These melting potatoes are so delicious and popular with the fam. You’ll want to serve them on every holiday, every Sunday supper with the whole extended fam, and any time you want a little bit of comforting, amazingly delish carbs with dinner!!
Oh, the humble potato! So, okay! They happen to be one of my favorite foods ever! But when they are roasted, bathed in butter, broth, and fresh herbs, well, frankly, they have NO equal.
Thick slices of potatoes are roasted to perfection with silky, creamy interiors, yet caramelized and crispy, golden brown exteriors. They’re infused by the cooking technique to have rich creamy, butter, and herb-garlic chicken broth flavor throughout. They will quickly be placed on your list of family favorite recipes.
So, if you’re a regular reader of this site, you know I’m absolutely crazy for potatoes. I promise you, when I tell you a potato dish is good, it’s really, really good. If not bordering on truly great!
These melt-in-your-mouth potatoes are NO exception. After my son-in-law tasted one bite, he said, “We need these from now on at each and every holiday meal!” Did I mention he’s a former chef??
They’re truly the perfect side dish with virtually any protein main dish, you name it, beef, chicken, pork, or fish. They balance out the meal and are the first thing I eat on my plate. ♥
Try more of my favorite potato recipes next: mashed potatoes, crack potatoes, Parmesan potatoes, and my super popular au gratin potatoes!
Let’s make these delicious potatoes!
What Are Crispy Melting Potatoes
Well, quite frankly, they are melt-in-your-mouth potatoes. Created by the one and only chef, Barbara Kafta, and published in her book Vegetable Love. The recipe was created to emulate what rice does when used in making risotto.
This cooking technique allows the potatoes to absorb the delicious, savory flavor of the chicken broth and rich melted butter.
Are Fondant Potatoes And Melting Potatoes The Same?
No, not exactly, but they’re a simplified version of them. Fondant potatoes are more specifically, a French potato recipe, in which the potatoes are cut into formally shaped cylinders. Melting potatoes, on the other hand, are more simply sliced. Another difference between the two.
Both types of potatoes are cooked in butter and broth and yield similar taste results.
What Kind Of Potatoes Should I Use?
Use a starchy potato like Russets or Yukon golds.
Ingredients
- Russet Potatoes: Perfectly starchy and creamy.
- Unsalted Butter: While using unsalted butter is most important in baking, it’s honestly all I buy and have in my kitchen.
- Salted butter almost always contains more water than unsalted. The water in butter ranges from 10 to 18 percent. For baking, this is a really big deal. But what do I need added water in any of my recipes? I’m paying for butter, not water!
- Fresh Thyme Leaves: Don’t use dried thyme. This recipe doesn’t have a laundry list of ingredients so each and every ingredient is important to the final taste of these Instagram, Pinterest, and Tick Tock favorites!
- Fresh time is redolent with woodsy flavors, with slight lemon and floral notes. If you grow your own thyme in an herb garden (it’s super easy to do and I strongly encourage you to do so!!) be sure to plant English thyme for the standard fresh thyme flavor.
- Salt: I typically use sea salt but kosher salt works well too (make sure it’s the same grind as table salt so it measures as the recipe is has been tested to. Coarse grind will measure differently).
- Black Pepper: I test recipes with “McCormick pure ground black pepper”. I like the finer grind of it. When I season my food I use their coarse grind. No endorsement here just what I use and like.
- Chicken Broth or Stock: Use low sodium so you can control the salt in the dish.
- Fresh Garlic Cloves: Peel and coarsely chop the garlic. Because these potatoes are roasted at a relatively high temperature, you need the garlic piece to be larger than a standard garlic press minces them to ensure they don’t burn and turn bitter.
Storing + Freezing + Reheating + Make-Ahead
- How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge? Place in an airtight container. It will last in the fridge for 3-5 days. Leftovers that have been refrigerated can be microwaved or baked in a 400°F oven until heated through.
- Can You Freeze This? Yes, they can be frozen. Place in an airtight container and it can last up to a year in the fridge.
- Make-Ahead Tips Yes, they can absolutely be made ahead! The potatoes can be made ahead up to the point right before they are placed in the oven.
- Reheat Melting Potatoes? Yes, they reheat well. You can do so in a 300°F (149ºC) oven or in the microwave (the method I generally employ). They are also really good at room temperature.
- Food Safety: If you’d like more info on food safety check out this link.
What to Serve with Melting Potatoes?
Melting potatoes make a great side dish to Mississippi pot roast, crockpot pork tenderloin, ham, and fish, darn near the type of protein really!
My green bean casserole, brown sugar glazed carrots, or sautéed asparagus all are great sides to serve alongside melting potatoes.
How To Make Easy Melting Potatoes
-
Combine melted butter, fresh thyme leaves, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl.
- Toss potato slices in the butter mixture.
-
Arrange in a single layer in a baking pan and roast for 15 minutes.
-
Remove the baking sheet from the oven and flip the potatoes over using a spatula. Place back in the oven for 15 minutes.
- Remove the potatoes from the oven, and flip one more time.
- Remove the pan from the oven again and turn over the potatoes one last time. Pour in chicken broth with dissolved Better Than Bouillon and garlic. Place back in the oven until potatoes are tender.
- Spoon or brush the tops of potatoes with sauce and top with more fresh thyme if desired. Serve.
****See the full instructions below.
Recipe Variations
- Switch up the herbs! I like fresh thyme in this recipe but other herbs are equally delish! Try some fresh rosemary, sage (perfect for the holidays!), or oregano.
- Make Them Cheesy: Sprinkle the potatoes with parmesan or even cheddar after they’re cooked and broil them for a couple of minutes to melt them!
- Spicy melting potatoes: to make these spicy, add red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper
- Garlic parmesan melting potatoes: add a few more garlic cloves to taste then sprinkle the potatoes with 1-2 cups shredded parmesan in the last 5 minutes of cooking.
- Melting potatoes Yukon gold: Use 3 pounds of Yukon gold potatoes in place of the russets.
- Change up the fresh herbs: try fresh rosemary in place of thyme.
- Vegetarian: Make a vegetarian version of these by switching out the chicken broth with vegetable broth.
More Awesome Potato Side Dish Recipes
- Funeral Potatoes
- Scalloped Potatoes And Ham
- Hashbrown Casserole
- Country Potatoes
- Potato Soup
- Ina Garten Potato Salad
- Campfire Potatoes
- Smothered Potatoes
- Mashed Potatoes
- Stewed Potatoes
Tried This Recipe?
Leave a review, I love hearing your feedback! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Melting Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3 pounds Russet potatoes
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, divided coarsely chopped
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon fine black pepper
- 1 1/4 cups chicken broth, heated to very hot
- 1 heaping teaspoon chicken flavor Better Than Bouillon, dissolved in above hot chicken broth
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped (not minced)
Garnish:
- 1/2-1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves stripped off stem but left whole
Instructions
- Adjust the oven rack in the upper-middle position of the oven. Preheat to 500°F (260ºC).
- In a large mixing bowl (large enough to accommodate the potatoes) mix together melted butter (8 tablespoons), thyme leaves (1 tablespoon), salt (3/4 teaspoon), and black pepper (3/4 teaspoon).
- Trim off and save for another use, or discard, ends of potatoes. Cut potatoes (3 pounds) into 1-inch slices. Mix with the butter mixture.
- Add potatoes to the butter mixture and toss to evenly coat. Arrange potatoes in a single layer in a 13 by 9-inch baking pan (preferably metal).
- Roast in the preheated for 15 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the oven and flip over potatoes. Return to oven and roast for 15 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the oven again and turn over the potatoes one last time. Pour in chicken broth (1 1/4 cups) with dissolved Better Than Bouillon (1 heaping teaspoon) and garlic (4 cloves). Place back in the oven until potatoes are tender, about another 15-20 minutes, or until bottoms of the potatoes are deeply caramelized.
- Spoon sauce over potatoes and sprinkle with remaining thyme (1 tablespoon) serve.
Fans Also Made:
Notes
- Unsalted Butter: While using unsalted utter is most important in baking, it's honestly all I buy and have in my kitchen.
- Salted butter almost always contains more water than unsalted. The water in butter ranges from 10 to 18 percent. For baking, this is a really big deal. But what do I need added water in any of my recipes? I'm paying for butter, not water!
- Fresh Thyme Leaves: Don't use dried thyme. This recipe doesn't have a laundry list of ingredients so each and every ingredient is important to the final taste of these Instagram, Pinterest, and Tick Tock favorites!
- Fresh time is redolent with woodsy flavors, with slight lemon and floral notes. If you grow your own thyme in an herb garden (it's super easy to do and I strongly encourage you to do so!!) be sure to plant English thyme for the standard fresh thyme flavor.
- Salt: I typically use sea salt but kosher salt works well too (make sure it's the same grind as table salt so it measures as the recipe is has been tested to. Coarse grind will measure differently).
- Black Pepper: I test recipes with "McCormicks pure ground black pepper". I like the finer grind of it. When I season my food I use their coarse grind. No endorsement here just what I use and like.
- Fresh Garlic Cloves: Peel and coarsely chop the garlic. Because these potatoes are roasted at a relatively high temperature, you need the garlic piece to be larger than a standard garlic press minces them to ensure they don't burn and turn bitter.
Nutrition
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Hello, how do these warm up for later? And, how would you recommend reheating?
Hi, Rachel! You can do so in a 300°F oven or in the microwave (the method I generally employ). They are also really good at room temperature.
I have to assume the chopped garlic goes into the butter, but I cannot believe no one else noticed the directions do NOT include the chopped garlic! I will give it a try, but I do hope you will change the recipe directions. These potatoes do sound terrific. Thanks!
Hi Karen it is in the directions. It’s in step 7 on the recipe card. “Remove the pan from the oven again and turn over the potatoes one last time. Pour in chicken broth (1 1/4 cups) with dissolved Better Than Bouillon (1 heaping teaspoon) and garlic (4 cloves). Place back in the oven until potatoes are tender, about another 15-20 minutes, or until bottoms of the potatoes are deeply caramelized.”
Um it’s Chef Barbara KAFKA. ;_)
We do a version of this we just call “House Potatoes 2” cause we cook them 2 ways.
1. Par cook in beef or other broth to infuse the flavor into the spud, then brown off and serve with a gravy of sorts, reduced au jus finished with butter and appropriate herb / spices for the dish.
2. Cook them in a sheet pan with the (whatever) broth, till it reduces to a gravy of sorts, then brown and finish with butter or olive oil.
We adapted the process from Greek potatoes that are cooked in chicken stock / broth, garlic and olive oil in the oven, broth evaporates, evo browns the spuds, we call them potato pot stickers XD
The best potato side dish! I’ll try this again on Easter.
Yaaay! Glad you like it, Tricia. Advance Happy Easter 🙂