Cast Iron Spiral Skillet Potatoes

Cast Iron Spiral Skillet Potatoes. Crispy Cast Iron Potatoes, laid out in a spiral and roasted in the oven, make a show-stopping side dish.

The picture of spiral skillet potatoes jumped out at me while I binge watched Jeffrey B. Rogers The Culinary Fanatic videos about cast iron pans. (If you’re a cast iron fan, don’t start watching those videos unless you have a few hours with nothing to do.)

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• How to make Cast Iron Spiral Skillet Potatoes
• Substitutions
• Equipment
• Scaling
• Tips and Tricks
• Cast Iron Spiral Skillet Potatoes
• 💬 Comments

These potatoes look fantastic, and they taste even better. The kids are demanding them nightly - they love the crispy, almost potato chip edges that brown on the bottom of the skillet. (I only make these potatoes every other week, because crispy potatoes bathed in butter are not exactly health food. It does get them to eat the potato skins, so I guess there are some benefits.)

The spiral looks like a lot of work, but it’s easy to put together if you have a mandoline to do the thin slicing, or if your knife skills are impeccable. Now that I have the hang of spiraling the potatoes, I can slap this together in about five minutes flat. The trick is to take a big stack of potatoes, fan it out in your hand, and lay it in the pan, overlapping the last fan of potatoes. Repeat all the way around the edge of the pan until the outer ring is complete, then start the next ring. Repeat until the last ring fills the middle of the pan, and set one last potato slice in the middle. Then, go back and fill in any gaps with extra slices of potato. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, dot with butter, and it’s ready to go.

Ingredients

• Olive oil or vegetable oil
• Russet potatoes (aka Idaho potatoes)
• Butter
• Kosher salt (or fine sea salt)
• Fresh ground black pepper
• Shredded parmesan (optional)
  See recipe card for quantities.

How to make Cast Iron Spiral Skillet Potatoes

Arrange the potatoes in the pan

Turn the oven to 425°F. Coat the bottom of the skillet with the oil, then shingle the potatoes in a spiral around the pan. (If you have the time: using the larger potato slices on the outside and the smaller slices in the middle results in a more even spiral. For the sake of speed, I usually pick up each sliced potato, fan it out, and set it in as the next length of the spiral.) Sprinkle the potatoes with the salt and pepper, then dot with the butter.

Bake the potatoes

Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil (or an oven safe, tight fitting lid). Slide the pan into the oven and cook for 30 minutes, then remove the foil. (The potatoes should be cooked through - a poke with a paring knife should glide through the potatoes.) Cook the potatoes uncovered for another 25 minutes, or until slightly browned on the edges.

Broil the potatoes (optional)

Sprinkle the parmesan over the potatoes (if using). Turn the broiler to high and broil the potatoes until the parmesan and potatoes are crispy, moving the pan around every minute or two for even browning.

Serve

Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool for about five minutes, then carefully work a spatula under the potatoes, scraping them loose from the pan. I serve the potatoes by cutting them into wedges right in the pan, then serving a wedge of potatoes to each diner. Enjoy!

Substitutions

What kind of potatoes can I use?

Russet potatoes are best for this recipe, but it will work with most potatoes - I've made it with Yukon gold, and both red and white potatoes will work too.

Equipment

• 12 inch Cast iron skillet (I used a Lodge 12 inch skillet)
• Heavy duty aluminum foil to cover the pan (or a tight fitting lid)
• Mandoline for slicing (not absolutely necessary, but makes this recipe quick and easy)

Scaling

• Want a smaller serving? Use a 10.25 inch skillet and 1½ pounds of potatoes, and cut back the other ingredients by 25%. Or you can halve everything and squeeze it into an 8-inch skillet.

Tips and Tricks

• 2 pounds of potatoes was about 6 potatoes from a “five pound bag of potatoes” at my local grocery store
• If you have heat resistant fingers from years in the kitchen, or are the kind of cook who laughs at danger, heat the pan on the stovetop over low heat for a couple of minutes before you spiral in the potatoes. It gives the pan a head start on heating, and crisps up the bottom of the potatoes even more. I didn’t include this in the main recipe, because I don’t actually do it, even if it is a good idea. That one extra step is too much for me for some reason; I like the “arrange and slide into the oven” recipe as written.

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What do you think?

Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.

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