Marmite Roast Potatoes may not be for everyone, but if you’ve come this far, they may be the roasties you’ve been looking for! In fact this recipe could help you to make the perfect roast potato, full stop.
You may have just clicked on this recipe to express your disgust. After all, Marmite is the “Love or Hate” ingredient and has divided numerous people in previous recipes we’ve made.
But, if you like Mamrite as much as I do (Phil), you are in for a savoury treat!
What are Marmite Roast Potatoes?
This isn’t like Marmite on toast; each of our Marmite Roast Potatoes isn’t smeared with a massive dollop of Marmite.
Marmite Roast Potatoes are fantastic roasties whose crispy exteriors have a hint of the savoury tang that makes Marmite so unique.
In this recipe, Marmite provides roast potatoes with an extra kick rather than a full-frontal attack on the taste buds. It provides a savoury, umami flavour that perfectly matches the taste of the classic roastie.
This subtle, savoury flavour works perfectly with any roast dinner and will bemuse your friends and family. They’ll love the potatoes but won’t be able to tell you what made them so special.
They’re that good; a spoonful of Marmite goes a long way.
Where do Marmite Roast Potatoes come from?
We’re not sure exactly where the idea for this recipe comes from. It certainly isn’t unique to us! Chances are Sonja saw it on social media somewhere and mentioned it since I’m one of those people who will have marmite with everything!
We’ve recreated it using our favourite roasties recipe!
What is Marmite?
The star of Marmite Roast Potatoes isn’t actually Marmite. It plays only a small part in the story of the fantastic roastie! However, some may not know exactly what we’re talking about, and it can be a little confusing, so here’s a brief description of the black stuff.
Marmite is a thick, dark brown/black spread made from yeast extract. It was the happy accident of a scientist in Germany who found that a byproduct of brewing beer tasted terrific. How he found this out is not precisely known, but it must have been an odd day…
Soon after, the Marmite Food Company was established in Burton on Trent, England, and Marmite has been made there ever since.
We’ve used it before in our Marmite Cheese Scones recipe, as it goes so well with cheese.
Sonja would like it pointed out here that New Zealand has its own Marmite, which is similar but different from the British version.
The flavour is similar to that of its British cousin, although the UK version includes more sugar and caramel. We could debate the merits of each, but you can use either in this Marmite Roast Potatoes recipe. NZ Marmite is less runny and a bit stronger, so you’ll need to account for that.
And the UK one is miles better…
What are Roast Potatoes?
We tend to name things very simply here in the UK; roast potatoes, unsurprisingly, are potatoes that are roasted.
The way they are roasted, though, is always up for debate. Typically, they are placed in the oven while the meat of a roast dinner is cooking.
But potato preparation involves all sorts of questions: Do you parboil them? Do you peel them? What fat do you coat them in? Do you pre-heat the oven tray?
All these questions pop up in a conversation about roast potatoes; every family has its preferred method. We even know some people who don’t roast them at all, preferring to deep fry them.
Ultimately, like stovies, a full Scottish breakfast and mince and tatties, recipes vary from family to family. Here, we’ll show you how we do it and how best to ensure that the marmite flavour sings!
What Potatoes Are Best for Marmite Roast Potatoes?
Who knew there were so many types of potatoes? Not us until we started investigating for this post…
It turns out that different types of potatoes are best for different things. For example, potatoes with higher starch, sometimes referred to as more “floury,” are best for roasting. This is because they tend to have a low moisture content, so they fluff up in the middle and crisp on the outside.
In the UK, this would generally be Maris Piper or King Edwards potatoes, among others. In the USA, it’s often Russet potatoes, and in Canada, Yukon Gold is popular.
What Fat is Best for Marmite Roast Potatoes?
Roasting potatoes requires some fat to coat them and help them crisp up on the outside. As we mentioned, everyone tends to use whatever suits them best!
Duck fat is popular in the UK but obviously doesn’t suit vegetarians. Butter and oil are also popular, and we actually like to use a combination of both.
Should you Parboil the Potatoes?
To parboil means to partially cook. Basically, you boil the potatoes for 5-10 minutes before you put them in the oven.
There are a couple of reasons you might want to do this. First, it reduces the cooking time in the oven, which is useful when you’re cooking lots of potatoes at once, as you often are with roast potatoes. Second, it helps them crisp up, which, as we mentioned, is often considered to be the best thing for roast potatoes!
Alternatively, you can toss the potatoes in the fat and cook straight in the oven.
Things you’ll need to make Marmite Roast Potatoes
- Large baking tray with a lip on the side to hold in the melted fat
- Large pot to boil the potatoes in
Ingredients for Marmite Roast Potatoes
- 1.5kg Maris Piper Potatoes (or your choice!)
- 50g salted butter
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- 1-2 tbsp Marmite
How to make Marmite Roast Potatoes – Step-by-step method
Peel your potatoes and slice them into a uniform size. We like them to be around the size of half a satsuma.
Preheat the oven to 180C/356F.
Bring them to the boil on the stove for 5-10 minutes. We tend to do the longer time.
Take them off the boil and drain. Allow them to air dry a bit and shake them in the pot so some of the edges fluff up.
Put the butter and oil on a baking tray and put it in the oven so they heat up.
Remove and add the Marmite, stirring it into the oil/butter mix. I tend to use two teaspoons, one to measure out a heap of Marmite and the other to scrape it off, then stir them both through. We like to go heavy on the Marmite, but it’s up to you!
Carefully place the potatoes on the tray and turn them so they’re coated in the oil/butter/Marmite mix.
Roast in the oven for 30-45 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes. Turn at least once.
For extra crispiness, turn up to 200C/400F for the final 5 minutes.
Serve and enjoy!
Tips and Tricks for the Perfect Roast Potato
Things we think make roast potatoes even better:
- Cut them to equal size
- Parboil
- Leave them to steam so they dry out a bit more
- Heat the tray and melt the fat first so the potatoes sizzle when you put them in it
- We prefer them with an onion or beef-based gravy
Perfect Marmite Roast Potatoes Recipe
You either love or hate Marmite, but we think these Marmite Roast Potatoes will make a convert out of anyone!
Ingredients
- 1.5kg Maris Piper Potatoes (or your choice!)
- 50g salted butter
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- 1-2 tbsp Marmite
Instructions
- Peel your potatoes and slice them into a uniform size. We like them to be around the size of half a satsuma.
- Preheat the oven to 180C/356F.
- Bring them to the boil on the stove for 5-10 minutes. We tend to do the longer time.
- Take them off the boil and drain. Allow them to air dry a bit and shake them in the pot so some of the edges fluff up.
- Put the butter and oil on a baking tray and put it in the oven so they heat up.
- Remove and add the Marmite, stirring it into the oil/butter mix. I tend to use two teaspoons, one to measure out a heap of Marmite and the other to scrape it off, then stir them both through. We like to go heavy on the Marmite, but it's up to you!
- Carefully place the potatoes on the tray and turn them so they're coated in the oil/butter/Marmite mix.
- Roast in the oven for 30-45 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes. Turn at least once.
- For extra crispiness, turn up to 200C/400F for the final 5 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy!
I find that “par-boiling” in a microwave is better than stovetop (actually boiling) as you get a more uniform cooking throughout the potato and they dont absorb any of the boiling water (because there is none)
depending upon the power of your uwave, and the number of pots … somewhere between 6-10mins will be enough to cook them – then let them cool before roasting…
YUM!
I might also mention that some diced bacon or pancetta and some coarse salt and rosemary also adds to the flavour!
you can also “partially flatten” each potato with a masher which gives them crispier edges too!