When summer comes, you often have everything set: a date, invitations, a BBQ meat recipe, drinks, and maybe a portable speaker for good music as you enjoy summertime with your loved ones. But you can agree with me that settling on a perfect side dish is a big challenge, as your mind races from grilled veggies to fresh salads, pasta salads, corn on the cob, and any other warm-weather-friendly meal.
Breathe a sigh of relief and consider that problem solved. This grilled baby potatoes recipe is exactly what you need for your grilled pork, turkey, beef, or even those fish fillets. Despite being a staple food for many households worldwide, potatoes are often disregarded and are mostly used for deep frying and mashing. But there are many ways to enjoy your potatoes, from oven-roasted fingerling potatoes to baked French fries, air-fried French fries, and, of course, these grilled baby potatoes.
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Grilling potatoes is a healthy way to enjoy this starchy vegetable. Despite being overlooked, potatoes have several health benefits. They provide nutrients like magnesium, are low in sodium and cholesterol-free, and are rich in fibre. It is how you cook them that determines whether they are healthy or unhealthy when consumed. That’s why you need a BBQ thermometer in all your cooking so that you can always cook your meals to the right internal temperatures.
While it is possible to grill any type of potato you come across at the market, the best for grilling are waxy-fleshed, thin-skinned varieties such as new potatoes, red potatoes, and Yukon Gold. However, Yukon gold baby potatoes win the jackpot because of their flavour and buttery texture, their ability to hold up on the grill, and their quick cooking time.
Tips on How to Make BBQ Baby Potatoes
- Parboiling – It’s possible to prepare your potatoes 24hours before the actual cooking time. This will save you 2 hours, down to about 45 minutes. Also, it will save you the disappointment of having burnt potatoes on the skin while waiting for them to cook inside. Use a kitchen thermometer to cook them to their right internal temperatures.
- Potato Cuts – Large potatoes the size of a tennis ball should be cut into ½-inch-thick rounds to produce grilled potato slices. If they are slightly smaller, cut them into quarters or halves. Also, since we aim for delicious, crispy, grilled baby potatoes, don’t remove the skin. For this recipe, we are using baby potatoes, which, as the name suggests, are small.
- Olive Oil – The use of olive oil plays a fundamental role in flavour by ensuring that the potatoes being roasted on the grill crisp and brown perfectly.
- Spice Blend – It is solely your choice to pick the spices you prefer, depending on your desired final flavour. For this recipe, we intend to use garlic-herb-flavoured potatoes as our final flavour. Our mixture will consist of garlic powder, oregano, and rosemary. Another option is a garlic/lemon combo or any other mixture of your choice.
- Grill Space – Make sure that the arrangement of your potatoes on the grill allows enough space for each potato to become crispy.
- Long Tongs – They will help you flip your grilled baby potatoes confidently and safely.
- Aluminium Foil – Potatoes covered with aluminium foil tend to cook well inside because no heat is lost. However, you should not cover them for long to prevent them from overcooking.
- Digital Food Thermometer – If there is a device that you should never forget when barbecuing, it’s a BBQ thermometer. It will help you in controlling temperatures from the beginning of your cooking to the end. Apart from causing foodborne illnesses, overcooked or undercooked food can affect the taste. Thus, you cannot afford to cook without it. We recommend using a Chefstemp Finaltouch X10 instant-read thermometer.
Ingredients
- 2 Pounds Yukon gold baby potatoes
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¾ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Freshly chopped herbs such as basil, rosemary, or any other for serving (optional)
