These Greek potatoes are crispy-meets-tender, easy to throw together on a weeknight, and pack all the lemony, garlicky flavors of Greece with my little twist: melty Parmesan cheese!
This easy recipe is my take on Patates Lemonates, the golden potatoes you find at just about every Greek restaurant. They’re crisp on the outside, fluffy inside and burst with garlicky, lemony flavor.
My version of Greek potatoes starts with the classic heavy hitters: garlic, oregano, lemon, and stock (you can use vegetable broth for a vegetarian option). The potatoes bathe in this fragrant broth before roasting. Then, just when they’re tender and the edges are turning golden, I sprinkle on Parmesan so it melts, bubbles, and creates a caramelized crust. They may not be traditional, but they are irresistible!
Bold and yet so versatile, they’re the perfect side to so many Greek feasts, from a simple Greek salad to grilled Chicken Souvlaki. Plus, they are so easy to make. They only take about 10 minutes of hands-on time, then pop them in the oven while you get the main course ready.
Table of Contents
Greek Potatoes Ingredients and Substitutions
My secret ingredient to these roasted Greek potatoes is a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese added midway through baking. This isn’t necessarily traditional, but it adds both flavor and texture.
- Spices: Dried Greek oregano, dried rosemary, and sweet paprika bring decidedly Greek-style flavor to the party. Kosher salt and black pepper perk up the flavor.
- Extra virgin olive oil: The olive oil flavors the broth and the potatoes soak up all that flavor as they roast, so a high quality oil is essential. I recommend our rich and peppery Private Reserve Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil with this recipe.
- Parmesan cheese: I love how the Parmesan gets melty, bubbly, golden brown, and delicious, but it’s not traditional. Feel free to leave this off for a dairy free option. Or take a page from our Greek fries and swap with crumbled fresh feta after roasting.
- Baking potatoes: Russet, Idaho, or Yukon gold work best.
- Garlic: And lots of it! Garlic and salt are a potato’s best friend.
- Lemon: A fresh squeeze of lemon juice gives these roasted potatoes just the right amount of zing.
- Vegetable or chicken broth: I like to use low sodium so I can control the seasoning, but potatoes can handle a lot of salt, so standard broth would also work.
- PRO TIP: Did you know that chicken stock and chicken broth are (almost always) interchangeable, and that you can make your own vegetable broth with leftover food scraps?
- Parsley leaves: Adds herby freshness to this dish, but they’re not crucial. If you have all the ingredients except parsley, you don’t need to make a special trip.
How To Make Greek Lemon Potatoes
Cheesy, crispy, lemony Greek Potatoes is a side dish recipe all home cooks should keep up their sleeve. It’s inexpensive, easy, goes with everything, and is sure to be a big hit at your table. Here are all the tricks for how to roast potatoes in the oven so they’re tender on the inside and crispy on the outside:
- Get ready: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Coat a large, 9”X13-inch baking dish in a thin layer of olive oil.
- Make the spice mix: In a small bowl, mix together 1 teaspoon each salt, black pepper, sweet paprika, oregano, and dried rosemary.
- Cut the potatoes into wedges: Peel and scrub 4 potatoes. Put one on your cutting board and slice it in half lengthwise. With the cut side facing down, slice each half lengthwise once more, then slice each piece in half lengthwise one more time to make 8 wedges. Repeat with the remaining 3 potatoes, slicing each one into 8 wedges.
- Season the potatoes: Place the potato wedges in the oiled baking dish and sprinkle with the spice mix. Toss to evenly to distribute the spices.
- Season the broth: In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together 8 chopped garlic cloves, 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, the juice of one lemon, and 1 1/4 cups vegetable or chicken broth. Pour over the potatoes.
- Bake the potatoes: Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 40 minutes.
- Give the potatoes a cheesy crust: Remove the potatoes from the oven, uncover, and sprinkle on 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese. Return to the oven, uncovered, and roast until the potatoes are cooked through and have turned a nice golden brown with a little crust forming, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from the oven, garnish with a sprinkle of fresh parsley, and serve. Enjoy!
What to Serve with Greek Potatoes
With all the classic Greek flavors of lemon, herbs, and garlic, these Greek-style potatoes make for the perfect side dish to so many recipes. Serve:
- As a mezze: Serve with a punchy dip, like 5-minute Creamy Whipped Feta or Spinach Greek Yogurt Dip.
- Alongside meat: I love a good Mediterranean meat and potatoes situation! Serve with anything from Greek meatballs to grilled chicken thighs–you really can’t go wrong!
- With fish: I particularly love them Greek tavern-style with a pan of garlicky seared shrimp or salmon burgers
- For a hearty vegetarian dinner: Opt for vegetable stock and serve with a hearty salad, like Lentil Salad with Roasted Eggplant.
Greek Potatoes
Ingredients
For the Spice Mix
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
For the Potatoes
- 4 large baking potatoes (like Russet, Idaho, or Yukon gold), peeled, washed, and cut into wedges
- 8 large garlic cloves, chopped
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for coating
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1 1/4 cups vegetable broth (or chicken broth, if you prefer)
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup parsley leaves, coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Get ready: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Coat a large, 9”X13-inch baking dish in a thin layer of olive oil.
- Make the spice mix: In a small bowl, mix together the salt, black pepper, sweet paprika, oregano, and dried rosemary.
- Prep the potatoes: Place the potato wedges in the oiled baking dish and sprinkle with the spice mix. Toss to evenly to distribute the spices.
- Season the broth: In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, and broth. Pour over the potatoes.
- Bake the potatoes: Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 40 minutes.
- Give the potatoes a cheesy crust: Remove the potatoes from the oven, uncover, and sprinkle on the Parmesan cheese. Return to the oven, uncovered, and roast until the potatoes are cooked through and have turned a nice golden brown with a little crust forming, about 10-15 minutes.
- Garnish and serve: Remove from the oven, garnish with a sprinkle of fresh parsley, and serve. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Shop this recipe: Visit our shop to browse quality Mediterranean ingredients, including the olive oil and spices used in this recipe.
- Make it spicy! Feel free to throw in a pinch of cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, or Aleppo pepper with the spice mix.
- If you want to add a touch more browning and color to the potatoes, finish them under the broiler. Just be sure to keep a close eye on them so they don’t burn!
Nutrition
Try Our Greek Oregano!
This dried herb straight from Greece is lemony, fragrant, and perfect for everyday use.
*This post has recently been updated with new information for the readers’ benefit.
Hello Suzy,
I’ve tried this recipe a few times and it’s really good, but I can’t seem to get the crust right. The Parmesan cheese just won’t gratinate.
I wonder if it’s either me making too much broth, or maybe just rasping the Parmesan above the dish just isn’t enough. For the next time I make it, I am considering rasping the Parmesan on a plate and rolling the wedges through it before putting them back in the dish and in the oven.
Could that do the trick?
Hi, Yann! So sorry this recipe is being a little finicky for you! While it’s not something we’ve tried before, I think rolling the wedges in the parmesan first might be helpful.You can also reduce the amount of broth a bit to see if that improves things for you.
This is the tastiest recipe for greek potatoes. Very easy and no fail.. Love them.
Hi I am new with the Mediterranean , started early spring, I have your cookbook , simple foods, but im struggling because there is no serving size , I made your lemony garlic potatoes with the baked Chicken legs, had to look up the serving size, I love your recipes,
Struggling with serving portions
Diane Long
Really good.
Is the chicken stock necessary in this potatoes recipe? Can I skip it?
Hi, Daniel! We do recommend the stock here (either vegetable or chicken) as it adds to the flavor and helps to steam the potatoes.
I made these this evening. Wow! So very very good! Thank you for this recipe! I visited Athens twice back in the 90s. There was a tiny family run restaurant that served potatoes that tasted EXACTLY like these. I’ve been searching for that taste for 30 years. This is it!
Yay! Thanks, Jeffrey!
Flavor-wise these potatoes are amazing! However, technique-wise it’s a bit ambiguous. Of the 3 varieties of potatoes mentioned “large” varies significantly. Also, the potatoes in a bag of potatoes vary in size and none of them will necessarily be “large”. I wish the recipe used “pounds” instead.
The same with the reference to “large” garlic cloves. What’s “large” depends on which variety of garlic you buy and what your own perspective of “large” is. I wish that a tablespoon or cup measurement was used instead.
I’m about to make this recipe again and I’m doing so with some trepidation because as much as I like to cook by “feel” I also appreciate better measurement guidance.
Hi! Going to cook this dish today and I have a question. Shall I soak the potato wedges in hot water like in your recipe of Crispy oven fries?Thanks.
Hello! There’s no need to soak the potatoes for this recipe. Hope you enjoy it!
We really enjoyed these. It was a nice change to have a potato dish not involving butter and milk! They were very tasty, thank you!
This dish is DELICIOUS! The only thing I could not seem to find is the serving size in the nutritional information.
Hi, Lisa! So glad you enjoyed this one! This particular recipe can be divided by 6 to get the approximate “serving size”. The nutrition info here is our best effort and we use a program that calculates that for us based on the ingredient list. The exact serving size measurement (by grams, cups, etc) is another layer that’s harder for us to precisely calculate at the moment, but we’re working on it!
Wonderful potatoes! I used smallish red potatoes, quartered. I used as many as I needed to fill the bottom of the pan single layer. I think this is the key to not ending up with too much liquid. I also chose to use oregano instead of rosemary, but I’m sure rosemary would have been good too. The parmesan on the top was a nice touch, but they will be great if you want to go authentic and leave it out.
Thanks so much for sharing, Karis! Appreciate it!
I love Greek food
I’ve had this type of potato in Greek restaurants. This recipe is identical to those. So easy, too. Again, I was skeptical due to the amount of liquid. It turned out as yummy as the restaurant version.
We ate almost the entire thing. 3 adults with a little leftover. I used feta instead of parm.