How To Make the Crispiest Roasted Potatoes, According to 4 Experts

As someone who loves sheet-pan dinners, I'm always cutting up various vegetables to roast in the oven. From chickpeas to root vegetables, there is one side dish I've yet to perfect—roast potatoes. They often turn out soft and pale, and what I really crave is that perfectly toasted edge.

Thankfully, after talking to four experts, I discovered the most effective way to ensure your roast potatoes always come out crispy. 

The Experts

• Carina Wolff: Owner of the Substack Good Morning Food, the blog Kale Me Maybe, KaleMeMaybe on Instagram, and Carina.Wolff on TikTok
• Michael Tchao: Owner of the food education account MichaelTchao on Instagram
• Ashley Fehr: Owner of the blog The Recipe Rebel and TheRecipeRebel on Instagram
• Tom Neame: Owner of home-cooking account TomJustCooks on Instagram

Crispy Potato Hack

These experts shared the same key advice regarding roasting potatoes—avoid overcrowding the pan. "If the potatoes are touching or overlapping, they'll steam instead of roast, and you'll never get that golden crunch," Tchao shared.

"You want to make sure you're not overcrowding the pan. You always want to make sure your potatoes are in a single layer," Wolff shared. Fehr also agreed. "Make sure that they are not too crowded, and the cut side is down, and rotate or flip as needed," Fehr shared.

This simple hack will turn your potatoes from soft to crispy with just a few extra minutes spent arranging your pan!

Another Tip for Crispy Potatoes

In addition to spacing out your chopped potatoes, a couple of these experts recommended a secondary tip. "I think the best way to make the crispiest potatoes is to make sure they are completely dry when you begin cooking them and to use some sort of fat to help crisp them," Fehr said. 

Neame agreed. "I would say the biggest mistake is when you don't let the potato completely dry before roasting it. If there is still steam/water in the potato, then the oil will not crisp the potato up (oil and water hate each other!)," Neame shared.

Combining these two suggestions, the potatoes you pull out of the oven will have the perfect amount of crunch.

How To Eat Your Crispy Roast Potatoes

These chefs share their favorite ways to enjoy these frites, whether alone, dipped, or tossed. "One of my favorite ways to eat crispy potatoes is over a creamy sauce, like a whipped feta or garlic yogurt. I also like to throw them into salads for some texture," Wolff shared.

"I love them as a standalone side with a dipping sauce like garlic aioli or Spanish brava sauce—a garlic tomato mayo. But they also appear in my breakfast hash with eggs and sausage or smashed into a salad with mustard vinaigrette and herbs for texture. They're a great base for layering flavors—crispy potatoes can carry spice, acidity, fat, and umami like a champ," Tchao shared.

Next time you plan on incorporating roasted potatoes into a meal, make sure to take these experts' advice!