Sheet Pan Breakfast Potatoes
Parboiled first, then roasted hard. The parboiling is the difference between potatoes that crisp and potatoes that steam.
Cubed raw potato on a tray gives you something soft with a slightly leathery outside. Nine minutes in boiling water first changes it completely: the outsides roughen, and rough outsides are what turn into crust.
The tray needs to be hotter than feels reasonable and the potatoes need room. Crowded potatoes steam each other, and no amount of oven time fixes it afterwards.
Ingredients
| Amount | Ingredient |
|---|---|
| 2 lb | waxy potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes |
| 3 tbsp | oil with a high smoke point |
| 1 tsp | smoked paprika |
| 1/2 tsp | garlic powder |
| 1 | onion, cut into thick wedges |
| 1 tsp | salt |
| — | black pepper |
Method
- Heat the oven to 425°F with the empty tray inside it.
- Boil the potatoes in salted water for nine minutes. They should be soft at the edge and firm in the middle.
- Drain and leave them in the colander for two minutes to steam dry, then shake the colander hard. The outsides should look scuffed.
- Toss with the oil, paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
- Tip onto the hot tray in one layer, with space between them. Roast twenty minutes.
- Add the onion, turn everything once, and give it fifteen minutes more.
Notes
- Waxy potatoes hold their shape. Floury ones taste better and fall apart, and both answers are defensible.
- The shaking step feels silly and is the one that matters most.
- They reheat in a dry pan, never in a microwave.
Questions
Can I skip the parboiling?
You can, and you get a different dish: softer, paler, and fine. What you do not get is crust.
Two trays or one crowded tray?
Two. This is the other half of the same rule.
Can I prep them the night before?
Parboil, dry, and refrigerate uncovered. They roast slightly better cold than warm.