Roast potatoes without parboiling

[Baconking]

I was watching John & Lisa's kitchen yesterday and they were doing a tray bake Christmas Dinner.

I always par boil my potatoes/veg but they didn't and just put all the veg in to roast for an hour.
I'm tempted to give it a go to save on pot washing...has anyone tried this?
Does the veg all cook through and not burn on the outside?

I like to do the veg prep on Xmas eve - can I oar boil on Xmas eve? I assume they'll just go black?

You can par boil them a day ahead, just put them in cold water after & leave them there overnight and rinse & dry them before roasting.

Thanks all.

Maybe I should have put this post in AIBU so I could have voting turned on

Think I will par boil as that's what I usually do and I don't want to ruin the best part of my dinner!

What about carrots and parsnips...can they be roasted from raw?

I roast everything from raw. It tastes bloody marvellous.

ReviewingTheSituation we do this too, life changing. I'm sure they cook at least as quickly as from fresh, possibly quicker (i think they crisp up more quickly). Great to be able to spontaneously produce roasties in about 30 mins.

When frozen I pour goose fat or oil into the bag and shake thoroughly - the oil coats them and freezes.

I do these for my toddler when I'm doing a quite roast dinner for her (it's her fave but sometimes not what we have!) They're fine, need plenty oil and longer cooking but they don't go gnarly and crisp, they're more like chips. Not for Christmas dinner if you ask me, roasties are not negotiable if you ask.me.

Sorry, parsnips are also better par boiled first, they're softer that way.

Carrots don't need it though.

I parboil the parsnips with the potatoes because if I’m doing the spuds anyway I might as well.

I don’t parboil parsnips, but I do cut them into quarters and toss them in oil and a drizzle of honey.

What heinous crime is this????

To get that crunch there is no other way.... boil them for longer than you think cook kite than ever you would think

Omg I cannot believe that people are even believing this is Not a way of roast potatoes 🥔 😂😃

Parboil and shake in semolina a la Nigella then roast in goose fat. I do like potatoes in a tray bake but it's not for Christmas dinner.

My ex made the best roast potatoes. Part boil, rough them up slightly when draining, smother in duck fat snd roast. The outside will get crispy, inside fluffy

I used to skip parboiling but they're definitely not as good. Parboil then a good shake in the colander.

I steam mine and then roast. I don't peel mine (if they have the light skins) and they are lovely.

My mum sticks them in under the chicken from raw and then when there's about 40 mins to go she moves them to a separate tray and pours all the fat out over them and roasts them in that.

Parboil or not, my roasters stick like hell to the tin so are mushed and ruined when removed.

I've also never done a decent roast parsnip - and I love them
So much!

Help!

Yes but don’t. You need to parboil to get the inner fluffy. It also makes the outside more crispy when you shake your parboiled potatoes about in the pan before roasting (in goose fat)

I don’t parboil. Cut them up, put in a bowl with a pinch of paprika, sea salt, mixed herbs and oil and shake it up. They are lovely, we had them tonight. Same seasoning works brilliantly to make them as big fat chips.

I grew up eating roast potatoes that went straight in the tin. Then I moved to England and watched my MIL parboil them. What a revelation! So crispy outside and fluffy inside. Beautiful.

I' slightly amused that n one has mentioned how different varieties of potatoes work or don't work.

For roasts Maris Piper of Wilja are my favourites. Vivaldi are useless, but great for mash.

par-boil, take off heat, carefully add half teaspoon of baking soda to water, back on the boil for last 3-4 mins then drain and take them out and rough them up with your preferred coating of choice before popping in oven and doing your oil/fat thing. Crispy every time.

P.S. Don't add the baking soda to on heat boiling water, that's just a mess waiting to happen.

@sashh

I' slightly amused that n one has mentioned how different varieties of potatoes work or don't work.

For roasts Maris Piper of Wilja are my favourites. Vivaldi are useless, but great for mash.

I always read that Maria Piper's are best for roasting but I find they fall to pieces after par boiling

You're probably boiling them too long? They shouldn't be like edible boiled potatoes by the end, but still hard.

For a standard Sunday roast I will often put raw spuds into the oven. They're fine, still perfectly nice, but not as good as when they have been parboiled for a few minutes first.

You just want to soften the edges not the whole potato.

If they are falling apart they are in water too long or are cut up too small.