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.
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.
My liquid did not cook off in over 1 hour. I turned up the oven and it still didn’t cook off and I only added one cup of broth. Next time I will only add 3/4 cup. At the end I did broil for a few minutes. I actually would like them to be a bit more lemony. But overall, a good recipe. Thanks!
I also had to pour out some of the broth. It wouldn’t reduce. Little bit more lemon….I suggest adding lemon rind!!
Perfection. Absolute perfection. That’s all I can say because my mouth is full!
Oh I’m so glad, Valerie! Thank you!
Delicious !!! I actually found that they tasted better the next day. Right out of oven the wedges were a little dry on inside. I either made my potato wedges too big, or the potatoes w enjoyed sitting lightly in the juice — either way , they were quick and oh so tasty- thank you !!
Great, Lisa! Thanks for sharing!
Can potatoes other than baking/russet be used?
Sure, Michelle. If you want to use gold potatoes, those would work. Russet is the best option though
Hi! I love your recipes! I’m a stay at home dad who struggles with cooking and yours is the first food blog I’ve found that I really like. Everything I’ve made from your site has been delicious – which is quite a feat! Anyway, quick question – do you think this recipe would be good if made with sweet potatoes?
Thanks!
Hey Mark, thanks so much! I am so glad the recipes here are helpful to you. I haven’t tried this recipe with sweet potatoes myself, so i am not 100 percent sure. But here is a sweet potato recipe you might like: https://www.themediterraneandish.com/simple-sweet-potato-recipe/
I have to say that I;m not big on cooking per se but WOW this was easy-enough even for me to follow and the food was just amazing! Thank You Suzi!
I’m so glad to hear it, Pamela! Thanks so much for sharing
Hi,nice recipe.. kefalotiri grated would have been
great, aromatic, but I realise in US. may be
difficult to find. It’s a Greek?? Cheese.
?? Cypriot kefalotiri,is a sheep’s milk semi-hard cheese
with a creamy texture when grated . Try it if available
as the ingredients compliment one another…
Καλημέρα , good day!
Thank you so much for sharing!
I have made this dish a number of times now, my family love this dish, very simple to prepare, most kitchens have these ingredients, very tasty, goes well with fish or straight vegetarian meal. thank you
Thank you for your kind note, Kate! This is one of the favorite side dishes
I love your recipes & have been following them for several months now. My husband is a picky eater but he loves your grilled beef shawarma, the lebanese rice with vermicelli. I have made several fish & chicken recipes too. I even ordered your EVOO & made the Italian apple oil cake. We loved it! I ordered 2 of your spices too. I will be ordering more spices & olive oil as needed. Thanks for all the help following the Mediterranean diet as the doctor ordered.
Planning to serve these potatoes with your spanakopita tonight and trying to sort out how to cook them both in a timely manner at such different cooking temps….I’m going to trying cooking the potatoes first, their first 40 minutes only. Then take them out and cook spanakopita (hoping that sitting out for an hour won’t ruin the potatoes???) Once spanakopita is done, ramp up oven and cook wedges their final 15-20 minutes. Fingers crossed!!!
Jennifer, thanks so much for sharing. Apologies, I was off line for a couple of days as family is in town for the holidays. Would love to hear how this all turned out for you!
Followed recipe but too much liquid so ended up boiled instead. At the end discarded excess liquid, cooked for another 15 mins then broiled for 5 and turned out great. Next time I will make less liquid.
Thanks for sharing, John! That has not been my experience, but glad to hear how you’ve worked it out.
“Followed recipe but too much liquid so ended up boiled instead. At the end discarded excess liquid, cooked for another 15 mins then broiled for 5 and turned out great. Next time I will make less liquid.”
I had the same experience. After 40 minutes + 15 minutes there was still a centimeter of liquid in the bottom of the dish. The flavor was good, though, so I’ll try again with a longer baking time and a broil at the end.
Hi Christa,
It is supposed to be somewhat juicy and very tender compared to average roasted vegetables we may be used to. This is the Greek flare to it.
Thanks for the recipe. I will try to it now.
I tried these potatoes after trying lots of different lemon potato recipes online and WOW. Just WOW. I don’t want to have potatoes any other way! Thank you so much.
Susan, I am so excited to hear it! Thank you!
Looks yummy, it’s easy but tasty. I haven’t tried to roast potatoes with Greek recipe. I saved it and cook this for dinner sometimes. Many thanks.
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the roasted Greek potatoes look yummy.what would you recommend one to if you have English potatoes which are very soft and crumble mostly on heat.
Wow!! So delicious!! These were easy to prepare and super flavorful. It was hearty and comforting, but still bright and citrusy. I ate way too many and now I have no leftovers for tomorrow! This is the second recipe I’ve tried on this site, and they’re both winners. I’m kind of a disaster in the kitchen, and I’m shocked that even I was able to pull this off. Definitely going to try another dish on this site! Thank you for the recipe!!
Awesome, Michelle! Thank you so much for giving this a try!!!