Greek potatoes with lemon & garlic

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Golden, garlicky Greek lemon potatoes. A taste of the Mediterranean and so easy to make! A delicious side dish for the summer or any time of year.

Sometime in the late nineties or possibly early noughties I visited a friend in New York for a few days. I’m sure we went to plenty of restaurants. However the only one I remember was his local Greek place that we had dinner in one evening. It was family owned and run, and a boisterous Greek mother was bustling around, keeping the staff in line and making sure that the diners had everything they could possibly want or need.

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Greek lemon potatoes

My memory of most of what we ate is pretty sketchy! But I do clearly remember the amazing garlicky Greek lemon potatoes. Crispy on the edges and fluffy in the middle, with a wonderful deep flavour of lemons and garlic. Eating them, we were transported to a Greek mountainside, with the fragrance of lemon trees and wild oregano…..

View looking across a Greek hillside to sunset over the Mediterranean sea.

Delicious leftovers

There were some lemon potatoes leftover, and the Greek mama packed them up for us to take home. Next morning, I stood in front of the fridge in my pyjamas and ate the whole box of Greek potatoes, cold, with my fingers. What a breakfast! I wonder if she would have approved…?

It’s all Greek to me…

It took me a while to recreate these Greek lemon potatoes at home, because I had to figure out just how to get my roasted potatoes so lemony and garlicky. After browsing various Greek food websites, it turns out the answer is simply to add loads of lemon juice and garlic!

What you will need to make Greek lemon potatoes

The ingredients for this delicious Greek potato recipe are very simple, and probably things you already have in your pantry or fridge. You will need:

Potatoes – of course!
Lemons
Olive oil – Greek for preference but any will do
Garlic
Oregano
Vegetable stock (I usually make it from powder)

You will also need an ovenproof baking dish with a lid, large enough to hold the potatoes in a single layer.

Delicious lemon flavours

To infuse that wonderful Greek lemon flavour, the potatoes are first marinaded in a mixture of lemon juice, herbs, garlic and stock. After they have absorbed some of the lovely flavours, the potatoes are cooked in a covered dish in the oven. Finally, the lid is removed to allow some of the liquid to evaporate, concentrating the lovely lemon and garlic liquid and enabling the roasted potatoes to brown a little at the edges.

Sweet Greek memories

These roasted Greek lemon potatoes came out almost exactly as I remembered – really lemony, really garlicky, soft and fluffy. Squash one with a fork and it will soak up some of the gorgeous juices. I ate far too many of them, and even DH ate more than I thought he would.

Greek lemon potatoes – a dishful of Summer!

We enjoyed these Greek potatoes as part of an al fresco dinner in the garden. The lemon and garlic turns a humble dish of potatoes into a wonderful side dish that’s perfect for summer and brings a ray of sunshine to your table at any time of year. You’re sure to remember them!

This made enough Greek lemon potatoes for the three of us with a few bits leftover. I’d say serves 2-3.

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