Until high school, one of my very favorite holidays was Lag BaOmer.
I loved gathering around the bonfire with friends, staying outside late into the night, the toasted marshmallows, and most of all — the potatoes left in the fire until they looked like charcoal.
Only when they were opened, in the very early hours of the morning, did they reveal a small, soft heart of potato inside. Together with the smoky flavor and blackened spots, it was the very best part of the holiday.
At some point, after the army, I understood a little better the damage bonfires cause — to the air we breathe, to the earth, to the ground that gets scorched. And I haven’t even mentioned the fires that get out of control and burn stretches of forest that are home to so many animals.
So I stopped. I stopped making bonfires, and I stopped enjoying the potatoes I loved so much.
Until I found this roasted potato recipe. It recreates that beloved flavor beautifully — the browned outer shell, the soft center. And it even has one advantage over potatoes baked in hot coals: very little of the outside burns, so you get more potato and less thick burnt layer that no one really eats.
And as for bonfires? You can always make a smaller fire together, instead of everyone building a giant one separately. It’s more social, and kinder to the environment and the land.
I tested out which potato works best here, especially for this recipe — one that isn’t watery or overly starchy, with a deep earthy flavor that turns almost confit-like in the oven. Soft, slightly sweet, and truly delicious.
I tried the white potatoes sold in the supermarket, the ones labeled for baking (usually Vivaldi, though it’s often hard to know which variety is actually in the bag), long Ratte potatoes (sold in markets and considered especially delicious and buttery), red potatoes (usually Désirée), and last but not least, Butter potatoes, which look similar in shape to the supermarket white potatoes but are less watery and taste closer to Ratte.
All of the potatoes went into the oven together and were removed as soon as they were ready (because of their different sizes, each potato needed a different baking time).
So which was the winner?
Ratte and Butter, by quite a large margin. It turns out there’s a reason they receive so much praise from the culinary community. They’re more buttery, they don’t leave the potatoes with hard pale areas, and most of all they are less watery and starchy.
What if you can’t find these? It’s better to use the white variety sold in the supermarket — just make sure to give them enough baking time, until the potatoes are deeply browned.
A Few Important Notes
– If you find potatoes still coated in soil, you’ve struck gold. Unwashed potatoes keep longer and are often fresher.
– Try to buy directly from farmers when possible. They’ll usually be fresher and tastier.
– Why bake on coarse salt? The salt helps draw out moisture and leaves the potatoes more earthy flavored.
– Why turn on the oven only after the potatoes go in? As the oven heats gradually, the potatoes begin warming and softening before the high heat browns them.
– Why lower the heat later? So the inside softens fully without the outside burning too much.
– No oil needed. We want browned, soft potatoes — not fried ones.
– Try not to open the oven door while baking, especially at the beginning. That trapped heat helps create the browned shell and lightly smoky flavor.
– By the way, this works beautifully with sweet potatoes too — just bake for half the time, since they cook much faster.
- Did you make these roasted potatoes? Looking forward to hearing (and seeing) how it turned out on Instagram!
