Here’s a recipe that impresses every time: garlic roasted potatoes! They’re tossed with Parmesan and garlic butter for a knockout side dish.

Here’s a fun side dish that impresses every time: Garlic Roasted Potatoes! This one is our go-to for both weeknight meals and dinner parties: and you won’t be able to stop sneaking bites. The tender potatoes are roasted with garlic powder and Parmesan cheese for extra crispiness, then tossed with garlic butter after they’re nice and tender. The double hit of garlic adds a bit of magic! Here’s how to make them.

Ingredients in garlic roasted potatoes

This garlic roasted potatoes recipe is simple to put together and makes a splash hit on any dinner table. The potatoes take 35 minutes to roast, and you can prep everything while your oven is preheating. Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this easy side dish:

• Baby red potatoes or red potatoes
• Olive oil
• Garlic powder
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• Parmesan cheese (optional)
• Salted butter
• Garlic
• Fresh parsley

Key to making garlic roasted potatoes

The big key to garlic roasted potatoes? Add the garlic after roasting. Many recipes specify to add minced garlic at the beginning of the roasting time. In our house, that equals browned and burned garlic bits. Adding the garlic in a garlic butter mixture afterwards makes sure the garlic stays beautifully savory without burning.

Types of potatoes for this recipe

The best type of potatoes for this garlic roasted potatoes recipe is red potatoes. They’re part of a family called waxy potatoes that have thin, shiny skin and creamy flesh. Waxy potatoes are low in starch, so they hold their shape well when cooked. Starchy potatoes like russet potatoes have a fluffy texture when cooked, so we don’t recommend that variety here. You can find a few different types of potatoes at the store:

• Red potatoes: Potatoes labeled as such are usually medium sized, with a shiny reds skin
• Baby red potatoes: Baby red potatoes are a younger stage of red potatoes: they have an even more delicate flavor
• Mini red potatoes or creamer potatoes: These are also younger stages of red potatoes and may be similar to baby potatoes, or even smaller.

Can’t find red potatoes? You can use other types of waxy potatoes here, like fingerling potatoes or even Yukon gold potatoes, chopped into bite-sized pieces.

Parmesan is optional, but recommended

We like this recipe best as garlic Parmesan roasted potatoes, with a little cheese tossed in halfway through the bake time. Why? The Parmesan cheese helps to make the exterior of the potatoes even crispier. You also end up with little crispy bits of Parmesan where it falls off the potatoes onto the baking sheet. It’s not required, but it sure does step this recipe up a notch.

Diet variations

Made as written, this recipe is gluten-free and vegetarian. Want to make vegan garlic roasted potatoes? The Parmesan cheese isn’t required. Simply omit the Parmesan and use vegan butter in place of the butter.

More roasted potato recipes

There are so many different ways to roast potatoes! Here are a few more ideas for roasting types of potatoes: