Crispy on the outside and creamy within, these parmesan roasted potatoes are coated with aromatic herbs and nutty parmesan cheese, then roasted to perfection. This easy recipe gives you the choice to make them three ways - in your Instant Pot, oven, or air fryer.
Enjoy this crowd-pleasing side dish for a quick weeknight meal, a special occasion, or for holiday dinners.
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I've been making variations of these crispy garlic parmesan potatoes for years now, but this flavor combination is my absolute favorite.
Herbs like basil and oregano add such a warm, earthy flavor to the potatoes. And I toss them with some freshly grated parmesan cheese, which gives this dish an unmatched salty-nutty crisp exterior. So good!
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Why You Will Love This Recipe
It's a flavor-packed and easy-to-make side dish. I love recipes that require minimal prep and babysitting. This recipe is one of my go-to's. It takes under 10 minutes of prep, and most of the cooking is hands-off, which is always a win-win for me.
There are three ways of making these delicious potatoes- roast them in an air fryer, Instant pot, or oven. All three methods are fairly hand-off and result in crisp potatoes. So feel free to pick whichever method works best for you.
Another Potato Favorite: Crispy Air Fryer Potato Wedges
Ingredients- Notes & Substitutions
It takes a handful of everyday ingredients to put together this crowd-pleasing side. Let's take a look at what you need:
Potatoes: For this recipe, I use baby Yukon Gold potatoes, which are about 1.5 inches in size. You can use baby red potatoes too.
Oil: I alternate between light olive oil or avocado oil, but any clear oil will work.
Seasoning & Herbs: Here's is where you can customize it to your taste. I use salt, pepper, chili flakes, oregano, and basil.
Parmesan Cheese: Buy a block and grate the cheese yourself or take a shortcut and buy it pre-grated from the store. Granada Padano or Romano are other great alternatives.
Butter & Chives: These are for finishing the dish just before serving and elevate these gorgeous roasted potatoes to another level.
Scroll to the recipe card for a detailed list of ingredients and quantities.
How to Cook Parmesan Potatoes
You can cook them three ways- In the Instant Pot, Air Fryer, or oven, so pick whichever gadget you prefer. When it's just the four of us, I typically use the air fryer, but when I'm making a larger batch, I use the Instant Pot or oven method, depending on how many people I'm cooking for.
Let's take a look at step-by-step instructions and photos for each method:
Instant Pot Garlic Parmesan Potatoes
Boil Potatoes: Wash and dry potatoes and add them to the pot. Add water, close the lid and pressure cook them for 5 minutes using the 'Steam' or 'Pressure Cook' mode. Manually release pressure, then transfer the potatoes to a mixing bowl and discard the water.
Season potatoes: Cut the potatoes in half, or quarter them based on their size. Add olive oil and seasoning and toss well. Now add the parmesan cheese and toss. (By adding the cheese later, we ensure that the potatoes get seasoned evenly before the cheese sticks to them.)
Crisp potatoes: Turn on Saute on medium heat. When it displays hot, add the seasoned potatoes, face side down. Try not to overlap them as we want a crisp exterior on all of them.
Cook the potatoes, till they form a nice golden crust. This may take around 5-8 minutes. You may have to monitor the potatoes as the cheese can burn really fast.
Oven Roasted Parmesan Potatoes
If you want to make this recipe entirely in the oven, without pre-cooking the potatoes, here's how you can do it:
Season potatoes: Cut the potatoes in half, or quarter them based on their size. Add olive oil and seasoning and toss well. Now add the parmesan cheese and toss well.
Roast Potatoes: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (for easy clean-up). Place the potatoes in a single layer, face side down. Place the baking sheet on the lowermost rack of the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the cheese forms a light golden crust.
Air Fryer Roasted Potatoes
This recipe can be made in an Air Fryer too. Depending on the size of your air fryer, you can make enough to serve 4-6 people in one go. Otherwise, roast the potatoes in multiple batches. This is my preferred method when I'm cooking for 4-8 people.
- Season potatoes and air fry: Cut the potatoes in half, or quarter them based on their size. Add olive oil and seasoning and toss well. Place them cut side down in the fryer basket in a single layer. Cook at 400°F for 10 minutes.
- Coat with parmesan: Transfer them back into a mixing bowl. Add a tablespoon of olive oil and grated parmesan cheese, and mix well to coat the potatoes.
- Air fry to crisp: Spread them evenly in the fryer basket. Cook at 400°F for 10 minutes or until crisp on the outside and cooked through.
Pro-Tip: If you're entertaining a large crowd, I would recommend roasting them in the oven.
Try a Variation
This recipe can be adapted to make the following popular variations:
- Parmesan Potato Wedges: I use russet potatoes for this, and cut each potato into 6 or 8 wedges, depending on their size, and follow the same recipe. I follow the 'Oven' recipe for this. In about the same amount of time, you can enjoy delicious parmesan russet potatoes.
- Parmesan Roasted Red Potatoes: Follow the same recipe, just increase the steam cooking time to 5 minutes. Rest everything is the same.
- Garlic Herb Roasted Potatoes: Add finely chopped garlic or garlic powder to this recipe along with rosemary, oregano and basil. Follow the same time and instructions.
Recipe Tips & Notes
- Different sizes of potatoes: In this recipe, I use baby gold potatoes, about 1.5 inches in diameter. The same recipe will work for baby red potatoes of the same size. If using regular size gold or red potatoes, cut them into approximately 1-inch cubes.
- Even cooking: To ensure even cooking, cut the potatoes about the same size.
- Parmesan cheese: You can use store-ready grated parmesan cheese or grate a block yourself. I've tried both kinds and the recipe turns out delicious both ways.
- Finishing with butter: This step is totally optional, but one that takes this dish to the Roasted Potatoes Hall of Fame! I highly recommend it.
Other Popular Side-Dishes
Here are some popular side dishes on the blog. These recipes are part of the Thanksgiving Vegetable Side Dishes collection.
📖 Recipe
Parmesan Potatoes
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Video
Equipment
Ingredients
Steam/Boil Potatoes
- 1½ pounds baby gold potatoes
- ¾ cup water
- ½ teaspoon salt
For Roasting Potatoes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or avocado oil
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano (or 1 teaspoon fresh, chopped)
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon red chili flakes (skip or reduce to taste)
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
Garnish
- 1 tablespoon butter melted or olive oil
- 2 tablespoons chives finely chopped or parsley
Instructions
Instant Pot Method
- Boil Potatoes: Wash and dry potatoes and add them to the pot. Add water, close the lid and pressure cook them for 5 minutes using the 'Steam' or 'Pressure Cook' mode. Manually release pressure, then transfer the potatoes to a mixing bowl and discard the water.
- Season potatoes: Cut the potatoes in half, or quarter them based on their size. Add olive oil and seasoning and toss well. Now add the parmesan cheese and toss. (By adding the cheese later, we ensure that the potatoes get seasoned evenly before the cheese sticks to them.)
- Crisp potatoes: Turn on Saute on medium heat. When it displays hot, add the seasoned potatoes, face side down. Try not to overlap them as we want a crisp exterior on all of them. Cook the potatoes, till they form a nice golden crust. This may take around 5-8 minutes. You may have to monitor the potatoes as the cheese can burn really fast.
Oven Roasted Parmesan Potatoes
- Season potatoes: Cut the potatoes in half, or quarter them based on their size. Add olive oil and seasoning and toss well. Now add the parmesan cheese and toss well.
- Roast Potatoes: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (for easy clean-up). Place the potatoes in a single layer, face side down. Place the baking sheet on the lowermost rack of the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the cheese forms a light golden crust.
Air Fryer Parmesan Potatoes
- Season potatoes and air fry: Cut the potatoes in half, or quarter them based on their size. Add olive oil and seasoning and toss well. Place them cut side down in the fryer basket in a single layer. Cook at 400°F for 10 minutes.
- Coat with parmesan: Transfer them back into a mixing bowl. Add a tablespoon of olive oil and grated parmesan cheese, and mix well to coat the potatoes.
- Air fry to crisp: Spread them evenly in the fryer basket. Cook at 400°F for 10 minutes or until crisp on the outside and cooked through.
Garnish
- Garnish with melted butter and chopped chives. Cool 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- Different sizes of potatoes: In this recipe, I use baby gold potatoes, about 1.5 inches in diameter. The same recipe will work for baby red potatoes of the same size. If using regular size gold or red potatoes, cut them into approximately 1-inch cubes.
- Even cooking: To ensure even cooking, cut the potatoes about the same size.
- Parmesan cheese: You can use store-ready grated parmesan cheese or grate a block yourself. I've tried both kinds and the recipe turns out delicious both ways.
- Finishing with butter: This step is totally optional, but one that takes this dish to the Roasted Potatoes Hall of Fame! I highly recommend it.
Bryan says
I'm so glad you added the potato wedge AND garlic variations! Parmesan + garlic is always my favorite mix. Thank you
aneeshasg says
Hi Bryan, Thank you so much! I am glad you liked the variations. Please post a picture on any social media if you try one of the variations.