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.
Absolutely delicious! On par with any Greek restaurant I’ve dined at. My husband was ready to devour the entire tray! Thanks!
Oh, wow! Thanks, Elle!
Not sure what I did wrong… My potato wedges were swimming in liquid, which caused the spices and parmesan cheese to wash away, and the potatoes never got crispy. How could they when they were half under water? I used a standard size casserole dish, so it’s not like the dish was too small. Where is all that liquid supposed to go? Mine looked NOTHING liked the pictures above. Where is the cooking liquid in your pictures? Did you drain it before putting the potatoes back in for 10 more minutes? Maybe it would be possible to give a measurement for lemon juice in the future, rather than just saying “juice of one lemon.” Maybe my lemon was too big, but even then, it couldn’t have made THAT much of an overall difference in the amount of cooking liquid…. The flavors were good, but I didn’t intend to make boiled potatoes. I have loved every single recipe on this website since I discovered it 8+ months ago, but this is the one recipe that just didn’t make sense. What a shame, because it sounded so good!
I just made these, yummy! These recipe is soo good! A different way to do potatoes now. I cooked these at 350 along side a meatloaf. No problem at this temp. Thanks
So glad you enjoyed the recipe, Diana!
I have made these potatoes twice. Everyone loved them, an absolute hit! Simple and quick with great results! Would recommend this recipe to anyone
Thanks, Mitchell!!
Since I was juicing a lemon, I zested it first (I always do this and save) and then sprinkled some on the taters in the second half of the recipe……???
Mine never got crisp
Loved this recipe! Was very good!! And easy.
Fam loved it.
Pablo
That’s great to hear! Thanks, Pablo!
They were absolutely ridiculously delicious!!
This has to be the absolute best way to eat potatoes. I made this tonight; it was worth the time and effort (vs easier things like rice). Fantastic recipe.
Thanks so much, Doug!
These were so delicious, my sister in-law must have told me 3 times how good they were. We had them with greek salad, chicken, and stuffed grape leaves. They are definitely going into the rotation. Thanks!
So glad to hear it! Thanks for sharing
Hi, I’m having 6 people over for chicken kabobs along with greek salad and would love to include this potato recipe. Can it be made in advance and reheated? If so, how far in advance you be acceptable?
Hi, Darleen! Sure! I would just do it the day before for the best results.
Decadent! Completed our greek date night perfectly (chicken gyro + Greek salad).
Awesome! 🙂
Love these…As my wife doesn’t like Parmesan, we grated Graviera (Greek cheese) over them. Result ? Perfect. We had some friends over (before Lockdown) ,we made these and the wife’s reaction was MMMM.Her comment was “Very nice, considering you are British!” ? We were really grateful as we live on the Greek island of Corfu, to get a nice compliment from a Corfiot.
That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing, Mel!!
These are absolutely scrumptious!!!!! I had dinner guests last night and made them along with The Big Italian salad, Greek Chicken and veggies and Tirimisu for desert! One of my guests Domenic! who is Italian would not leave with out a printed copy of the recipie and full explanation on how i made it! I did use a Le Cruset deep casserole dish. The only thing i did different was sprinkle the spices on after i tossed them in the oil and lemon mixture! I love all your style of cooking and purchased the online book! Thank you for your amazing food!
Cheers!
Michele
That sounds like such a wonderful dinner! Thank you for sharing, Michele!
These were a great addition to the garlic and Dijon chicken. However it took my wedges 2hrs to become nice and golden brown at 200C in an electric oven!
Also, absolutely turn half way through, I found one side crisped but the side faved down was still .. potato colour? Easily rectified by “broiling/top grilling” . Excellent recipe! They are delicious!
Thank you for sharing, Nick!
Hi
How much is a cupful of broth (I take it that it stock) please.
That would be the measurement of 1 cup or 200-250ml of broth/stock.