Craving for chips while you are on a weight loss regime? These healthy, crispy outside and soft inside Moroccan roasted potatoes flavoured with warm spices and garlic won’t disappoint you. A delicious vegan and gluten-free side dish ready in 30 minutes!
I love potatoes anytime and they used to be a daily lunch affair in my childhood. While my family indulged in rich non-vegetarian curries on Sundays I would enjoy my crispy potatoes fry with my dal and rice. I’m sure most of you hardcore meat eaters also cannot imagine life without potatoes.
It is such a versatile vegetable and tastes divine when roasted, deep-fried or even just plain boiled. Every country has its unique recipe for roasted potatoes, I grew up eating Indian roasted potatoes almost daily and the closest to that I discovered are these healthy Moroccan roasted potatoes.
Jump to:
- 👩🏻🍳Potatoes for Weight Loss
- 📋Why this recipe works?
- 🥘 Key Ingredients
- 🥔What types of potatoes are the best for roasting?
- 🔪How to Make Moroccan Roasted Potatoes(step by step)
- 🍽How to serve?
- 🍟How to store and reheat roasted potatoes
- ⭐Expert Tips and FAQ
- Related Posts
- Moroccan Roasted Potatoes
- Notes
- Nutrition
👩🏻🍳Potatoes for Weight Loss
Potatoes have got such a bad reputation among weight loss tribes but honestly, I never ditched and happily lost 13 kgs. the way you cook potatoes is the key when you are following a weight loss diet, Potatoes are very rich in Vitamin C and makes me feel full for longer and most importantly satisfy me mentally.
I have made these Moroccan roasted potatoes using a cooking spray which means I would have hardly used less than ½ tablespoon of oil.
potatoes are both rich in Vitamin C, which is essential for boosting immunity. also, they are great sources of healthy carbohydrates, protein and fibre.A 100 gm portion of white potatoes contains 77 calories, 2 gm of protein and 2 gm of fibre, according to data by the United States Department of Agriculture
📋Why this recipe works?
I’ll admit that it took me quite a few tries to perfect this Moroccan roasted potatoes recipe.
- I have tested this recipe at least 5 times and gathered all tips that give you perfect crispy outside and soft inside roasted potatoes.
- the key to getting the perfect crispy layer and well-cooked roasted potatoes is to parboil the potatoes before roasting them. Trust me, you have very little chance of failing at this recipe.
- This method yields roasted potatoes that are beautifully golden on the outside and pillowy-tender on the inside. All without the use of tons of oil!
- Moreover they are made with less than 1 tablespoon of oil
🥘 Key Ingredients
Potatoes: Choose any variety you like honestly but if you want a specific guide please check below I have gone with Albert Bartlett Potatoes that we here in the UK markets.
Garlic: An essential and key ingredient for making Moroccan potatoes. try to use fresh garlic if possible.
Spices: So the star of the recipe is the blend of these Moroccan spices. you would need turmeric, cumin powder, coriander powder, freshly ground black pepper, cinnamon powder, garlic powder(if no fresh garlic available), smoked paprika or red chilli powder, chilli flakes, salt.
Fat: the essential for making any roasted or fried potatoes. the traditional Moroccan roasted potatoes recipe calls for a decent amount of olive oil but I’m using a cooking spray that is more than enough to get crispy roasted ones.
Cilantro: Fresh and tender chopped coriander at the end makes every dish aromatic, don’t skip this if you can tolerate the smell.
🥔What types of potatoes are the best for roasting?
There are literally millions of varieties to choose from however for a great choice of roasting, you will need good floury types with less skin. this will ensure the heat is passing through evenly and have a buttery soft texture inside and crispy crust. this great roasting guide will give you more ideas, I bet.
🔪How to Make Moroccan Roasted Potatoes(step by step)
Preparing potatoes
Cutting potatoes evenly is the key to get them perfectly roasted, otherwise, they will remain uncooked inside.
Step 1: Wash the potatoes well in running water to remove any dirt. Peeling potatoes is optional, in fact, I love the skin on fries but this time I peeled the skin.
Step 2: Cut each potato in half
step 3: Cube them further into bite-sized chunks as shown below.
Step 4 I have also made wedges, cut the potatoes lengthwise and split them into finger length wedges.
Parboiling potatoes
This is the key step to make perfectly golden-crusted and soft inside Moroccan roasted potatoes or any kind of roasted potatoes.
Step 5: Heat a thick bottomed pan and bring water to a rolling boil. then add the cut potatoes, parboil them for roughly 4-5 minutes, they should be still firm while the inner is cooked a little soft. Ensure you are not boiling them too much else the potatoes will be broken and even mashed before you can roast them!
Step 6: Test the parboiled potatoes by inserting a fork in the middle, the centre should be soft enough for the fork and still a little bit firm such that the potato is not being broken into two pieces.
Step 7: Repeat the above for cubed potatoes as well, please note that the cubes get boiled quickly so take care of not boiling them too much.
Steam Drying potatoes
Step 8 : Once the parboiling is done, drain the potatoes to remove all excess water and allow them to dry in their own steam, this ensures the potatoes are softer and tender perfectly geared for roasting.
Coating potatoes with spices
Step 9: Take the steam dried potatoes into a wide plate, make sure they are not overcrowded else they will easily break.
Step 10: Spray the potatoes generously with cooking spray or add ½ tablespoon of olive oil to coat the potatoes.
Step 11: Add the Moroccan spices to the oil-coated potatoes. Optionally you could blend the spices ahead too to make sure they are uniformly getting mixed.
Step 12: Rub the spices into the oil-coated potatoes ensuring all the pieces are coated generously.
⏲️ Baking roasted potatoes
Pre-heat the oven to its maximum temperature for at least 15 minutes before proceeding to roast the potatoes
Step 13: Line a baking tray with parchment paper and spray cooking oil, this optional step ensures the potatoes crust is not getting stuck to the paper.
Step 14: Spread the Moroccan spice coated potatoes evenly on the tray and spray with cooking oil again. If not using cooking spray, add few drops of oil optionally. Bake them for at least 15 minutes at 190 degrees celsius by flipping them in between.
Mince a clove of garlic and add to the roasted potatoes and bake further for 10 more minutes.
Allow them to cook a little bit and sprinkle loads of chopped (pat dry) coriander.
Always check in between while roasting as oven temperatures and cooking vary with different types. you should be able to understand what stage they are in after 15 minutes.
🍽How to serve?
these spicy roasted potatoes can be eaten on their own or served with
🍔Burgers
🥪Sndwiches
🍛Rice and Dal
or anywhere you serve roast potatoes🍠
🍟How to store and reheat roasted potatoes
I doubt if you get a chance to store these golden roasted potatoes but in case you need to,
make sure you are just wrapping them in baking paper or cover the container with baking paper or foil.
when you are ready just roast them in a pre-heated oven again for 5 minutes, viola, the soft chips will become golden-crusted again!
⭐Expert Tips and FAQ
Well, you can but If you skip, the centre will not be cooked uniformly and soft. the centre will remain a bit uncooked and also takes a longer time to cook, no guarantee for crispy outer crust.
Yes, this method works for simple salt and pepper chips, rosemary etc. make sure the minced garlic is not added initially else you will have to eat burnt garlic.
Olive and sunflower oils work best for roasting. the combination of these oils with roasted spices is simply the best.
Why not! After you coat the potatoes with oil and spices, gently pack them in a freezer friendly bag and store up to a month, when you are ready to bake, follow the same procedure except you may need more time
Can you see the golden crust? Yes, I’m obsessed.
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Related Posts
Moroccan Roasted Potatoes
Equipment
- Baking Tray
- Oven
- Spatula
Ingredients
- 600 grams potatoes
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- 5 cooking spray
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinamon
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 clove garlic
- ¼ teaspoon red chilli flakes
- Salt to taste
Instructions
Preparing the potatoes
- Wash the potatoes well in running water to remove any dirt. If you prefer, peel the potatoes else leave the skin on
- If making cubes, Cut each potato in half horizontally and cube them further into bite-sized chunks.If making wedges, cut the potato lenghtwise further cut into them into finger lenght thick wedges.
Parboiling Potatoes
- Heat a thick bottomed pan and bring water to a rolling boil. Add a pinch of salt then add the cut potatoes, parboil them for roughly 4-5 minutes, they should be still firm while the inner is cooked a little soft.
- Test the parboiled potatoes by inserting a fork in the middle, the centre should be soft enough for the fork and still a little bit firm such that the potato is not being broken into two pieces.
Steam Drying potatoes
- Once the parboiling is done, drain the potatoes to remove all excess water and allow them to dry in their own steam, this ensures the potatoes are softer and tender perfectly geared for roasting.
Coating potatoes with spices
- Take the steam dried potatoes into a wide plate, make sure they are not overcrowded else they will easily break.
- Spray the potatoes generously with cooking spray or add ½-1 tablespoon of olive oil to coat the potatoes.
- Add the Moroccan spices to the oil-coated potatoes. Optionally you could blend the spices ahead too to make sure they are uniformly getting mixed.
- Rub the spices into the oil-coated potatoes ensuring all the pieces are coated generously.
Baking roasted potatoes
- Pre-heat the oven to its maximum temperature for at least 15 minutes before proceeding to roast the potatoes
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper and spray cooking oil, this optional step ensures the potatoes crust is not getting stuck to the paper.
- Spread the Moroccan spice coated potatoes evenly on the tray and spray with cooking oil again. If not using cooking spray, add few drops of oil optionally.
- Bake them for at least 15 minutes at 190 degrees celsius by flipping them in between.Always check in between while roasting as oven temperatures and cooking vary with different types. you should be able to understand what stage they are in after 15 minutes.
- Mince a clove of garlic and add to the roasted potatoes and bake further for 10 more minutes.
- Once you take the potatoes out of the oven, sprinkle loads of chopped (pat dry) coriander.
Notes
- Choose floury type potatoes with think skin to ensure you get a soft interior and crispy crust.
- Do not skill the parboiling part, else the chips will be undercooked.
- If you use fresh garlic, you can skip garlic powder but I added both. add garlic only at the end to make sure you are not eating burnt pieces.
- If using cooking spray, make sure you use it moderately say 6 to 7 sprays.
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For freezing, once you coat the potatoes with spices, gently pack them in a freezer friendly bag and store them up to a month, when you are ready to bake, follow the same procedure except you may need more time.
Nutrition
Hello there, I’m Siri, love food shopping more than perfumes or dresses. At one point I lost control of myself and ate my way until I was near obese. Now, am here to write about my experiences in maintaining a healthy, balanced body and mind. Remember, the best lessons are always from failed people.
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