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Can you use Olive Oil for Roast Potatoes?

2020-12-11

Yes, you can!

It’s nearly Christmas! And while it’s famously ‘the most wonderful time of the year’ it’s also one of the busiest times too. That’s why we are going to cut to the chase…

Q. Can you use olive oil to roast potatoes?

A. Yes, you can.

There we go, nice and simple... However, our foodie experts do know a fair bit about roasted veggies and they tell us there’s a lot more to consider in pursuit of the perfect roasties. If you can spare a few minutes more then buckle up and we’ll take you through their all-important top tips for taties!

Superb spud selection

Any serious food lover knows that to get the best results you need the best ingredients. So, when it comes to roasties our experts ask one thing – please make sure you're using the right potatoes for the job!

Potatoes tend to range from waxy to starchy (or floury). Starchy potato varieties will be soft and fluffy when cooked, though don't hold their shape very well which makes them no good for salads or stews but great for mashing and baking. Waxy potatoes are creamy and won’t fall apart as easily, but are too firm for some dishes.  

For the perfect roasties, we recommend a floury potato such as King Edward or Maris Piper, or an all-rounder like Desiree spuds.

Tasty tater textures

This usually comes down to personal preference and we know that, in some households, the perfect-roast-potato-texture debate can get quite heated! Fortunately, the La Española team were all in agreement here. The perfect roasties have got to be crispy on the outside, light and fluffy within, and our method is golden…

Definitely peel your potatoes first – while the skin is very nutritious there are other ways you can use your peels that won’t interfere with your perfect roast potato texture – before parboiling with a little salt. Once they’re partly boiled, lay them to rest on a few sheets of kitchen roll to soak up some of that excess moisture.

Now the important bit… rough up the edges a little with a fork! This will help give your potatoes the perfect surface area for holding the oil and crisping up to that much loved crunch-point. It should also give your spuds a beautifully handcrafted aesthetic that we keep seeing pop up on Instagram! #rusticroasties

A richer finish

Okay, back to the oil. We started off by saying that you can cook roast potatoes in olive oil. We’d like to go into a little more detail here. Firstly, let’s debunk the myth that all olive oil will be toxic when heated due to its low smoking point. This simply isn’t true.

In fact, La Española have two types of olive oil crafted especially for cooking at higher temperatures without compromising on flavour – Light in Colour Olive Oil for frying and baking, and Pure Olive Oil for grilling and roasting.

In the case of roasting potatoes, we recommend choosing La Española Pure Olive Oil, an oil created especially for the ultimate roast. Its subtle flavour profile will present without overpowering the that of the potatoes, instead complementing the final roasted aroma with light peppery notes.

Take it up a notch? If it’s a little extra luxury you’re seeking (and it is Christmas, after all!) then we would recommend a generous drizzle of our truffle flavoured extra virgin olive oil to finish. Sublime!

The top top tip?

The La Española foodies wanted to share one final tip with you and it may be the most important of all.... 

Once you’ve mastered your recipe for perfect roast potatoes, always remember to make more than you think is needed! Trust us on this, we learned the hard way that a medium-sized plate of perfectly roasted potatoes isn't going to last long at all!