Roasted Potatoes (TikTok)

TikTok user Jeremy Scheck's viral crispy potato recipe. The 20-year-old's video clip has garnered nearly 20 million views and 1.7 million likes and counting. Scheck's method is smart, scientifically informed, and incredibly delicious. These "Internet-Famous Crispy Potatoes" were actually inspired by a classic British technique. In fact, this recipe is more about the technique than the particular seasonings, so feel free to explore with what you have on hand. You don't have to use Old Bay if you don't have it. The main flavour it adds is actually from celery seeds. These crispy potatoes would also be amazing with Indian spices and cilantro.

What makes this crispy potato recipe so good?
Leave the peels on for a great crunch. Make sure to clean the outsides well, but the skin tastes so good and it's a pain to peel. Why bother? Boiling the potatoes in very salty water helps the potatoes absorb some of the salt on the inside, enhancing the flavour throughout. Roughing up the potatoes after boiling increases the surface area, giving them more places to get crispy. Leaving the potatoes in the oven turned off at the end is my mom's special trick to get them extra crispy. She discovered it by accident just from making them an hour or so before dinner and leaving them in so they didn't get cold. We found they got so much crispier.

2-4 lbs Yukon gold or redskin potatoes
large handful kosher salt, for water
olive oil or goose fat

Suggested Seasonings:
fresh rosemary
old bay
Maldon salt
black pepper
cayenne pepper
sweet Hungarian paprika
garlic powder

Garnish:
chopped fresh parsley or dill

Preheat your oven to 450°F (230°C/210°C fan, Gas Mark 8).

Clean and cut the potatoes into your desired size and place them in a pot of cold water. Add a handful of salt and bring to a boil. Cook 10-15 minutes, until they are almost fork-tender.

Drain the potatoes and use a spoon to rough-up the edges of them. This increases the surface area, which will give them more places to get crispy.

Transfer the potatoes onto a half-sheet pan. Drizzle with the oil and seasonings. Make sure everything is lightly but evenly coated in the oil and seasonings.

Roast for 15-25 minutes (every oven is different so go by appearance not by a timer) and toss the potatoes around a couple times while they roast.

When the potatoes look near perfectly crispy, turn off the oven and let them sit in the oven with it off for 10-15 minutes. Finish with fresh, tender herbs such as dill or parsley.

These crispy potatoes have amassed almost 20 million views between the two times I posted them on TikTok. They really seem to have taken the internet by storm.

This is more about the technique than the particular seasonings, so feel free to explore with what you have on hand.

You don't have to use Old Bay if you don't have it. The main flavour it adds is actually from celery seeds. These crispy potatoes would also be amazing with Indian spices and cilantro. 

A similar recipe has been popularized by J. Kenji López-Alt, although I had personally never seen it until after people noted the similarity.

What makes this crispy potato recipe so good?
Leave the peels on for a great crunch. Make sure to clean the outsides well, but the skin tastes so good and it's a pain to peel. Why bother?

Boiling the potatoes in very salty water helps the potatoes absorb some of the salt on the inside, enhancing the flavour throughout.

Roughing up the potatoes after boiling increases the surface area, giving them more places to get crispy.

The seasonings are totally flexible, so you can really change it up.

Leaving the potatoes in the oven turned off at the end is my mom's special trick to get them extra crispy. She discovered it by accident just from making them an hour or so before dinner and leaving them in so they didn't get cold. We found they got so much crispier.