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    Home » Recipes

    The Best Vegan Crispy Roast Potatoes

    Published: Nov 28, 2019 · Modified: Feb 28, 2022 by Louise-Claire Cayzer · This post may contain affiliate links · This blog generates income via ads · 5 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
    the best crispy roast potatoes in a dish
    the best vegan crispy roast potatoes in a dish

    What's the best bit about any roast dinner is? Obviously, it's the vegan crispy roast potatoes! I mean, crunchy & crispy on the outside, fluffy in the middle roast potatoes, covered in a rich gravy, are pretty much the only thing that I consider a constant in any roast dinner. Luckily for you, I make the best Vegan Crispy Roast Potatoes in the world. (Go on. Challenge me, I DARE you!) I mean. Check out THESE bad bois.

    We have LOADS of amazing roast mains and sides you can have with this, especially at Christmas. Check out these 28 Ultimate Vegan Christmas Dinner Mains and these 3 Awesome Vegan Christmas Day Side Dishes. They're great for any roast dinner, not just Christmas.

    Roasty Potatoes in a pan. this recipe
    Jump to:
    • 🥔Ingredients
    • 🔪Potato Cutting
    • 👩🏽‍🍳How-To
    • 🤓Other tips
    • 🍽️Serving
    • 📖 Recipe
    • 💬 Comments

    🥔Ingredients

    These vegan roast potatoes have super simple ingredients. They are:

    Potatoes - obviously! You need a good roasting potato variety. One that fluffs up and becomes a cloud of potatoey goodness when parboiled, then roasted. Maris Piper, Desiree or King Edward are all good varieties to use.

    I get our spuds (that means potatoes in slang!) from Abel & Cole along with our weekly veg box, which means I don't know exactly what kinds I'll receive. However, the kind people there add a note in with the spuds to let us know what each type is good for, which is especially useful as sometimes they send some delicious varieties that are a little more unusual than you can find in the big supermarkets. But if I'm catering for a crowd, I stick to the tried and tested varieties for consistency.

    Semolina - this is optional. Well, I say this in the sense that you can still make amazing vegan crispy roast potatoes without it. But if you can get it, that's ideal. Semolina is a coarse flour made from durum wheat that's perfect for that extra crispiness. It keeps for a long time and really isn't expensive. You'll get it online, in healthfood shops and in some supermarkets.

    Olive oil - I always use olive oil to roast my potatoes as I think the flavour is superior. You could try other oils, but I 100% would never use coconut oil. It wouldn't taste right.

    Salt and pepper - to taste. Salt is just essential on crispy roast potatoes.

    Fresh rosemary or thyme - sage is also a great vegan roast potato herb. Fresh herbs just lift the flavour more!

    vegan gravy with roast potatoes and tempeh stuffing balls

    🔪Potato Cutting

    The next thing you need to understand for these vegan roast potatoes is how to cut them for the best surface area to fluffy inside ratio. You want your spuds to all be roughly the same size, but maximise the crunch factor. Large potatoes can be cut into three. Small ones in half. Cut them at a diagonal for the best surface area ratio. (See the diagram and close up image below!) 

    Diagram showing the best way to cut a potato for roasties
    crispy vegan roast potatoes on a plate

    👩🏽‍🍳How-To

    This crispy vegan roast potato recipe is so super simple, that you'll be getting it out at all your roast dinners!

    There are also some images below to show some of the steps. What you do is:

    1. Peel and cut the potatoes into 2 or 3, depending on how large the potates are. You want the potato chunks to be roughly similar sizes (check out the diagram above for the optimal cutting pattern).
    2. Parboil (that means partially boil) the potatoes in salted water. Don't cook all the way through as they might disintegrate. Around 5-10 minutes is good.
    3. Use large roasting dish ready with a layer of oil in the tray. Heat it up in the oven. A large roasting tin with deep sides is always a great idea for any roast dinner.
    4. Drain the potatoes and return them to the hot pan briefly to steam off any of the water.
    5. Then bash the potatoes around in the pan. I put the lid on and shake the pan up and down.
    6. Sprinkle with the semolina (if using), and do some more bashing around. This gives that nice rough crispy edge to your vegan roast potatoes. Then sprinkle with salt to taste.
    7. Carefully add the potatoes to the prepared hot oil in the baking tin. Toss them a little to cover them in the oil, and put in the oven.
    8. Give the potatoes a check and a shake around after 20 minutes. This makes sure they're evenly cooked.
    9. After another 20 minutes (once they're mostly done and cripsy) sprinkle over half the chopped herbs.
    10. Give the potatoes another 5-10 minutes in the oven, or until their golden brown and crispy. You can just keep them in the oven on a lower temperature if you're not yet ready to serve them. They'll just get more and more crispy!
    11. Sprinkle over the rest of the herbs while the potatoes are still in the baking tray, and add extra salt and pepper to taste if needed. Serve now, or leave in a low temperature oven to serve later.
    • cutting a potato into three pieces
      Peel and cut the potatoes
    • cutting up potatoes and adding to a pot for boiling
      Add to a large saucepan
    • full pot of potatoes
      Parboil the potatoes for around 10 minutes. Then drain and bash them so they have a fluffiness to them, and add semolina.
    • crispy roast potatoes on a baking tray ready to be cooked
      Put them on a baking tray with hot oil just out of the oven
    • putting salt on potatoes on a baking tray
      Add salt and pepper. Roast, taking them out half way through to give them a shake
    • vegan roast potatoes with tempeh balls and christmas wreath
      Serve with delicous vegan roast dinner wonders!

    🤓Other tips

    The other fail-safe tricks for these vegan roast potatoes are:

    • ensure you rough the parboiled (that means partially boiled) potatoes up when you drain them, then add some semolina flour for added crunch! The semonlina is optional but I think just get it and use it for ALL your roasties.
    • be sure to heat the oil you intend to roast them in a large baking tray in the oven before adding them to it. Don't skip this step. This ensures that they won't soak up all the oil, but instead form that all important delicious crunchy roast potato crust which is what these vegan roast potatoes are all about.
    • you can adjust the cook time depending on what else you're cooking. Often a roast dinner involves lots of different components, so everything may not be perfectly ready at the same time. If they are made a bit ahead of time, stick them in a low temperature oven (may be with other things you want to keep warm) and they'll just continue to crisp up.

    🍽️Serving

    Here are some delicious ideas for what to serve with your vegan roast potatoes:

    Chestnut, Mushroom & Squash Christmas Filo Wreath Pie

    Vegan Cauliflower Cheese Christmas Trees

    Vegan Mushroom Bourguignon Pie

    The Best Vegan Gravy Recipe

    If you need more inspiration, check out these 35 Amazing Vegan Roast Dinner Recipes.

    If you love this idea, please share this post with your friends on Pinterest or Facebook.. and please also comment and star this recipe as this helps others find my yummy recipes!

    Love & Vegan Yummies,

    Louise xx (P.S. Follow me on Insta and Tik Tok too!)

    📖 Recipe

    crispy roast potatoes on a dish next to other roast dishes

    The Best Vegan Crispy Roast Potatoes

    These crispy roast potatoes are perfect for any roast dinner, Sunday lunch or Christmas! This is the ultimate way to cook them and everyone will come back for more!
    Prevent your screen from going dark
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: main
    Cuisine: American, british, Christmas, holiday, Thanksgiving
    Keyword: christmas, plant based roast dinner, roasties, sunday lunch, thanksgiving, vegan roast potatoes
    Prep Time: 10 minutes
    Cook Time: 1 hour
    Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
    Servings: 4
    Calories: 299kcal
    Author: Louise-Claire Cayzer

    Equipment

    • Large Saucepan
    • Chef's knife
    • Chopping board

    Ingredients

    • 1 kg potatoes (Allow at least 250g (½ pound) potatoes per person)
    • 3-5 tablespoon olive oil
    • 1 tablespoon semolina (optional, but makes for extra crispy potatoes)
    • 1-2 teaspoon fresh rosemary or thyme (finely chopped)
    • Salt

    Instructions

    • Peel and cut the potatoes into 2 or 3, depending on how large the potatoes are. You want the potato chunks to be roughly similar sizes (check out the diagram for the optimal cutting pattern).
      Diagram showing the best way to cut a potato for roasties
    • Parboil the potatoes in salted water. Don't cook all the way through as they might disintegrate. Around 5-10 minutes.
    • Get a large roasting dish ready with a decent layer of oil in the tray. Put into a moderate oven (200°C / 400°F / Gas Mark 6) to heat the oil.
    • Drain the potatoes and return them to the hot pan very briefly to steam off any of the water.
    • Bash the potatoes around in the pan (put the lid on and shake the pan up and down). Then sprinkle with the semolina (if using), and do some more bashing around. This gives that nice rough edge. Then sprinkle with salt to taste.
    • Carefully add the potatoes to the prepared hot oil in the baking tin. Toss them a little to cover them in the oil, and put in the oven for at least 20 minutes.
    • Check on the potatoes, giving them another good shake around in their pan to ensure even cooking. Sprinkle over half the chopped herbs and cook for another 20 minutes.
    • Check on them again, and maybe give the potatoes another 5-10 minutes in the oven, or until they're golden brown and crispy.
    • Sprinkle over the rest of the herbs while the potatoes are still in the baking tray, and add extra salt and pepper to taste if needed. Serve now, or leave in a low temperature oven to serve later.

    Notes

    If you're not ready to eat the potatoes once they're done, just put them in a low-temperature oven to stay warm. They'll just continue to crisp up

    Nutrition

    Calories: 299kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Sodium: 15mg | Potassium: 1059mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 5IU | Vitamin C: 49mg | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 2mg

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Vida says

      March 16, 2022 at 8:21 pm

      Innever comment on recipes but these are the VERY best!!! My partner was so impressed when i made these with maple carrots and a mushroom wellington. Yum. I hope to memorise this recipe and method and use for the rest of my life. 🙂
      Thank you for all the details. I feel like I'm perfecting the art of roast potatoes whilst making these.
      Now just need to learn how to make vegan gravy myself...!

      Reply
      • Louise-Claire Cayzer says

        March 17, 2022 at 11:00 am

        I'm so so happy you loved these potatoes! They're our favourite forever too! We have a gravy recipe here Gravy that is easy and perfect with the roasties! xx

        Reply
    2. Vida says

      March 16, 2022 at 8:22 pm

      5 stars
      My last comment wasn't with a rating. Sorry!

      Reply

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    Hi! I'm Louise!

    I love to cook and share gorgeous vegan food! I'm also a photographer, recipe developer and gardener. Find out more over on my About Me page.

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