Crispy Beef Tallow Roasted Potatoes with Garlic and Herbs
Elevate your side dish game with these ultra-crispy beef tallow roasted potatoes. By infusing rendered beef tallow with fresh garlic and aromatic herbs, you create a deeply flavorful, golden-brown crust that rivals the best steakhouses. Beef tallow is the secret to achieving that perfect crunch while keeping the inside of the potato light and fluffy.
Whether you’re serving these alongside a prime rib or a simple weeknight roast, this recipe delivers a rich, savory depth that olive oil simply can’t match.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- The Ultimate Crispy Crunch: Beef tallow creates a superior crispness and a rich, savory finish.
- Infused Flavor: Steeping the herbs in the fat ensures every inch of the potato is seasoned from the outside in.
- Simple Yet Sophisticated: A handful of quality ingredients transformed by a classic culinary technique.
Roasted potatoes is a universally loved side dish. It’s hearty and satisfying and goes so well with so many things. Roasted potatoes has always been the perfect wing man to meats and seafood. Now that beef tallow has entered the room, it has catapulted this unassuming side dish to be the new star of the show. The addition of beef tallow to potatoes give the potatoes a wonderful crispy exterior while it roasts in the oven. The flavor that beef tallow infuses into these potatoes is a savory, rich, umami-loaded perfection. I infuse the beef tallow with garlic and herbs to add another dimension of flavor.
What’s in the potatoes?
- little potatoes
- beef tallow
- butter
- garlic
- thyme
- scallions
Beef Tallow Crispy Little Potatoes
Roasted potatoes is the quintessential side dish that is hearty and satisfying and goes so well with so many different types of mains. Let’s take this dish up a notch by using beef tallow. It will go from good to wow!
I cut the little potatoes in half and parboil the potatoes until the outside is just tender. Then I give the potatoes a hard shake in the colander to give them a rough starchy surface. That produces all these nooks and crannies for the beef tallow to seep in to and as these roast in the oven. Those nooks and crannies will get nice and crispy. I also infuse the beef tallow with minced garlic, scallions and thyme. The result is this umami bomb of beefy potatoes and garlic-y herbs.
Ingredients
- 3 pounds little potatoes, sliced in half
- 3 stalks scallions, minced
- 6 cloves garlic, through a garlic press or minced fine
- 4 sprigs of thyme, stems removed
- 1 tablespoon salt (for water to boil potatoes)
- 85 grams beef tallow
- 40 grams butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a large pot, fill 2/3 with water and boil. Add potatoes and cook for 10 minutes after the water returns to a boil.
- Drain in colander. Give it a rough toss in the colander. You will see the starch of potatoes falling off the edges. Leave in colander while you prepare the beef tallow.
- In a small pan on medium heat, melt the beef tallow and butter together. Once they have melted, add the garlic and let that cook until you start to see it simmer, about 2 minutes. Add the thyme and scallions and stir occasionally for 3 to 5 minutes until the garlic is tender. Don’t overcook or let the garlic or herbs burn.
- Remove from heat and pour the mixture into a mesh strainer over a medium bowl. Let that sit for 5 minutes until the tallow/butter mixture is strained. Save the garlic and herbs to finish the potatoes after baking.
- Toss the potatoes into the tallow mixture and mix until all the potatoes are coated. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of salt and mix well. Arrange the potatoes on a parchment lined baking sheet, separating any pieces that are stuck together.
- Preheat oven 425°F on convection bake. Bake for 15 minutes. Toss halfway. You should see the edges crisp a golden brown and sizzle. The liquid gold is doing its job.
- Remove from oven and toss in the strained garlic and herbs until well mixed together. Potatoes will be crispy firm on the outside and soft in the center.
❓ FAQ’s for Crispy Beef Tallow Potatoes
Tallow is the liquid shortening rendered from slowly cooking down beef fat. It has a higher smoke point than most oils and adds a richness to the crust that vegetable oil simply can’t match. This makes it ideal for high-heat roasting, giving potatoes that deep golden crust.
Shaking the par-boiled potatoes in a colander roughens their surface, creating craggy edges. Starchy potatoes have a dry, fluffy interior that breaks down beautifully when parboiled and tossed in the colander, creating the craggly surface that forms the crust. More surface area = more crunch.
Infusing the tallow transfers all the flavor of the garlic, thyme, and scallions directly into the fat, which then coats every potato. Straining the herbs out before roasting prevents them from burning at high oven temperatures. The reserved herbs are tossed back in after roasting, keeping them vibrant and fresh.
Duck fat is a good substitutes. However, avoid butter or olive oil as their low smoke points will cause them to burn before the crust has a chance to form.
What sets baby potatoes apart from other options is the way their small size adds up to the perfect ratio of crispy skin and fluffy, tender insides. Halving them also creates a flat cut surface that develops a gorgeous golden crust in the oven.
Tallow is available from good butchers and most supermarkets. You can also find it at health food stores or online. Look for grass-fed beef tallow for the best flavor.
These are best straight from the oven when they’re at peak crispiness. However, you can par-boil and shake the potatoes ahead of time, then store them in the fridge uncovered (to dry out further) until ready to roast. If you have leftovers, pop them back in a 400°F oven for 10 minutes to restore the crispiness — skip the microwave, as it makes them soggy.
These potatoes pair beautifully with roast chicken, grilled or pan-seared steak, lamb chops, or any roast. Roasted potatoes are an easy and incredibly delicious side dish perfect for classic roasts like leg of lamb, whole roasted turkey, or a juicy ribeye steak, and a must-have over holidays when cooking for friends and family.
SHOP FOR THIS RECIPE
When I went to Amazon to look up the link for this item, it shows my purchase history and I have this exact set of mixing bowls since 2016. I own other sets but this truly is a better quality set. The bowls are thick and the plastic lids are still perfect and snug. I use these daily.
Tiny and closely spaced holes mean your food drains fast, the mesh is sturdy and will not warp, stretch, or snag even under heavy foods. (Spaghetti won't fall through the holes.) Footed design facilitates fast, easy drainage, the sturdy solid ring base keeps the colander from tipping over.
This set is perfect for so many uses. This is a favorite for baking chewy cookies that doesn't get too brown on the bottom compared to my darker baking sheets.
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