TL;DR (Quick-Answer Box)
- hat it is: Tender, earthy new potato halves roasted cut-side down on a savory crust of Parmigiano-Reggiano, dried Italian herbs, garlic, and onion powder.
- Why you’ll love it: These deliver an irresistible, salty crunch from the golden cheese layer while the potato centers stay buttery and perfectly tender.
- How to make it: Coat an oiled dish with the herb-cheese mixture, press the potatoes into it, drizzle with oil, and roast until golden-brown.
A week doesn’t go by that The One and I don’t eat potatoes at least twice. We like them roasted, mashed, fried, smashed, in stews, on pizzas, and beneath cuts of roasted meat. Basically, we lack any sense of discretion or gustatory restraint.
Wanting a bit of variety—because let’s be honest, even potatoes fried in duck fat can become ho-hum if you have it too often—I decided to switch it up a bit. And I wasn’t just looking for something different; I wanted something easy that I could make with ingredients we always had on hand.
Enter crispy herbed Parmesan potatoes.
These little gems are packed with flavor and have a nice crispy crunch courtesy of the caramelized Parmesan cheese. You can use just about any herb mix you want. Although we did make them with a boutique blend of herbes de Provence that included lavender, and, well, we chucked the batch. Wicked weird flavor combo.
Chow,
Featured Review
One of the great things about cooking … is uncovering combinations that make you say “wow” followed by “where have you been all my life?” That was the case with these Crispy Herbed Parmesan Potatoes. The potatoes come out amazingly creamy, which is wonderful, then you get the pop from the crispy, Parmesan-y edge.
Greg Crawford
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If you make these herby Parmesan potatoes, or any dish on LC, consider leaving a review, a star rating, and your best photo in the comments below. I love hearing from you.–David
Featured Review
I searched for a recipe to use up my “too big of a purchase” of baby potatoes… and found these Parmesan potatoes. Following one of the Tester’s suggestions—I tossed the potatoes with the olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and coarse black pepper and then put them on the seasoned Parmesan. They roasted to perfection! I could easily sit and dip these potatoes in ketchup and eat them like French fries. Love the caramelized Parmesan!
Deb L
Crispy Herbed Parmesan Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs
- 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3/4 teaspoon onion powder
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Olive oil
- 1 1/2 pounds new potatoes (about 24), halved or quartered, if large (each piece should be about 1 inch [25 mm])
Instructions
- Set the oven rack to the middle position and crank the heat to 400°F (200°C).
- In a small bowl, mix the cheese, herbs, garlic and onion powders, a generous pinch of salt, and a few grinds of black pepper.
- Lightly coat the bottom of a 9 by 13-inch (23-by 33-cm) baking dish with olive oil and evenly cover the dish with the cheese mixture.
☞ TESTER TIP: Using a glass baking dish for these potatoes will allow you to keep an eye on the color of the cheese as they cook.
- Press the potatoes, cut side down, into the cheese mixture. Drizzle the backs of the potatoes with 1 to 2 tablespoons oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Roast the potatoes until softened and the cheese is golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Take care not to cook for too long or the Parmesan may turn bitter.
- Transfer to a rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Using a sharp knife, cut between the potatoes, if needed, to release them, and pile into a warm serving bowl.
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Recipe Testers’ Reviews
Did you know only 68% of the recipes we test make it onto the site? This recipe survived our rigorous blind testing process by multiple home cooks. It earned the Leite’s Culinaria stamp of approval—and the testers’ reviews below prove it.
This recipe caught my attention right away as a simple side dish that would go with just about any entrée. It’s not a ‘big batch’ recipe, and seems to be scalable as long as you have an appropriately sized pan.
I set the oven to 400°F, and the prep was done before the oven came to temp. I began with the indicated amount of Yukon Gold potatoes, and no peeling is a time-saver! All the remaining ingredients were on hand and prep was easy. I recommend using a glass pan for this one—it’s easy to see progress, easy to serve from, and easy to clean up.
I added 2T of EVOO to coat the pan, then added the cheese mixture and topped it with the potatoes. Be cautious—don’t drizzle too much oil on the top of the potatoes or you’ll have a greasy mess.
My potatoes were done at 30 minutes, and I recommend trying to find potatoes of a consistent size for even cooking. There was a good amount of bubbling from the cheese and oil, but this died down and was easily served after the 5 minute rest period. The crunchy, browned herby cheese is a nice complement to the creamy potatoes.
If you’re looking for faster cleanup, pass on the serving bowl and serve right in the pan. I recommend flipping the potatoes over for the nicest presentation. I love the speedy prep and the flexibility of this recipe to adjust seasonings. It’s also a great last-minute recipe when you can’t decide what to eat. This one is a winner in my book!
What a great little recipe for potatoes! I loved how the parmesan gets all crispy and crunchy—kind of like the edge of lasagna or a good Parmesan crisp. This requires just a few ingredients, and after a little over 30 minutes, you have savory, perfectly cooked potatoes. Note that I never use onion powder, but given the results, I was happy to purchase it.
I served this alongside a lamb stew and was very satisfied. Note that I used red-skinned potatoes. I tried to find the smallest available. I ended up needing 7 potatoes to get to the required weight. I cut a few of the bigger ones to make sure all the potato halves were of comparable size.
Wow! These were delicious and so easy to prepare. My tasters were raving and I will for sure be making these again. The only difficult thing was drizzling the potatoes and making sure they’re properly coated—so next time, I would probably toss them in salt and pepper and olive oil before placing them in the baking dish. After finishing all of the potatoes, we were left with little crumbs of Parmesan deliciousness. These would taste incredible on mac and cheese or popcorn.
I ran out of onion powder, so I just added extra garlic powder and Italian herbs.
These roasted parmesan potatoes were quite yummy. They were also easy to prep and would go nicely with many dishes, which is a plus. I’ll for sure keep the recipe handy and make them in the future, with just a couple of changes.
For my oven, the temp of 400°F seemed too high. After 35 min, the cheese started burning and potatoes weren’t cooked through so I covered them loosely with foil and increased the time to 40 minutes. I think this was because the potatoes we had were larger, and that probably had something to do with it. If the potatoes are larger, I would decrease the oven temp and increase the cooking time.
Allowing the potatoes to rest before serving really allowed the cheese to crisp up nice and crunchy! I served them with BBQ baked ribs and the roasted romaine Caesar salad. A perfect meal.
One of the great things about cooking and exploring and trying new recipes is uncovering combinations that make you say “wow” followed by “where have you been all my life?” That was the case with these Crispy Herbed Parmesan Potatoes. The potatoes come out amazingly creamy, which is wonderful, then you get the pop from the crispy, Parmesan-y edge. A really wonderful juxtaposition. And of course potatoes and cheese – a natural combo. But with this recipe, the cheese doesn’t overtake the potatoes. The seasonings add just the right amount of flavor too. I couldn’t find nice sized new potatoes so I picked out the smallest Yukon golds that I could. I had to quarter some of them, which worked out OK but that meant some cut sides were coating free, which was a little sad.
Greg, indeed: “Where have you been all my life?” I’m so glad these potatoes were a hit. Using Yukon Golds was a smart move—they’ve got that natural creaminess that makes the contrast with the Parmesan crust even better. I’m sorry to hear about those “coating-free” sides on the quartered pieces, but it’s a great lesson for everyone: the more cut-side surface area you can get onto that cheese mixture, the better!