One small tweak makes all the difference.
For a long time, my roasted potatoes didn’t quite live up to my own expectations. They were always fine—perfectly edible, sometimes very good—but never consistently crisp in the way roasted potatoes should be. I wanted those golden potatoes with a pillowy inside and almost crackling exterior. No matter what I tried, I just couldn’t seem to hit that target.
I’d attempted all the obvious fixes: more oil, less oil, a mixture of oil and butter, higher heat, lower heat, different pans, giving them more space. Some of those techniques helped a little, but still didn’t yield what I was looking for. Then I came across a tip that involved how the potatoes are prepped, not how they’re cooked. Turns out that my potatoes were missing baking soda!
Why Baking Soda Makes Potatoes Extra Crispy
Because potatoes are dense and take time to cook through, many roasted potato recipes start with a quick parboil, especially for larger chunks or starchier varieties. Smaller or waxier potatoes are often roasted straight from raw, but the parboil is what really determines the final texture.
What I hadn’t realized is that not all parboils are doing the same job. In most cases, you’re just cooking the potatoes through enough so they’ll roast evenly later. But there’s a way to use that step to set up the texture you actually want. Adding a small amount of baking soda to the water raises its pH, making it more alkaline. That shift encourages the outer layer of the potatoes to break down more readily as they cook. Instead of smooth, clean edges, you end up with potatoes that look slightly rough around the surface.
That breakdown releases starch, creating a thin coating on the outside of each piece. In the oven, that coating is what turns deeply golden and crisp, while the interior stays soft and fluffy. The coating ends up behaving a bit like a light dredge—except it’s built right onto the potato. Texture-wise, the potatoes will turn out crispier than fries but not as crunchy as smashed potatoes.
How to Make Extra Crispy Potatoes at Home
Start by bringing a pot of well-salted water to a boil, then add about 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda per 2 quarts of water. Add your potatoes and cook them until the outsides are tender but the centers still have some structure.
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