GREEK LEMON POTATOES - ELLINIKOS LEMONI PATATAS

Melt in your mouth Greek lemon potatoes are infused with a flavorful lemon broth for a vibrant twist on your typical side dish. These potatoes are roasted until they’ve absorbed the liquid and develop a golden brown exterior and flavorful, tender interior that will blow you away.

There are a few great Greek places near where I live that serve delicious Greek food cafeteria style. Whenever I was craving a good spinach pie and time didn’t allow me to make it myself, I would just go there and pick one up. I mean, where better to get Greek food than a restaurant run by a Greek family? 

You had a choice of two sides and one of them would always be the Greek lemon potatoes. I’m not shy when I want/need something so one day I asked one of the guys for the recipe. 

“Are you Greek?” 

“I am if you want me to be.” 

Boom! I got the recipe. No, no, no nothing happened and get your head out of the gutter.

There was something about these Greek lemon potatoes that made you crave more and more. They are roasted and golden on the outside and soft and tender on the inside. And the flavor! Oh the flavor. Yum.

Of course, there’s lemon and chicken stock, not to mention oregano. I mean just like the Italians use basil, the Greeks use oregano. When you make these incredible Greek lemon potatoes that melt in your mouth, you’ll understand.

The recipe that was given to me didn’t use garlic but I added it to bring a little Italian to the party. If you want it, add it. If you don’t, don’t. You are the master of your kitchen.

But, if you do add the garlic, then I suggest smashing them lightly, keeping them whole. I don’t recommend mincing the garlic as it will burn, turning it bitter. By lightly smashing and keeping their shape, they give off garlic flavor then you can remove them after cooking.

Greek lemon potatoes are pretty simple to make.

Grab some Yukon gold or russet potatoes, slice them into wedges and put them in a bowl with the other ingredients. Toss them well. There will be a lot of liquid but don't worry. Most of the liquid will be absorb into the potatoes and whatever is left is drizzled over each serving.

Transfer the potatoes and all the liquid into a 9x13 baking dish with sides at least 2 ½ inches tall. I use a large oval one and it does the job. Roast for 30 minutes, toss, then roast for another 30 - 40 minutes. To keep the garlic from getting too dark, cover them with the potatoes after you toss them. This will keep the garlic mellow and not bitter.

When roasting, the potatoes soak up the liquid then start to turn golden. I don’t want you to concentrate on the color of these potatoes. The color isn’t as important as the flavor. You’ll see lots of posts showing nice golden potatoes that probably got the most of color from editing. These aren’t meant to be crisp. They’re supposed to be tender and melt in your mouth. The color is just an extra. Okay? Okay.

Try some of my other potato dishes:

Roasted baby potatoes with rosemary and thyme

Perfect mashed potatoes

Incredibly delicious sweet potato casserole

Roasted spiced sweet potato planks

Peruvian oil and vinegar potato salad

Peruvian mashed potatoes

Have you seen these?

Greek Lemon Potatoes

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Melt in your mouth Greek lemon potatoes are roasted with a flavorful lemon broth for a vibrant twist on your typical side dish. These potatoes are roasted until they’ve absorbed the liquid and develop a golden brown exterior and a flavorful, tender interior that will blow you away.

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 6

Author: Natalie Gregory

Ingredients

• 3 pounds potatoes recommended: Yukon gold or russet
• 1 ½ cups chicken stock low sodium
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup lemon juice
• 4 garlic cloves, optional lightly smashed but kept whole - See Notes
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt or to taste

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Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 400°.
• Peel potatoes and cut into thick wedges - quarter medium size or slice large into 6 wedges.
• Place potatoes in a large bowl along with the remaining ingredients. I like to mix them in a bowl rather than a roasting pan to ensure all the potatoes get coated.
• Transfer potatoes and all the juices in a large baking dish. I use a 9x13 oval baking dish with 2 ½ inch sides.
• Roast for 30 minutes. Turn potatoes, roast for another 30 - 40 minutes until the liquid has mostly evaporated and the potatoes are golden brown. I like to make sure the garlic is covered by potatoes so it doesn't burn and lose its mellow flavor.
• If you want more golden color, you can put these under the broiler for a minute or two. Keep an eye on them.
• Serve the potatoes along with the pan juices.

Notes

I don’t mince the garlic, rather I smash them and keep them whole. Doing this gives flavor and prevents bits and pieces of garlic from burning which turns them bitter. The garlic is optional as the Greek potatoes I had didn’t have garlic. You can add them or not, it's up to you. You can be daring and eat the cooked cloves or simply discard them as they did their job.

If you have any pan juices left, save it for a dressing for a salad. This is good stuff and shouldn't be wasted. You can also use it to top a baked potato or drizzle over your favorite protein.

Did you make this recipe? Tag @thegeneticchef and use #thegeneticchef and tell me all about it!