Spicy Potatoes (Lebanese-style)
Spicy potatoes is a very popular and traditional middle-eastern recipe. Roasted, crispy and spicy potatoes brightened by the minced garlic, a herbal blend of parsley and cilantro with a squeeze of lime juice.
Ingredients
- 7 medium golden potatoes
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley (save 1-2 tbsp for garnish)
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tbsp olive oil (divided)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper
- 1/2 lime, juiced (1 tablespoon for the garlic mixture + extra for the top at serving time)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Wash, peel and cut the potatoes into medium-size cubes. Place them in a big bowl, add 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt and toss well so they get evenly coated.
- Transfer the potatoes to the baking sheet and spread them in a single layer. Roast for about 40 minutes until golden and crispy. Halfway through roasting, remove the parchment paper and flip the potatoes ( this step will prevent the potatoes from sticking to the paper and at this stage they won't stick to the pan anymore).
- While the potatoes are roasting, prepare the garlic mixture; heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a frying pan, add the pepper, paprika, salt, cayenne, crushed red pepper and 3/4 cup parsley ( keep 1 to 2 tablespoons of the parsley to sprinkle on top at serving time) and cook for 1 minute until the garlic starts turning golden in color, turn off heat and add 1 tablespoon lime juice.
- When the potatoes are ready, add them to the garlic mixture and toss well.
- Squeeze some lime juice ( 1 tablespoon) over the potatoes and sprinkle the remaining chopped parsley and serve hot.
Notes
I prefer to do a mix of parsley and cilantro as the cilantro is overpowering. You can use only one of the herbs or a mix.
Roasting the potatoes instead of frying is a much healthier version than the original recipe which calls for frying the potatoes.
For crispy potatoes, don’t overcrowd the potatoes in the baking sheet and turn them halfway to have that crispy crunch all over.
