Simply perfect crispy cast iron skillet baby potatoes, seasoned with salt and rosemary. A great side dish for any meal.
There are some dishes that are just simple perfection. This is one of them. These baby potatoes roasted in a cast iron skillet are beautifully crispy on the bottom, but also smooth and velvety in the middle. And this is one of the easiest potato dishes you can make, I guarantee!
Ingredients and Substitutions
Baby Potatoes – aka mini potatoes, these can be yellow or red, round or oblong.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil – you’ll need just a bit to make a thin layer of oil on the bottom of the cast iron frying pan.
Coarse Kosher Salt – or a similar coarse salt. Sprinkle on the pan on top of the oil to infuse the potatoes with a bit of salty flavour.
Optional herbs – if you like, sprinkle a few fresh rosemary leaves and/or thyme leaves into the skillet, as well.
Step-by-Step Photos
- Add a thin layer of olive oil to the bottom of a cast iron skillet. Sprinkle with coarse salt. If desired, add a bit of fresh rosemary and/or thyme to the pan.
- Halve the mini potatoes and place into the skillet in one even layer without over-lapping at all, making sure each potato sits flat onto the skillet.
Top Tip!
Only put as many potatoes in as can lay perfectly flat on the bottom of the skillet. I mention this only because it’s tempting to crowd the pan, you know … just to get a few more potatoes to enjoy. Bad idea. You will sacrifice some great crispy bits if you make this mistake. Of course, if you happen to have a really large cast-iron skillet, no worries … more crispy potatoes for you!
Get the Recipe: Crispy Cast Iron Skillet Baby Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt , or kosher salt
- 8 baby potatoes , or as many as will fit laid flat in your cast iron skillet
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary or thyme leaves, optional
Instructions
- Put oven rack on the lowest level and pre-heat oven to 425° F. for at least 15 minutes.
- Pour enough olive oil into a large cast-iron skillet, tilting it, just to thinly cover the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle the salt over the rosemary. If using, strip the leaves from the rosemary or thyme and scatter evenly over the bottom of the pan.
- Cut the baby potatoes in half, and set them cut side down into the skillet, adding only as many potatoes as can fit laid flat on the bottom of the skillet. Don't overlap at all or they won't crispy up nicely! Roast on the lowest oven rack until the potatoes are tender and the bottoms are crisp and well browned, about 30 to 40 minutes.
Notes
More Baby Potato Recipes to Love!
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
Tried these tonight and they were amazing! So easy and everyone commented on how great they were. I’m making them again tomorrow! Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome and glad you enjoyed them. Isn’t it great how something so simple is so delicious?!
Oh, these sound perfect! I love using my cast iron skillet!
I’m just plain addicted to using my skillet, Kathy :)
These look so delicious! I love making roast potatoes with rosemary, sea salt and olive oil (and garlic), but have never thought to barbecue them – thanks so much for the great idea!
HI Rosie, We often do them on the BBQ, especially those days where it’s too hot to turn the stove on.
Thanks for stopping by. Hope you get a chance to try these. They are delicious!
These look absolutely fab – thanks for posting this recipe.
Golly these sound amazing! They really don’t need any par-boiling? I love it. So simple :)
I thought of you this weekend while we were camping… I have a second cast-iron skillet that I only use over the fire. I have the worst time with it! EVERYTHING STICKS when I cook while camping in that skillet. Am I not heating it up first enough? Not enough oil? It’s so frustrating, and leaves badly blackened, burned-on food that take some elbow grease and salt-scrubbing to remove. You are the queen of cast-iron cooking/baking!… wondered if you had any advice. Now I just sound like a whiner :)
These really are that simple – no par-boiling and the come out beautifully cooked. Now about your skillet. I would try re-seasoning the skillet. If it’s a skillet you only use for camping, it may not have the benefit of regular cooking with fats that keep it well-seasoned. Just google seasoning cast iron for easy directions (basically rub oil on it and bake and repeat). Also, I would make sure that the fire is not too hot. Cast-iron is such a good conductor of heat. It may just be that it’s just too hot and burning food on the bottom. Hope that helps (and no worries … you don’t sound like a whiner :)
This is helpful! Thank you. I always had thought that my cast iron would be destroyed from cooking over a fire, which is why I keep two, and why the camping pn never gets well-used or seasoned like my other one. I’m starting to see that it can really withstand about anything I put it through! (Except maybe too-high of heat for the food I’m cooking.) Thanks so much for your advice!
No problem!
I haven’t tried this but saw it on another blog today…just thought I would pass it along:
To clean a cast iron skillet, toss about 1/2 cup coarse salt into the pan and rub with a soft sponge. The salt removes excess oils and takes off the bits of food without messing with the seasoning of the pan.
Thanks for passing that along, Gail. I’ll try that myself when my skillet get nasty (and it does :)
Gret advice, Gail! I have always used salt to clean my skillet, especially if there is scorched-on food, but I was still having trouble making it a good non-stick surface. After Jennifer mentioned here that baking is so much part of the seasoning process, I have been leaving it in the oven for many of the times I bake something. It’s already working wonders :) Thanks for the great advice, both of yalll!
This looks absolutely lovely! :D
Thanks Gisele.
YUM!!! I’m all about the crispy bits!
Hah! Me too :)
Love using rosemary with potatoes! Your pic is beautiful!
Thanks Liz.
Adore the pairing of potatoes and rosemary! What a scrumptious recipe, crispy potatoes with sumptuous creamy insides!
Thanks Deb. I do too!
Simple and tasty. Perfect for barbecues.
Thanks Valerie. One of my favourite sides for .bbq night
Lucky for me, I have a huge iron skillet. These potatoes are perfect! :)
Hi Betty. You are lucky! I’m so jealous. I really need to find myself a huge skillet, too.