Simple Yellow Potatoes

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My husband and I absolutely love yellow potatoes. This recipe is the extremely simple way we make them every week.

Where to Start

First you need to wash. Starting with your hands and the counter if you haven’t done so already. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Then scrub the potatoes with a clean sponge. I like to eat the skins, both because I like the taste and I think that’s where most of the nutrients are. But potatoes grow in dirt, so they need to be scrubbed. You will most likely seem them change color from before and after scrubbing as you get that final layer of dirt off.

Next is cutting the potatoes. You can cut you’re in the more traditional chunk shape. We cut ours in the way you see above, because it’s simple and thin enough to cook quickly. With potatoes, it’s important to have some size uniformity. The slices don’t have to be perfect, but when they are similar enough in size they will be cooked through at the same time. Note that thinner pieces cook faster.

Next cover a pan, the size doesn’t really matter, with aluminum foil. I’m a fan of the nonstick. But I always spray with food release, just in case. Then I coat the potatoes in olive oil. If you are going to cook them on a cookie sheet, you might want to toss them in a separate bowl before putting them on the foil. Otherwise, you can just coat them in the pan you will cook them in.

Try to spread them out evenly for even cooking. Once they are spread out, sprinkle on any seasonings you want, but they don’t need much. Salt and pepper are delicious. For something a little spicy, we like to use a combination of black pepper, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and cayenne.

Once the oven comes to temperature, put the potatoes in the oven on a middle rack for 15 minutes. Turn the pan 180° and bake for another 15 minutes. The potatoes are fully cooked when they feel soft as you stab them with a fork. Make sure you try a larger and thicker piece. Once soft, they are ready to eat.