Honey-lemon butter, infused with fresh rosemary and garlic, elevates these simple sheet pan roasted potatoes to another level. Easy 15-minute prep; ready in an hour.
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Why You Will Love this Recipe
This Rosemary Roasted Potatoes recipe is a versatile and nearly effortless side dish. Roast baby potatoes are tender and fluffy on the inside and crispy outside, and they go with just about anything. They can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or late night snack, so it never hurts to make a double batch.
Our recipe for rosemary roasted potatoes includes a succulent, easy-to-make honey-lemon butter sauce. Of course, you can always make them plain – just rosemary, oil, and lemons - and they are delicious all by themselves. But the honey-lemon butter, infused with fresh rosemary and garlic, elevates these simple sheet pan potatoes from every day side to special occasion fare.
What Goes into this Recipe
We used a pound of baby Yukon Golds and a pound of baby red potatoes for this batch.
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
★ Potatoes: Choose fluffy potatoes over waxy or starchy varieties. We recommend using baby Yukon Golds or baby reds for this recipe. Look for small potatoes, about the size of a golf ball and no larger than a chicken egg.
You can also use larger potatoes; just halve or cube them into 1- to 1 ½-inch pieces first.
★ Lemons: Use fresh lemons and fresh lemon juice. Fresh lemon juice has a fresher, brighter flavor, and is ultimately a lot more healthy for you, too.
Bottled lemon juice contains preservatives and additives, and has a stronger, more acrid flavor that can affect the outcome of this recipe.
★ Rosemary: Use fresh rosemary. Do not use dried rosemary for this recipe.
Substitutions: You can sub in your favorite fresh herbs; fresh sage works particularly well.
TIP: Rosemary is an evergreen, meaning you can harvest it any time of year. If you have space in your yard, a rosemary plant is a great thing to have. It grows well in containers, too.
★ Honey: Use a mild honey; some artisan honeys have a strong flavor profile that can overpower more subtle flavors.
★ Garlic: We love garlic, and we use 2-3 cloves for this, minced or pressed.
★ Butter: We recommend using salted butter for this recipe, but unsalted works as well.
★ Oil: Use a neutral oil (i.e., light olive oil, canola oil, etc.).
How to Make Rosemary Roasted Potatoes
Honey-Lemon Butter
Make the honey-lemon butter first, so that the fresh rosemary and garlic flavors have time to infuse into the mixture.
In a small skillet over medium heat, melt the butter, whisking constantly until any foam subsides and the butter begins to turns light golden brown. Remove from heat.
Pour melted butter into a small bowl or mason jar. Immediately whisk in minced garlic, honey, and lemon juice.
Taste and season the butter as desired with salt and pepper. Stir the fresh rosemary sprigs into the butter mixture and set aside.
Roast Potatoes
Preheat oven to 400°F | 205°C.
Place potatoes in a medium bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, and salt and pepper generously. Toss until the potatoes are well coated.
Spread the potatoes onto a baking sheet in a single layer. Distribute 3-4 rosemary sprigs and lemon slices evenly throughout potatoes.
Transfer the potatoes to the oven and roast for 20 minutes.
Stir potatoes on the tray and roast for an additional 20 minutes, or until they fork tender and browned.
When stirring the potatoes midway through roasting, try to work around the rosemary sprigs so that they don't break up too much. This will allow you to remove the crispy rosemary from the potatoes when they are done.
Remove potatoes from oven. Carefully lift out the dried rosemary sprigs. (You can also remove the roasted lemons if you want to: we usually leave them in.)
Place the roasted potatoes and lemons into a large mixing bowl. Using a mesh sieve, pour the honey-lemon butter from the bowl or jar evenly over the hot potatoes, and toss to coat. Discard any garlic or rosemary remaining in the sieve.
Garnish the roasted potatoes with fresh rosemary sprigs, and fresh lemon slices if desired.
FAQs & Expert Tips
Choose fluffy potatoes over waxy or starchy varieties. For sheet pan roasted potatoes, we recommend using Yukon Golds, Red potatoes, or similar varieties.
For rosemary roasted baby potatoes, look for ones about the size of a golf ball and no larger than a chicken egg
More Potato Recipes
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Rosemary Roasted Potatoes with Honey-Lemon Butter
Equipment
- 1 small mesh sieve
- 1 small canning jar or bowl
Ingredients
Roast Potatoes
- 2 pounds baby potatoes Yukon Golds or Reds
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil or canola oil
- 1 large lemon sliced
- 3-4 sprigs fresh rosemary
Honey-Lemon Butter
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
Honey-Lemon Butter
- Make the honey-lemon butter first, so that the fresh rosemary flavor has time to infuse into the mixture. In a small skillet over medium heat, melt the butter, whisking constantly until any foam subsides and the butter begins to turns light golden brown. Remove from heat.
- Pour melted butter into a small bowl or mason jar. Immediately whisk in minced garlic, honey, and lemon juice. Taste and season as desired with salt and pepper.Stir the fresh rosemary sprigs into the butter mixture and set aside.
Roast Potatoes
- Preheat oven to 400°F | 205°C.Place potatoes in a medium bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, and salt and pepper generously. Toss until the potatoes are well coated.Spread the potatoes onto a baking sheet in a single layer. Distribute 3-4 rosemary sprigs and lemon slices evenly throughout potatoes.
- Transfer the potatoes to the oven and roast for 20 minutes.Stir potatoes on the tray and roast for an additional 20 minutes, or until they fork tender and browned.When stirring the potatoes midway through roasting, try to work around the rosemary sprigs so that they don't break up too much. This will allow you to remove the crispy rosemary from the potatoes when they are done.
- Remove potatoes from oven. Carefully lift out the dried rosemary sprigs. (You can also remove the roasted lemons if you want to: we usually leave them in.)Place the roasted potatoes and lemons into a large mixing bowl. Using a mesh sieve, pour the honey-lemon butter from the bowl or jar evenly over the hot potatoes and toss to coat.
- Garnish the roasted potatoes with fresh rosemary sprigs, and fresh lemon slices if desired.Serve warm.
Notes
Nutrition
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Aimee Mars says
Tender on the inside and crispy on the outside! These are the perfect potatoes. They really go with anything and they're just so good.
Sara Welch says
Enjoyed these with dinner last night and they do not disappoint! Easy and delicious; the perfect pairing with dinner, indeed!
Alina says
This is such a comforting side dish idea for a good roast.
Michelle says
These are beautiful and tasty and just elegant enough for holiday dinner
Amy says
These potatoes were so delicious! I plan to make them again at Thanksgiving time!
Cara says
I love roasted potatoes, but it was the honey-lemon butter that put this recipe over the top for me! So delicious!