Why It Works
- Parboiling the potatoes in alkaline water breaks down their surfaces, creating a starchy slurry that provides added surface area and crunch.
- Infusing the oil with garlic, anchovies, and lemon zest gives the potato crust extra Caesar flavor.
- Tossing the potatoes with Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, and plenty of nutty Parmesan cheese just before serving builds the signature Caesar flavors.
Roasting reveals all the best parts of a potato: crispy skin, crunchy edges, and a soft, fluffy center. A mound of roasted potatoes simply seasoned with salt and pepper is my favorite comfort food. But, if you dress them up with the tangy, briny, cheesy flavors of a great Caesar salad dressing, this near-perfect food becomes even better.
Combining the key ingredients of a rich and savory Caesar dressing—anchovies, garlic, lemon, Worcestershire sauce, and Parmesan cheese—with potatoes is a no-brainer: Potatoes are the ultimate starchy blank canvas for big bold flavors. To create this happy union, I start with Kenji’s famous crispy potatoes.
Serious Eats / Two Bites
Like many of our readers, I’m a big fan of these spuds —it’s a foolproof recipe that needs no improvement. His potatoes incorporate the British method for roasting potatoes: Chunks of potato are boiled until they’re just tender, then tossed none-too-gently with fat (here olive oil) to rough up their surface, then roasted until they’re crisp and crackling. It’s simple and produces amazing results. I make them routinely at home, whether it’s just for my family’s simple Sunday night supper or for a large holiday gathering. But I’d be lying if I said that these simple potatoes don’t sometimes get (dare I say it), a bit repetitive. But with Kenji’s technique, it’s easy to incorporate other flavors to the roasted potatoes, without compromising the potatoes texture. I’ve tried and tested many flavor combinations at home, and this Caesar flavor variation is my favorite yet.
In Kenji’s recipe, he heats garlic and rosemary in some olive oil, cooks the mixture until the garlic just turns golden, strains it, and separates the infused oil from the solids. The potatoes are then coated with the flavored oil before roasting, and the reserved cooked aromatics are tossed with the crispy potatoes after they’re roasted. This eliminates the risk of burning the solids while roasting.
Following this method to incorporate the savory Caesar flavor into these potatoes, I gently cook anchovies, garlic, and lemon zest in olive oil until the anchovies melt, the garlic begins to brown, and the lemon zest infuses the oil with its bright citrus flavor. The result is a salty, umami-rich, and zippy olive oil that I toss with the potatoes before roasting. The other Caesar ingredients—Worchestershire sauce, more lemon zest, plus lemon juice for a hit of fresh flavor, and plenty of nutty Parmesan cheese—are tossed with the hot potatoes right after roasting.
I add a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese as a final flourish just before serving this low-effort, high-reward spin on classic roasted potatoes. Serve them as a side to an impressive roast or as a starter or party snack with a side of creamy Caesar dip for dunking, because I’m a firm believer that you can never have too much Caesar.
Serious Eats / Two Bites
