The Secret to Better Crispy Potatoes? Cook Them Like the French Do

I was in France for a friend’s wedding 18 months ago (glam, I know!), and on the last night — which happened to be my own wedding anniversary — my husband and I sat outside in the Montmartre neighborhood of Paris and had a Very Special Meal. There was escargot! There were steak frites! There was Burgundy wine! But it was the simple roasted potatoes that I’m still thinking about. 

Pommes Persillade is what they’re called to be exact. A classic French bistro side dish of roasted potatoes tossed in melted butter, raw garlic, and lots of fresh parsley, these potatoes taste much fancier than they are, thanks to the cooking method and the no-cook sauce.

Let’s talk texture first: These potatoes are unbelievably crispy with supersoft, fluffy centers. The trick is to boil them in salted water before pan-frying, which helps do two things: It cooks the potatoes all the way through so they’re perfectly tender, and it helps bring some of the potatoes’ gelatinized starches to the surface so they get extremely crispy in the pan. 

Many crispy potato recipes rely on oil alone, but in this recipe, there’s a half stick of butter, too. After the potatoes are crisped in olive oil in the skillet, they’re tossed in garlicky melted butter that puts them absolutely over the edge.  

First you simply cover diced potatoes with cold water, bring to a boil, and cook for about 12 minutes, drain, and let them dry (and cool) on a sheet pan for 10 minutes, when any excess water will evaporate. Then it’s time to transfer them to a hot cast-iron skillet to crisp up.

While the potatoes are crisping, melt butter in the microwave, then stir in chopped parsley and minced garlic. This will be your sauce for the potatoes — yup, raw garlic! Once the potatoes come off the heat, immediately add them to the bowl with the butter sauce and toss really well so that the hot spuds soak up every last drop of butter. Then top with a generous amount of shredded Parmesan. They’re like your favorite classic diner potatoes, only French style. I won’t be able to fly back to Paris anytime soon, so keeping these in my regular dinner rotation will have to do.