If you’ve been searching for the best way to make crispy potatoes, then we’ve got the method for you. And it involves a condiment that you most likely already have in your fridge: mayonnaise.
Sure, mayo gets a bad rap, but slathering some of that tangy emulsion over your potatoes will give you the crispiest taters of your life. So crispy that after you try it out for yourself, it’ll be the only way you’ll want to make potatoes from here on out.
Why Does Mayonnaise Make Potatoes Extra Crispy?
Nicole Russell
The Allrecipes community loves the recipe for the Best Potatoes You’ll Ever Taste from user Xanthe. The recipe yields incredibly crispy and flavorful potatoes all thanks to the mayo that they’re coated in before baking. But why does mayonnaise make potatoes so crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside?
Mayonnaise is an emulsion that’s primarily made up of fats (oil and eggs) plus vinegar and seasonings. Because of this, mayo is thick but still easily spreadable. So, unlike butter or oil, the mayo stays on the potatoes instead of sliding off—even after they start cooking.
Mayo also has a higher smoke point than butter or oil, meaning you can cook it at a higher temperature without risk of burning the outside before the inside is fully cooked.
The fats from the mayo melt into the potatoes and help them crisp up without burning—this is also the same reason people prefer using mayonnaise to make grilled cheese instead of butter. Plus, mayo helps push the Maillard reaction (i.e. the formation of that attractive browning on perfectly cooked potatoes) along for a flawless golden crust.
While you might taste a little tang from the vinegar in the mayo, mayo haters don’t have to worry about these potatoes tasting just like mayonnaise. The real star of the show will be the spices you add to the potatoes. Because mayo is incredibly thick, it acts like glue, adhering the spices and seasonings to your potatoes the entire time they’re cooking. Mix all the spices and seasonings together with the mayo, and either spoon the mixture over the potatoes or toss the mixture to make sure everything is evenly coated.
More Tricks For Crispy Potatoes
Mayo isn’t the only trick for getting crispy roasted potatoes. In addition to coating them in mayonnaise, the recipe also calls for parboiling the potatoes for about 10 minutes. This will start the cooking process and ensure the potatoes are tender on the inside. It also speeds up the cooking process, so they only need about 10 minutes in the oven to get brown and crunchy.
After the parboiling step, the potatoes in this recipe aren’t roasted like most are. Instead, you just broil them for those 10 minutes. This high- and direct-heat method will give them the crispy outside in a snap.
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Or you can use this method for the grill, which is what a lot of reviewers like to do. If you grill the potatoes, be sure to cook them on a sheet pan so the mayo mixture doesn’t seep through the grate.
Don’t let any skepticism stop you from using this mayo method. We promise after you try it, you’ll understand why they’re called the best potatoes you’ll ever taste.
