This is the best Roasted Baby Potatoes Recipe. The bite-sized potatoes are perfectly seasoned, soft and fluffy on the inside, and crispy on the outside. To make them truly irresistible for my family, I always toss them in melted butter and chives right before serving.
I’m never one to turn my nose up at a potato side dish. Potatoes are, after all, a perfect vegetable that everybody seems to love. I regularly make these Garlic and Parmesan Roasted Potatoes for family dinners and almost always include these Easy Scalloped Potatoes at our holiday meals.
Oven Roasted Baby Potatoes
Baby potatoes, or new potatoes, are very small because they’re harvested earlier than other potato varieties. There are many varieties of baby potatoes, like baby Yukon Golds, baby fingerlings, and more. Regardless of the type, most have thin skins and flesh with a lower starch content compared to larger potatoes, making them the popular choice for potato salad or roasting in the oven.
My baby baked potatoes recipe starts by boiling the potatoes in salt water with baking soda before they’re tossed in simple seasonings and roasted until they’re golden, crispy, and fluffy. Drizzling warm melted butter over the top and garnishing them with fresh chives is my favorite way to finish them off. If you’re looking to mix up the flavors, you can dollop aioli or shredded cheese over top instead.
No matter how you season or serve these baked mini potatoes, just know that they’re bound to be eaten up quickly. In my experience, no one can resist these golden, buttery spuds.
Ingredients and Substitutions
This recipe requires 8 simple ingredients, all of which may already be in your kitchen or pantry. What’s better is that the flavors and seasonings are flexible. Feel free to experiment and play around with the ingredients to make this recipe your own.
- Baking Soda – My secret to the best roasted baby potatoes is to boil them in water with baking soda before roasting them in the oven. The baking soda raises the pH in the water to create a more alkaline environment, which causes the outside of the potatoes to break down slightly while keeping the inside fluffy and soft.
- Potatoes – I used baby Yukon Gold potatoes for this recipe, but baby fingerling potatoes or baby red potatoes will also work well. Either keep them whole or slice them in half before boiling and roasting.
- Oil – I tossed the potatoes in olive oil because it’s what I had on hand. Avocado oil or an oil you prefer will work as a substitute.
- Garlic – Fresh garlic cloves are best compared to pre-minced garlic or garlic granules. If you like your roasted potatoes extra garlicky, garnish them with roasted garlic butter instead of plain butter.
- Butter – A few tablespoons of melted butter are drizzled over the potatoes at the end. I typically use unsalted butter in my cooking, but salted butter will also work (just remember to reduce or omit the extra salt from the recipe).
- Herbs – Just fresh chives, for a garnish. You can also garnish the potatoes with fresh parsley or scallions to play with the flavors.
- Seasonings – I generously season the boiling water with coarse salt to season the potatoes right from the start. Then, before they go in the oven, I season them with a pinch of salt and pepper.
How to Roast Baby Potatoes
Boil: I start by filling a large pot with heavily salted water. I add the baking soda and the baby potatoes to the water, then heat it to a boil for 10 minutes.
Drain and dry: Once the 10 minutes are up, I drain the potatoes and let them air dry in the strainer for several minutes. I use this time to smash and mince the garlic cloves.
Season: I transfer the drained potatoes to a bowl and drizzle the oil over top, then add the minced garlic, salt, and pepper. I toss them together until the potatoes are well coated.
Roast: I transfer the potatoes to a prepared sheet tray and bake them on the middle rack in the oven. I toss the potatoes at the halfway point, then continue roasting until they’re golden brown and crispy.
Garnish and serve: Once the potatoes come out of the oven, I drizzle melted butter over top and garnish them with the chives. I toss them one last time, then serve the potatoes on the side of my dinner.
Chef Tip + Notes
While this is an optional step, gently shaking the boiled potatoes in the colander immediately after draining will create rough, jagged edges that crisp up really well in the oven. The seasonings will also sneak their way into all of those ridges to give you an explosion of flavor in every bite. Keep in mind that this works best with halved baby potatoes.
- Salt the water: And I don’t mean with just a pinch of salt… Keep adding salt until the water tastes like seawater. This starts the seasoning process right from the beginning to help your potatoes taste their best.
- Boil, then bake: Boiling potatoes before roasting them in the oven is the secret to any great roasted baby potato recipe. The alkaline water softens and slightly breaks down the potatoes, giving you soft, on the inside, crispy on the outside roasted potatoes. Plus, since they’re par-cooked, they’ll cook even faster in the oven.
- Spread them out: Make sure there is at least 1/2″ of space in between each baby potato on the sheet pan, or they will steam in the oven.
- More seasonings for potatoes: Feel free to toss the potatoes in Italian seasoning, ranch seasoning, or a BBQ dry rub. You can use the seasoning blend of your choice instead of the garlic.
- Garnish the way you like: Instead of melted butter and chives, you can garnish the potatoes with shredded Pecorino Romano cheese, your favorite fresh herbs, and a drizzle of garlic aioli.
Serving Suggestions
I make these roasted baby potatoes almost weekly for our family dinners. Their savory and buttery flavors pair well with a wide range of main dishes. Try them with an extravagant bone-in standing ribeye roast or simple pan-roasted chicken breasts.
They also come in handy for holiday meals if you’re looking to swap the classic sweet potato casserole for something a little simpler. Your guests will be too busy popping the buttery mini spuds into their mouths to notice the traditional casserole is missing.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: These potatoes are best served as soon as they’re garnished with the melted butter and chives. You can also roast the potatoes up to 1 hour in advance. Keep them in a covered baking dish in a low-temperature oven (>200ºF) until it’s time to eat. Toss them in the butter and chives right before serving.
How to Store: Leftover baked baby potatoes will keep for up to 4 days in the refrigerator.
How to Reheat: You can reheat the leftover potatoes in a 400ºF oven or air fryer for about 10 minutes or until they’re crisp on the outside and hot on the inside.
More Roasted Potato Recipes
- Perfect Oven Roasted Potatoes
- Twice Baked Potatoes
- Potato Wedges (JoJo Potatoes)
- Ranch Potatoes Recipe
- Hasselback Potatoes Recipe
Roasted Baby Potatoes Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 3 pounds baby Yukon potatoes
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 5 finely minced garlic cloves
- 4 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh chives
- Coarse salt, and freshly cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425° F fan off.
- In a large pot of boiling water, add enough salt so that it tastes like the ocean, and then 2 teaspoons of baking soda.
- Add in 3 pounds of baby yukons and boil them for exactly 10 minutes.
- After that amount of time, remove the potatoes and let them air dry in a strainer for a few minutes. This is great timing, because we can smash and finely mince 4 to 5 garlic cloves.
- Add the potatoes to a bowl, and you’ll easily be able to tell the skin is nice and dried out. Next, drizzle in 4 tablespoons of olive oil, the minced garlic, coarse salt, and pepper, and mix everything until combined.
- Transfer it all to a sheet tray lined with parchment paper and bake in the middle of the oven at 425° for 10 to 12 minutes. Be sure to come back and move things around after 5 minutes. Once finished, remove them from the oven.
- Drizzle on melted unsalted butter and then garnish with 2 tablespoons of thinly sliced chives and mix everything to combine. Serve.
Roasted Baby Potatoes Recipe