Golden crispy on the outside, perfectly soft on the inside. Perfectly roasted duck fat potatoes are what dreams are made of. Not even exaggerating here! The duck fat adds a luxurious flavour and amazing colour to the crispy potatoes and every bite is omg heaven-like! So good and so hard to stop eating.
Pro tip: scatter some garlic and rosemary midway roasting to further elevate these humble roast potatoes.
Make this crispy golden goodness for your next Sunday roast or steak dinner with a flavour-packed roast Pumpkin Salad with Goats Cheese and Spinach and/or jazz things up with these mouthwatering Creamy Mushroom Sauce!
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Ingredients
- Duck fats are usually sold in sealed jars or tubs in either the fridge section or in the oils isles of the supermarket. Substitute: goose fat or olive oil will work just fine (but then it won't be duck fat potatoes!).
- Potatoes nowadays (and thankfully), supermarkets have signs or packaging that tell you which potatoes are best for roasting, mashing and boiling. There are literally THOUSANDS of potato varieties out there! For those of you who are wondering, Sebago, Dutch Cream or Desiree are all perfect for roasting. I used Dutch Cream when shooting for this recipe.
Step by step instructions
It doesn't take much to achieve the perfectly roasted duck fat potatoes, you just got to get a few technical things right.
First, start heating the duck fat. Spoon duck fat onto a heavy-based baking tray and get it really hot in the oven at 200°C/400°F. The fat is hot enough when it starts to smoke in the oven.
Meanwhile, parboil the potatoes in cold salted water for about 7 minutes, counting from when the water starts boiling. Parboiling means cooking until it's partially done (partly boil). So the insides remain firm but the exterior soft.
Benefits of parboiling potatoes before roasting:
- The soft exterior of potatoes can be fluffed up by shaking the pot/colander they're in once drained. Fluffed up surface allows for maximum crispiness when roasting with fat.
- The extra cook time (in addition to roasting for 45 minutes) result in extra soft insides.
After the parboiled potatoes have been drained and fluffed, allow them to steam for about 1 - 2 minutes to draw out excess moisture.
Gently place potatoes into the oven tray with the hot duck fat, turning with a pair of tongs to coat all sides well. Bake for 45 minutes, turning every 15 minutes to ensure even colouring and proper crispiness.
Add lightly crushed garlic cloves and fresh rosemary sprigs after 15 minutes of roasting to add amazing flavour and aroma to the crispy potatoes.
Tips for making crispy duck fat potatoes every time
- Peel the potatoes. I know, I get lazy too sometimes, but the potato skins just don't crisp up as nicely as fluffy potato flesh.
- Draw as much moisture out of the potatoes as possible before roasting. Achieve this by draining the potatoes really well and leaving them in the hot pot (that was used to parboil) to use the heat to help evaporate excess moisture. If you still some liquids in the pot after 2 - 3 minutes, turn the stove on for about 30 seconds will do the trick!
- Get the duck fat smoking hot (literally) before adding parboiled potatoes into the baking tray. The parboiled potatoes should sizzle as soon as they touch the fat.
- Bake potatoes on the bottom shelf of the oven. Together with using a heavy-based oven tray, the tray facing potatoes will crisp up really well. Hence it is important to turn the potatoes every 15 minutes or even every 10 minutes if you've got the patience!
- Space the potato chunks out to ensure well ventilation and never overlap the potatoes in the oven tray!
Good to know (FAQs)
About 2 heaped tablespoon will be sufficient for roasting 1kg of potatoes. Double if roasting 2 kgs.
If using more duck fat (say 100ml/3oz as some duck fat labels suggest), it's even more imperative that the fat is smoking hot before potatoes are added for roasting (otherwise they won't crisp up).
Duck fat can be reused multiple times!
Store duck fat in airtight containers in the fridge. Be sure to strain well to remove any cooking debris before storage. Duck fat lasts in the fridge for months, about 6 months and longer in the freezer!
Leftovers and freezing
Roast potatoes are best served immediately. To reheat, crisp up the potatoes with extra fat in a heavy-based pan on the stove on high heat. Turning every minute until crispy.
Made this recipe? Let me know your thoughts or questions by dropping a note in the comments section below! I'd love to hear from you 🙂
Happy cooking and eating! - Gen
📖 Recipe
Crispy Duck Fat Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 kg /2lbs potatoes
- 2 heaped tbsp duck fat
- salt and pepper
- 5 cloves garlic
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F. Dollop duck fat onto a large, heavy-based roasting tray. Place tray onto the bottom shelf of the oven to get the fat nice and hot. (note 1)
- Meanwhile, peel and cut potatoes into large chunks, to about 5cm/1.5inch cubes.
- To parboil the potatoes, add potatoes and cold water (enough to cover the potatoes) into a large pot and bring it up to boil. Generously salt the water. Boil potatoes for about 7 minutes, lid off.
- Once 7 minutes are up, turn the stove off, drain potatoes well. Allow potatoes to steam to evaporate excess moisture. (note 2)
- Now, gently shake the pot (or colander, if using) to fluff up the edges of the potatoes for an extra crunchy exterior.
- Carefully, with oven mitts on, take the tray out of the oven and gently place potatoes onto the tray. Using a pair of tongs, turn and coat the potatoes with the duck fat thoroughly.
- Space potatoes out, with wiggle room between each other without overlapping. Bake on the bottom shelf for 45 minutes (or until potatoes a deep golden and crispy), turning every 15 minutes. (note 3)
- After the first 15 minutes of roasting, scatter lightly crushed garlic cloves (skin on) and rosemary sprigs all over the potatoes before returning it into the oven. (note 4)
- Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately whilst it's hot and crispy!
GARY Dunne
Great recipe but you dont say when to use the salt and pepper cooking this today for Xmas lunch
Genevieve
Ah! Just updated the last step for clarification - thanks Gary 🙂 *changed from 'Season and serve immediately!' to 'Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately whilst it's hot and crispy!'