potatoes! The beauty of this recipe is in the technique.
First, the potatoes are parboiled in salted water to ensure they are fluffy inside. Next, to encourage a super crisp exterior, once the potatoes are drained, add them back to the pot and give them a vigorous shake. This roughens the outsides and encourages the starches to clump up, leading to many tasty, crispy bits once roasted.
The last step is to allow the potatoes to dry on a baking rack for at least 15 minutes (or up to six hours in the fridge). Like any fish or protein, you get a better sear if you start with a dry surface. The same rule applies to potatoes; allowing them to cool and release any residual moisture ensures they will get nice and crunchy.
A Note on the Cooking Oil
Once the boiled potatoes have cooled and dried up, they travel to the oven. But not until the oil is heated to the perfect temperature.
Emily's recipe calls for canola oil, but I prefer avocado because I think it has a better flavor. Preheat the oven to 425˚F. Then add a generous amount (1/2 cup) of oil to a sturdy sheet pan and heat it in the oven for five to seven minutes before adding the potatoes.
By heating the oil, the potatoes start to crisp up the moment they hit the pan—do so gently to avoid burns from oil splashing. Once the potatoes reach the oven, the temperature is dropped to a moderate 350°F until the potatoes become golden brown.
A Few Tips
- At first glance, it will seem like entirely too much salt. Just trust Ina, she knows how to season potatoes.
- Use a sturdy sheet pan. You know those flimsy pans that sometimes warp or twist suddenly in the oven? This is not the recipe for them! You want a rimmed sheet pan that will not warp as the oil heats.
- Yukon gold has the best creamy interior, but if you want the crunchiest exterior, use russets.
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