A sweet Amish lady at our local farmers’ market passed this method along to me years ago, and I haven’t made potatoes any other way since. It’s as simple and honest as the way she described it: just potatoes, butter, salt, and a whisper of dried parsley. The trick is in how you roast them—hot oven, plenty of space, and no fussing. The result is a big stoneware platter of crispy-edged, golden potato chunks, glistening with butter and scattered with green flecks, the kind of dish that feels right at home on a Sunday table or any weeknight when you want something warm and comforting without a lot of work.
These butter roasted potatoes are hearty enough to sit beside just about anything: roast chicken, meatloaf, pork chops, pot roast, or a simple skillet of fried ham. I like to serve them right in the same stoneware baking dish they’re cooked in so they stay hot and rustic-looking on the table. Add a simple green vegetable—like steamed green beans, buttered peas, or a tossed salad—and maybe a dish of applesauce or coleslaw, and you’ve got the kind of balanced, stick-to-your-ribs Midwestern meal that satisfies everyone from the farmhands to the little ones.
Oven Baked Butter Roasted PotatoesServings: 4
Ingredients
2 pounds russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1-inch chunks
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted (plus a little extra for greasing the pan)
1 teaspoon kosher salt (or to taste)
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
Directions
Preheat your oven to 425°F (220°C). Place a large stoneware baking dish or casserole (about 9x13 inches) in the oven while it heats so the dish gets good and hot—this is the Amish lady’s trick for extra-crispy bottoms.
While the oven and dish heat, scrub the potatoes well and cut them into roughly 1-inch chunks. Leave the skins on for more flavor and texture, just like they do at the market.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan or microwave-safe bowl. Stir in the salt and dried parsley flakes so the seasoning is evenly distributed through the butter.
Carefully remove the hot stoneware dish from the oven. Using a bit of extra butter, lightly grease the bottom and sides of the hot dish (or swirl a spoonful of the melted butter mixture around the bottom).
Add the potato chunks to the hot dish in an even, single layer. Pour the seasoned melted butter over the potatoes, scraping out every last bit of parsley. Toss gently with a spoon or spatula right in the dish until all the potatoes are well coated.
Spread the potatoes back into a single layer, making sure they have a little breathing room so they can brown instead of steam.
Roast in the preheated oven for 25 minutes without stirring, letting the bottoms get nicely browned and crisp.
After 25 minutes, take the dish out and gently turn the potatoes with a spatula, scraping up any golden bits from the bottom. Return to the oven and roast for another 15–20 minutes, or until the potatoes are deeply golden, crispy on the edges, and tender when pierced with a fork.
Taste a piece and add a pinch more salt if needed. If you like, sprinkle just a little extra dried parsley over the top for color while they’re still hot.
Serve the potatoes straight from the warm stoneware dish, letting everyone scoop up those buttery, crispy chunks along with any melted butter pooled at the bottom.
Variations & Tips
If you’d like a little more richness, you can increase the butter up to 1/2 cup; the Amish cook who shared this with me said, “The potatoes will tell you how much they want,” meaning you can adjust to your taste and how dry or starchy your potatoes are. For a slightly different texture, try Yukon Gold potatoes, which roast up creamy inside with a tender skin, while russets give you a fluffier interior and extra-crispy edges. You can also cut the potatoes a bit smaller (3/4-inch pieces) for more crunch, just shorten the roasting time by 5–10 minutes and keep an eye on them. If you need to feed more people, this recipe doubles easily—just use two stoneware dishes so the potatoes still roast in a single layer. For subtle flavor changes that stay close to the original spirit, you can swap part of the salt for seasoned salt or add a small pinch of black pepper, but keep the list short so the butter and potatoes remain the stars. Leftovers reheat nicely in a hot skillet with a touch more butter, turning into breakfast potatoes to serve alongside eggs and toast.
