Never Eat Boring Roasted Potatoes Again — Make Them Greek Style

Roasting potatoes is one of the most delicious cooking methods, producing that beautifully crisp, golden exterior and fluffy, tender interior. It's a bit like eating potato chips, but better, thanks to the silky, fluffy texture that follows the crunch. However, if even your favorite rosemary and garlic roasted potatoes are starting to feel a little boring, infusing them with bright, complex Greek flavors is a surefire way to break up the banality. This may seem a little intimidating at first because Greek cuisine boasts cleverly layered, nuanced flavors, but the technique is actually fairly simple, especially given the flavorful results.

The ingredients are also relatively common and not out of place in a well-stocked pantry. They are some of the iconic Greek foods everyone should try at least once, and flavors that appear over and over again in different combinations: chicken broth, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and oregano, which form a brothy mixture at the bottom of your roasting pan to cradle your potatoes. As they roast, the spuds soak up all that beautiful flavor while the infused broth concentrates into a glossy, tangy glaze.

The results are potatoes with a light, crispy crunch on the outside and filled with a savory, herby brightness all the way through, creating the perfect contrast to potatoes' signature heavy starchiness. Unlike potatoes roasted in fat alone, the interior is just as deeply seasoned as the outside, creating a gorgeously flavorful side dish you'll want to make again and again.

Aside from roasting your potatoes at the perfect temperature (about 425 degrees Fahrenheit), the key to making perfect lemony, Greek-style potatoes is choosing the right type of tuber. Yukon golds are a fan favorite because they're crisp and waxy, indicating that they'll hold their shape even after cooking, which is necessary for this dish. Something starchier, like russets, would just dissolve right into the brothy base. If you can't find Yukon Golds, look for other varieties with a waxy texture, such as red bliss.

How you cut your potatoes also matters. Though wedges are traditional, you can choose other shapes as long as they're cut fairly large. Bigger is better here because you want the potatoes to absorb the fat and moisture slowly, and smaller cuts might pull in too much moisture and get soggy. Wedges work because it's easy to cut most potatoes into uniform wedge shapes, and they're large enough to pull in plenty of flavor while developing the perfect texture.

Additionally, you'll want to choose high-quality ingredients for your roasting liquid, such as robustly flavored olive oil, your favorite chicken stock, and fresh lemon juice. These ingredients determine the flavor of your dish, so it's worth splurging a little on things you know will taste great. That way, you'll have both tasty potatoes and a delicious, saucy glaze in the pan to drizzle over everything on your plate, whether that's flaky grilled fish, tender lamb souvlaki, or juicy roasted chicken.