Fondant potatoes – or Melting Potatoes – are potatoes baked in a buttery herb infused broth so it absorbs the flavour and becomes meltingly tender inside. A restaurant-y way to cook potatoes that’s easy yet looks impressive! Excellent dinner party side dish.
Fondant potatoes aka Melting potatoes
Today’s recipe is a sublime example of turning the humble potato into a very fine-dining worthy potato side dish. Putting the shaping part aside (which is entirely optional, we’ll get to that), it’s incredibly straight forward. Just brown neat cylinders/thick wonky slabs of potato on the stove, add stock, thyme and butter then bake so it absorbs the flavour.
The result? Crispy edges, golden surfaces, creamy and flavoured all the way through inside, with intense herb infused-buttery sauce that’s thickened from the natural starches in the potato. This might be my favourite potato recipe of all time!
Ingredients in fondant potatoes
Here’s what you need to make fondant potatoes:
Potato type – All-rounder and floury / starchy potatoes are best because they absorb flavour better than waxy potatoes, and become beautifully fluffy and soft inside. The most common potatoes at regular stores should be fine – they’re stocked because they’re great all-rounders.
Australia – Sebago (the dirt brushed potatoes sold everywhere) are perfect, Desiree are great too. US: Russet, UK: King Edward.
Butter – Unsalted, cut into cubes so they melt evenly. If you don’t, some of the butter will likely burn before it all melts. This is for basting. We use oil for searing the potatoes (butter burns and doesn’t brown the potatoes as evenly).
Stock/broth – Chicken stock adds the best flavour in my opinion, because it has more savouriness than vegetable stock and is “cleaner” than beef stock. However, vegetable stock is the next best. Though really, this recipe will work with any type of stock.
Thyme – Fresh thyme sprigs work best to infuse the butter / stock with flavour. But you can substitute with dried thyme though you will end up with little thyme bits stuck on your potato.
How to cut fondant potatoes
Choose from pro level to easy – or skip it entirely! Just peel potatoes then cut into thick slabs. It will taste just as good!
GOAL SIZE & PREP
Goal: 8 cylinders that are ~ 6cm/ 2.4″ diameter, 3.5 cm / 1.4″ height, 2 each cut from 4 potatoes (ie cut 4 long cylinders then cut to size).
Trim base – For all methods, the first step is to peel the potatoes then trim a bit off the top and bottom so it stands upright. It just makes it easier to handle.
1. PRO-LEVEL CARVING
For knife masters! This is method will achieve the smoothest edges.
Lie the potato on its side then carve, peeling curved strips to make a cylinder shape.
Keep going, carving thinner and thinner slices until you have a uniform cylinder.
2. INTERMEDIATE: UPRIGHT KNIFE SHAVING
Stand the potato upright. Then cut thin slivers down, rotating as you go, until you have a cylinder shape with edges are as smooth as you can make them. At first, mine are a bit octagon-shaped. Then I just keep trimming thin slivers off the sharp edges to smooth it out.
TIP: Use the back of a knife (ie the non-sharp side) and scrape down the sides of the potato to make the walls neat.
3. eASY: POTATO PEELER
Use a potato peeler to shave strips off the sides, rotating as you go, to shape it into a cylinder as best you can. I find this a little more difficult to make a uniform cylinder shape than using a knife because I find I have less control over how much I shave off with each peel. Also, peeling straight is a little harder.
4. EASY: ROUND CUTTER
Use a 6cm / 2.4″ (or as close as possible) cutter to pop rounds out. The easiest way to do this is to cut 3.5 cm / 1.4″ thick slices then press a round out of each. If your cutter is not tall enough, then use a knife to help trim / pull the excess away (I demo this in the video).
5. JUST DON’T!!
Just cut the potato into 3.5 cm / 1.4″ thick slices and cook per the recipe. It tastes the same, the potato pieces just won’t be perfect rounds (unless you’re lucky!). You won’t need all the potatoes because your pieces will be bigger (unless you use smaller potatoes). Just use enough to fill the pan around the same amount as pictured. Don’t be tempted to squeeze more in because there won’t be enough stock to flavour the inside of the potatoes.
How to make fondant potatoes
Cutting part done, the cooking part is EASY!
Season – Toss the potatoes in a little oil with salt and pepper.
Brown potatoes – Then brown them on the stove using an oven-proof skillet. I use my 26cm / 10.5″ Lodge cast iron pan. It will take a good 6 to 8 minutes on each side to make them golden, on medium high heat. Move them around as needed to brown them as evenly as possible.
Butter – Add the butter and thyme, then spoon the melted butter over the potatoes.
Stock – Pour the stock in and let it come to a boil.
Bake – Transfer the skillet into the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender, basting the potato with the buttery stock at the 15 minute mark (ie spooning the sauce over the potatoes). In this step, the potatoes are absorbing the stock which flavours the inside and makes it “meltingly” soft.
Ready! At the end of the bake time, there should be virtually no stock left in the pan, just butter. Because potatoes can’t absorb fat. The butter will be slightly thickened thanks to the starch in the potatoes, making a glossy sauce that clings to the potatoes when you spoon it over.
To serve, transfer the potatoes to individual plates or a serving platter for people to help themselves. And pour over every drop of the buttery sauce!
What to serve with fondant potatoes
I feel like it would be easier to say what not to serve with fondant potatoes. 🙂 With the subtle thyme flavour, I wouldn’t serve this with Asian food. But without the thyme, it would be a delicious side dish for Char Sui Pork (Chinese BBQ Pork), Sticky Honey Soy Baked Chicken or a grand Miso Marinated side of salmon !
Asian food aside, this is an elegant, beautiful potato side dish for special occasions. It’s pictured in this post alongside steak with Béarnaise Sauce (it’s so easy!) with last weeks’ Garlic Peas. It would elevate a simple Chicken in Creamy Mustard Sauce to company-worthy, or add a luxurious side to a simple pan fried fish sprinkled with seafood seasoning.
You could also cook this in the oven at the same time as a roast chicken or a grand prime rib (standing rib roast). Just put the potatoes in for the last 35 minutes cooking time, factoring in the resting time. Err on the side of caution so the potatoes are done earlier because they can be reheated simply by popping the skillet back in the oven for 5 minutes (from room temperature, it will take longer from fridge cold).
Or, just do as I do and eat them by themselves. You know I did. The only question is, how many? TAKE A GUESS! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
OF COURSE Dozer got some!!! I just forgot to edit that in, concentrating too hard on getting the new-style video edits right. Everybody knows Dozer is the most food-spoiled dog in the world!!!😂
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Fondant Potatoes (Melting potatoes)
Ingredients
- 4 x 400g/14 oz large floury potatoes , peeled (Aus: Sebago (dirt brushed), US: Russet, UK: King Edward)
- 3/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tbsp / 50g unsalted butter , cut into 1cm / 1/2″ cubes
- 6 thyme sprigs (sub 1/2 tsp dried thyme)
- 1 cup chicken stock / broth , low sodium (or vegetable)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°C / 390°F (180°C fan-forced).
- Carve / cut each potato into cylinders ~ 6cm/ 2" diameter, 7 cm height. Then cut in half so you have 8 short cylinders 3.5 cm / 1.4" tall. See cutting method options below.
- Season – Pat potato dry. Place in a large bowl and toss with half the oil plus all the salt and pepper.
- Sear – In an ovenproof heavy based skillet (Note 2), heat the remaining 1 tbsp oil over medium high heat. Put the potato in and cook each side for 6 – 8 minutes or until golden.
- Cook – Add butter and thyme. Once melted, spoon the butter over the potato ("basting"). Add stock, bring to a boil then transfer to the oven and bake for 30 minutes until the potatoes are tender, basting at the 15 minute mark. The stock will be absorbed by the potato, leaving just butter.
- Serve – Baste one more time then serve! For a restaurant-y option, serve alongside steak with béarnaise sauce and buttered peas.
Cutting method options (see video for demo of each):
- Prep for all methods – Trim a bit off both ends so the potato stands upright. Once carved into a tall cylinder 6cm/ 2" diameter, at least 7cm/3" height, so we can cut into 3.5 cm / 1.4" tall pieces. Save leftover potato to make mash (keep in water to prevent turning brown).
- Pro method – Lie potato on its side and use a knife to carve around to form a cylinder.
- Intermediate (I do this)– Stand potato upright and use a knife to shave thin slivers down, rotating as needed, to carve into a cylinder. You can use a potato peeler for some of this too (just be a bit careful, less control).
- Easy – Use 6cm/ 2" (or as close as possible) wide cutters to press rounds out!
- Easy potato peeler – Use a potato peeler to shape as best you can, rotating as you go.
- Doesn't matter! – Just cut potatoes into 3.5cm / 1.4" thick slices! Even if your rounds are not so round, it will still taste delicious. Only cut enough to fill the pan, as pictured, else you'll have too much potato for the stock being used (flavour dilution),
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
More fabulous potato sides!
And some no-fuss Monday nights ones too. 🙂 (Like Easy Roast Potatoes).
Life of Dozer
Memories of ALL the food he got during the making of Dinner!
Can you tell us WHY they wouldn’t be good with beef?
Nagi, happy New year! What a great recipe. I made them to take to a family New Year’s dinner. Fantastic and everyone loved them. ❤️👏. Hugs to Dozer
Suggestions? how to keep warm after cooking 30min while cooking the beef tenderloin?
I just made these as a test run for Christmas dinner. They are off the charts delicious! Thank you Nagi!
A wonderfully worthy recipe for the Emperor of All Veg. So delicious! I made them using the “lazy” way and they are fabulous. I realized I needed to do a Manhattan strip roast to be on par with the deliciousness. Beef and potatoes FTW! 🏆👑🥇
Fabulous! I did a test run because I need to bring a side dish to a small dinner party. These are simple yet impressive.
I plan to try these with beef stock in the future – they remind me of the potatoes my mom made with brisket. She’d put them in the roasting pan for the last 30 – 40 minutes and the beef juice soaked in just like the chicken stock does in this recipe.
I disagree, this would not be great with beef
Can you tell us WHY they wouldn’t be good with beef?
I don’t know how I ended up replying to this bonkers comment about beef but I can’t delete it 🤷🏽♂️
My brushed potatoes, which should be all-rounders, ended up being extremely waxy, which just doesn’t work for fondant. It’s one of the great insults perpetrated by Australian supermarkets, who all seem to think a potato is a potato and none of us need or want to know which variety we are using. I’ll have another try tonight using red skinned and see how I go.
Excellent, easy to follow recipe. TIP: I cut my potatoes to thickness/height size and THEN peeled. Advantage: because I was peeling in a circle around the potato pieces, they were perfectly round without needing a trim. My potatoes were pretty clean anyway, so later I mashed the leftover pieces with their peel, which has a lot of taste and most of the vitamins.
These were melt-in-the-mouth buttery bites of heaven!
Why not just slice the potatoes? I don’t think bougie pretty round ones taste any better. I made these completely on the stovetop and it works, but turning them over midway can be tricky (they stick, be careful not to rip crispy part from centers.) 30 minutes covered on stovetop is probably too long- don’t burn them. Good alternative to roast potatoes if you don’t have an oven.
Read everything before you comment. The recipe literally states you can do that.
I have made melting potatoes before, following a different recipe where it was entirely made in the oven, flipping the potatoes every 15 minutes for an hour. It was good, but if I wasn’t careful, the potatoes would overcook and start to disintegrate. Let me just say that this recipe was WAY better! The potatoes were SO creamy inside and much more flavorful than I was expecting. I was afraid that I nearly burnt them searing the ends, but that was exactly what they needed to hold their form after putting them in the oven. The only thing I changed from the recipe as written was I used half thyme sprigs and half rosemary sprigs. Delicious!!
I rated 5 stars so hopefully my comment does not get deleted this time.
At what temperature do you set the oven to? I cannot find this information anywhere in the recipe or the video.
200°C / 390°F
Bought some potatoes to give this a go but the only floury one I could find on the day weren’t very big. Ended up making mini versions with just under four centimetre diameter. Brilliant! Was pleasantly surprised how much flavour they sucked up and they tasted great cold out of the fridge the next day as well. Very impressive result for relatively little work. Good on ya Nagi!
How perfect is this recipe for the holidays coming up!
Nagi I LOVE this new format video, so much! Thank you. Apart from you being able to impart more information this way, it’s really lovely to see you and your sunny personality (and Dozer of course!). I’ve been making your recipes for years now and I have your book (pre-ordered so I got it the day it dropped!) so I feel like I know you – your website is like coming home to me and it just got even better with seeing and hearing you in your videos. I know it’s a lot more effort but totally worth it from my end. Thank you once again for sharing your knowledge and yourself with us so freely, we all love you! 💕🐾
My husband described this as ‘mashed potato in a potato’. My 2 year old loved them too. A winner, thanks Nagi! I served them with your salmon patties (always with kewpie) and some green veg.
I made this last night according to directions and it tasted bland. Did I do something wrong? I don’t want to rate the recipe as the problem with it might be mine.
I don’t know what you used, but I made these initially with a boullion cube and they were kind of blah, but they’re much better with good stock.
I made these with good stock. I’m still not sold.
Heaven! Didn’t worry too much about the shaping, cooked to perfection. Deliciously moist but crunchy. Thank you x
Can I use rosemary as a sub?
Love this video. I thought the end part was hilarious. Poor Dozer… as if! Having been an avid fan for 6+ years, I know how much you love Dozer and that he gets to taste test everything you make that doesn’t have ingredients that could harm him. Thank you Nagi from the bottom of my heart. Knowing my meals will always taste good and the joy your food brings to my family is priceless. 💛