Fondant potatoes are something really special, with a fluffy, soft interior, crisp top and a crunchy, slightly chewy base that’s packed with flavour from the stock, butter and garlic.
They really are eyeball-rollingly delicious!
Perfect for that extra special date-night dinner, a family Sunday roast or as a dish that everyone will be fighting over on the Christmas dinner table.
And you know what? I think they’re actually simpler to make than regular roasties.
It’s true – they are a bit ‘cheffy’ but we all like to show off in the kitchen every now and then don’t we?
During my testing of this recipe Chris and the kids declared that we should have these posh potatoes with our Christmas dinner. There were lots of satisfied ‘Mmmmmms’ and ‘Ahhhhhs’ – which is good considering I literally just served them up a plate of potatoes for dinner. Nothing else.
Usually I would whip up something else, but I think lockdown is making me lazy 😀
Fondant potatoes are potatoes peeled and cut into squat cylinders, browned in oil on either side in a pan, then roasted with butter and stock. This results in a potato that’s almost creamy in the middle, whilst being browned and crisp on the outside.
📋 What do we need?
Potatoes:
I use Maris Pipers – which are a floury potato. This ensures the potatoes have a lovely fluffy interior that absorb lots of flavour.
Stock: I like to use strong chicken stock (water plus stock cubes is fine), but you can use vegetable stock if you’re making for vegetarians.
🔪 How to make it
**Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post.**
- Peel the potatoes and slice the ends off so you have a good, flat edge at either end. If the potatoes are long, you can slice in half, if they’re not very big, keep them whole. You want them to be cylinders, about 2″ (5cm) tall.
- Fry on both ends in hot oil for about 5 minutes each side. Lower the heat and add in butter, garlic and thyme. Swirl about for a minute or two, then baste the potatoes and remove the garlic.
- Pour in stock and sprinkle on salt and pepper, then place in the oven until the potatoes are tender.
👩🍳PRO TIP Getting the Fondant Potato Shape: Peel the potatoes using a peeler or a sharp knife, then slice the ends off, so they’re flat. You want a decent amount of surface area for the flat bits, so be sure to slice off a good amount. The potatoes should be the same width all the way along (not tapering at the ends).
Serve topped with fresh thyme and sprinkling of Maldon salt.
Check out the underside of those potatoes. I think this is the BEST BIT, they’re slightly caramelised and so flavourful:
🍽️ What to serve with Fondant Potatoes
- As a change from roast potatoes in that Roast Beef, Roast Pork, Roast Chicken or Roast Lamb dinner!
- With my creamy Slow Cooker Pork Casserole
- Alongside Chicken in White Wine Sauce for date night!
- With my lovely sauce Steak Diane Casserole
- With juicy slices of Slow Cooker Roast Beef
What would you serve yours with?
🍲 More fantastic side dishes
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Fondant Potatoes Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 large, long potatoes or 8 medium-sized potatoes peeled (about 800g/1.75lbs – 900g/2lbs)
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and sliced in half
- 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 240 ml (1 cup) hot chicken stock use strong stock if you can – I use 2 chicken oxo cubes with 240ml/1cup water.
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
To Serve:
- sprigs of fresh thyme
- Maldon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F (fan).
- Peel the potatoes and slice the ends off, so they’re flat. You want a decent amount of surface area for the flat bits, so be sure to slice off a good amount, so the potatoes are the same width all the way along (not tapering at the ends).4 large, long potatoes or 8 medium-sized potatoes
- Cut the potatoes into 2” tall cylinders (you should get 2 cylinders out of a large, long potato and 1 out of a smaller potato).
- Heat the oil on the hob (cooker-top) in an oven-proof frying pan on a high heat until hot. Place the potatoes in the pan, flat side down and cook for 5-6 minutes, until golden brown. You may need to move them slightly a couple of times to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pan.2 tbsp vegetable oil
- Turn the potatoes over, reduce the heat to medium-high and cook for a further 5-6 minutes, until golden brown.
- Add the butter, garlic, and thyme and let the butter melt in the pan.3 tbsp unsalted butter, 2 cloves garlic, 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
- Stir the garlic and thyme with the butter to infuse the flavours for a minute, then baste the potatoes with the butter.
- Remove the garlic (or it will burn) and pour the chicken stock around the potatoes. Pour it in slowly and carefully as it will bubble and may splash.240 ml (1 cup) hot chicken stock
- Sprinkle the potatoes with the salt and pepper and place in the oven to cook for 35 minutes.½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- Check the potatoes are tender (insert a sharp knife into one of the potatoes – it should slide in easily). If they’re not yet tender, place them back in the oven for a further 5-10 minutes. Top up with a splash of hot stock if the pan starts to look too dry. There should only be a tiny amount of stock left at the end of cooking – giving the base of the potatoes a slight stickiness.
- Once tender, serve topped with sprigs of fresh thyme and a sprinkling of Maldon salt.sprigs of fresh thyme, Maldon salt
Video
Notes
King Edward, Rooster and Russet also work great. Can I make them ahead? You can partly make them ahead.
Fry the potatoes on both sides, add the butter, garlic and thyme and baste them, then cool, cover and refrigerate for up to a day. On the day, remove from the fridge, remove the garlic, add the stock, salt and pepper and roast in the oven as per the recipe. Ingredient swaps:
- Swap the white potatoes for sweet potatoes – they’ll need about 10 minutes or so less cooking time, as sweet potatoes cook quicker.
- Swap the herbs – add rosemary, lemon thyme, oregano or dried mixed herbs
If you’re halving the quantity, use a small frying pan (so the stock doesn’t evaporate too quickly). You may need to top up the stock a little towards the end of the time in the oven. Nutritional Information is per serving (this recipe serves 4).
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Great recipe, but at what temperature should they be in the oven? 200 degrees, 350 degrees, 425 degrees?
It all worked extremely well, delicious. I like the way you present the recipe, thank you.
I followed the day before info but many potatoes on the sides, grayed or black. What did I do wrong? I had a dinner party for 16 and I quickly took each potato out and trimed the discoloring. How can I avoid this? They were a big hit but they caused me a major problem. It took some time to correct that. Would appreciate any hints. They were delicious albeit a bit skinnier cylinders.
Hi Diana,
It sounds like you had a lot of potatoes if you were cooking for 16 people. So the potatoes were probably out in the open air for a while, whilst you were peeling them all?
Peeled potatoes left out in the air for a while can start to go grey, so if you’re making a lot I would peel them and place in a bowl of cold water. Once you’ve peeled them all, drain the potatoes and pat dry, then cook as per the recipe.
What do you use to cut the cylinders?
Thank you! They look delicious.
This turned out so well! It inspired me to use the cast iron skillet I’ve been putting off using, and I ended up enjoying both it and the recipe! I gave it a dusting of hot stuff seasoning before putting in the oven and it turned out great! Thanks!
Looks lovely, I will be trying these this week 👍🏻
These are delicious and so simple to make!
As always a lovely recipe
Having these (well, just the one) with a Beef Bourguignon for Sunday Lunch today. Serving it all up with some Fine French Beans. Can’t wait!!