Recipes for Roast Potato Lovers

You can’t go wrong with roast potatoes. A side dish you can always rely on to steal the show, the perfect batch comes crispy on the outside and irresistibly fluffy in the middle. While they can be quite high on calories when they’re prepared with lashings of oil or fat, our roastie-inspired dishes find clever ways to keep things slimming friendly without compromising on signature crispiness. 

From curries through to traybake dinners, there are plenty of delicious ways to serve roast potatoes, outside of a Sunday roast. 

If you’re a roast potato fanatic, now’s your cue to grab a pen and your Family Meal Planner – there’s no shortage of inspiration for your midweek menu here!

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Roast Potatoes

We can’t get the ball rolling without classic Roast Potatoes. A humble household favourite, our simple slimming-friendly spuds never fail to impress. You won’t find any high-fat oils or butter in our recipe! You’ll only need spuds, salt and low-calorie cooking spray. 

The trick is to keep an eye out while they’re crisping up in the oven; if your roasties are starting to look a bit dry, refresh them with a spritz or two of low-calorie cooking spray.

You’ll only need a couple of coatings before they’re the familiar gorgeous, golden brown you’re after.

Just imagine their crunchy, fluffy-in-the-middle deliciousness with a plateful of Roast Beef and Gravy. If you’re looking for ways to cut the calories in your favourite roast dinner trimmings, without losing flavour, our guide to making the ultimate Pinch of Nom Sunday Roast is here.

Pesto Roast Potatoes

The beauty of roast potatoes is that they’re so delicious to begin with, you don’t need fancy ingredients or overcomplicated coatings to take them to the next level. Take our delightfully simple Pesto Roast Potatoes as a perfect example.

Once your potatoes are boiled, fluffed up and ready to bake (in the oven OR air fryer), toss them in a moreish coating of time-saving, ready-made pesto. 

To make them extra-tasty and tangy, drizzle lemon juice mixed with the remaining pesto over the top and mix well, just before serving.

Floury potatoes like Maris Piper or King Edward are best suited for this recipe, as they’ll crisp up nicely while remaining fluffy inside. If you’re not sure how best to use the potatoes you have at home, our guide on Different Types of Potato and How to Cook Them might be able to help. 

Roasted Potatoes with Herbs and Lemon

While hearty, gravy-coated roasties are the order of the day on chillier evenings, our Roasted Potatoes with Herbs and Lemon feel a bit more summery. Coated in a Mediterranean-inspired, citrus and garlic coating, they pair like a dream with aromatic meat or fish dishes, like our Chicken Souvlaki and Tzatziki. 

A little bit different from ordinary roasties, you’ll find that these zesty spuds are very lightly crisp around the edges. That’s because they’re braised and softened before baking in a herby, lemon and garlic stock, to guarantee that their centres are rich with flavour.

While we’ve used fresh oregano, rosemary and thyme, you can make the most of your spice rack and use dried herbs for this recipe.

Roasted Potatoes with Smoked Bacon

If you’re a bacon fiend and you’ve never tried our Roasted Potatoes with Smoked Bacon, this is your sign to change that tonight. A mild, family-friendly way to change up the flavours, you can trust that the added savoury bacon pieces and paprika seasoning will go down a storm.

Bacon medallions are leaner and lower in fat than alternative cuts, like streaky rashers or back bacon, so you can rest assured adding them won’t take you off track. Thanks to leaner ingredients and store cupboard staples, each portion comes in at just 175 calories.

We love them year-round, but they’re an especially good idea for a festive spread!

Sausage Traybake

When you’re tired and not sure what to make for dinner, get our Sausage Traybake on the go. The oven does most of the hard work for you, transforming potatoes and any other stray vegetables you might have lying around into an effortless, filling, midweek dinner.

As well as potatoes, we’ve roasted our reduced-fat pork sausages together with apple wedges, to really make the most of an undeniable classic flavour combination.

The real magic is in our garlicky, honey and mustard glaze. It’s low on calories and jam-packed with flavours, making sure every ingredient on your plate arrives aromatic and juicy.

Lemon and Garlic Chicken Traybake

Once the roasties in our Lemon and Garlic Chicken Traybake have soaked up all the flavours, they really are to die for. We’ve crisped them to perfection alongside a bed of tender chicken thighs, Chantenay carrots and green beans.

To give your traybake a zesty kick, squeeze a lemon over the carrots and potatoes, and season with salt and pepper.

Flavoursome for so little fuss, it’s also nice and light at 355 calories per serving! While we’ve used lemons to infuse our dish with citrusy goodness, there’s nothing to stop you using limes, if you’d prefer.

Saag Aloo

Potatoes are a staple on an Indian-inspired menu, for very good reason. The star of wholesome side dishes like Saag Aloo, you’ll find that our version of the classic leafy green side dish is far lighter than the restaurant alternative, at 201 calories per serving.

Half of the ingredients list is made up of dried spices you’ve probably already got at home, including punchy ginger, coriander and chilli powder. 

As well as aromatic, Punjabi-style spices, our potatoes are tossed together with chopped onion and zingy lime juice. The traditional version of this dish comes higher in calories as the potatoes tend to be deep-fried and coated in ‘ghee’, a South Asian butter. We’ve oven-baked ours in a coating of low-calorie cooking spray, and you’d never taste the difference!

Spicy Pork and Roast Potatoes

A roast potato one-pot wonder, our Spicy Pork and Roast Potatoes is a fakeaway menu must-try. Ordering from the takeaway can be tempting if you can’t bear the thought of washing piles of pots, and this dish takes that away altogether – you can chuck all of the ingredients into one generous casserole dish!

To add restaurant-inspired nuttiness for fewer calories, we’ve seasoned our pork in a reduced-fat peanut butter powder infused sauce.

The moreish, crunchy texture always has us coming back for more, and there’s no shortage of that with crispy roast potatoes, al dente broccoli florets and sesame seeds in the mix.

Chicken Dopiaza with Cumin and Roast Potatoes

Continuing the Indian-inspired fakeaway night theme, our Chicken Dopiaza with Cumin Roast Potatoes is another one that’ll scratch your roast potato itch. Whether you peel your potatoes or leave the skins on, they’ll be the firm, garlicky heart of your feast.

To remove the calorie-laden oils you might get from restaurant versions, we’ve prepared our dopiaza sauce from scratch, using a simple combination of slimming-friendly ingredients.

You won’t believe it’s as light as 391 calories per serving, roast potatoes included!

The full recipe is on pages 132-133 of our second cookbook, Pinch of Nom: Everyday Light. You can order a copy here.

Are you ready to tuck into roast potatoes?

We’d love to know which of our roast potato dishes you’ll be rustling up first! Share your pictures with us over in our Facebook group – nothing makes us happier than seeing your lovely posts!

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