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Parmesan Crusted Potatoes make the perfect side dish. They bake open face down in parmesan cheese creating a delicious buttery, cheesy crust.
Parmesan Crusted Baked Potato Halves
I got this recipe from a friend when I was back in college. She insisted that I give it a try because it was a favorite in her family. I was blown away! The potatoes were so much better than I imagined! I now whip up a fresh batch of these potato halves whenever I get the chance. I personally love to eat these with a side of sour cream, as it provides a nice cool balance to the savory, piping hot potatoes.
These Parmesan Crusted Potato Halves are a perfect side dish for all kinds of meals. The outer crust is buttery and cheesy and the inside is tender and flaky and so full of flavor. Try these as an alternative to quick baked potatoes. They cook up fast on a baking sheet and are always tender on the inside, while crisp and buttery on the outside. This is a terrific side to make when you need to use up leftover potatoes. Dress them up with green onions or chives. Delicious!
The Parmesan Cheese
I rarely use the powdery grated parmesan cheese from a canister. When it comes to pastas and other Italian dishes, I always use fresh grated Parmigiano Reggiano. It’s just a high-quality choice. However, with this recipe, the powdery kind is the only way to go. It gives the potatoes a nice crispy crust. Fresh parmesan will melt differently and you won’t get the golden crispness these potatoes need. So for this recipe, embrace the plastic container of parmesan. The flavor is great and you will get perfect results every time.
Additions and Substitutions
These potatoes are fantastic as they are, but if you want to incorporate some additional flavors, try sprinkling any of the following on with the parmesan cheese before baking:
- red pepper flakes
- cayenne pepper
- onion powder
- thyme
- rosmary
- basil
- oregano
- fresh parsley
Tips for Parmesan Crusted Potatoes
- You can use parchment paper to cover the sheet pan but I have never needed it. With all the butter, the potatoes don’t stick.
- Place baking pan in the oven with the butter while the oven is pre-heating, until the butter melts.
- Place the potatoes cut side down on the baking dish.
- Sprinkle a little kosher salt over the skin side.
- Use a fork or a sharp knife to test if the potatoes are done before removing from the oven. The bottoms should be golden brown.
- Let the potato halves cool for at least five minutes before removing them from the pan. If you take them off the pan right out of the oven, the parmesan crust on the potato comes right off. Just give it a little time and then take them off – the crust sticks to the potatoes beautifully.
- Serve with a side of sour cream or Ranch Dressing in a bowl. Toss on some fresh chives.
How to Serve Parmesan Crusted Potatoes
Parmesan Crusted Potatoes are great on their own, but I especially love dipping them in a side of sour cream sprinkled with a little dried basil. Ranch dressing is also REALLY good! You can also make these with potatoes other than russets. I have made them with red potatoes and gold potatoes, and both turned out really good. Try these out for yourself and decide how you like them best!
Frequently Asked Questions
No, these cook up perfectly in the oven. No need to pre-boil.
Sure. If cutting potatoes ahead of time, be sure to store them in cold water in the fridge until ready to use- then thoroughly pat dry. This method will also get out some starch and increase crispiness but isn’t necessary.
Yes! No gluten in this recipe.
Store any leftover potatoes in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Re-heat in an air fryer, oven, or microwave.
What To Serve With Parmesan Crusted Potatoes
My husband always requests these crispy Parmesan Potatoes as a side dish to go along with whatever meat he is grilling. It’s nice because I can throw these in the oven while he is grilling and all the food is ready at the same time. Some of our favorite grill recipes that we serve up with the Parmesan Crusted Baked Potato Halves are our New York Steaks and our Kansas City Baby Back Ribs. Both are so yummy. And if you like grilled chicken you should definitely try our Grilled Malibu Chicken, Grilled Balsamic Chicken, and Grilled Coconut Curry Chicken.
The Best Potato Recipes
These Parmesan Crusted Potatoes have been such a huge hit with our readers, that we have included them in our “Best Potato Recipes Straight From Idaho” post! You will find ALL of our top reader favorites in this post as well. Try them all!
More Potato Side Dishes
If you love potatoes as much as we do, you should definitely try some of these other potato sides. Similar to how we make the Parmesan Crusted Potato Halves, we have our Coconut Pecan Sweet Baked Potato Halves. These are loaded with coconut and pecan pieces and have a scrumptious cinnamon marshmallow dip. In the savory potato category we have our Broccoli Cheese Stuffed Potato Skins and Cheesy Bacon Potato Skins. Both are awesome for appetizers and parties! If you like potato wedges and fries we have traditional Potato Wedges, Loaded Potato Wedges and Sweet Potato Fries with a Tangy Chipotle Lime Dip. If you are a potato salad lover, we have you covered! Both our Homestyle Potato Salad and Bacon Gorgonzola Potato Salad are so incredibly good.
Parmesan Crusted Potatoes
Video
Equipment
- Conventional Oven
- 9 X 13 inch Pan
Ingredients
- 6 small potatoes russet potatoes or yellow potatoes
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- garlic powder
- other seasonings to personal preference
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Melt butter and pour into a 9×13 inch pan and spread evenly across the bottom.
- Scrub potatoes and cut into halves along the widest part of the potato.
- Generously sprinkle Parmesan cheese and lightly sprinkle other seasonings all over the butter.
- Place potato halves face down on the butter and seasonings. Place in preheated oven and bake for 40 to 45 minutes.
- Cool for at least a FULL 5 minutes before removing from the pan, otherwise the parmesan crust won't stick to the potato.
- Serve on a plate with a side of sour cream or Ranch dressing for dipping.
I have recently tried this recipe and it turned really really good. My family loved it. I posted this recipe on my blog too. http://homecookingadventure.com/recipes/parmesan-roasted-baby-potatoes. Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe.
Planning on making these for tailgating. Has anyone baked them, then reheated for later? wanted advise if this would work?
They will probably taste best straight out of the oven, I would make them right before and try to keep them warm.
You could cook them in the micro wave for about 7 minutes, then finish them off on the bar-b-que later ( use a metal cake pan, and maybe cover with tin foil)
Delicious!! My husband, who does not ever like potatoes, LOVED them! Thank you thank you 🙂
I’ve made these about 5 times and they are AWESOME!! I had major potato cravings while pregnant and these totally hit the spot each time! Thanks!
These came out amazing! We spread a bit of cream cheese on top and it really kicked it up a notch. What a great recipe. Thanks! 🙂
We made these tonight. I could hardly wait, the recipe sounded divine. We used a metal pan which may have made them more dry.
I used a metal pan too and mine were perfect. What kind of potatoes did you use? I used red potatoes because they’re super moist and creamy. Idaho potatoes tend to be drier and starchier.
Made these last night for family. Had some leftover bacon grease that I added to the butter and used two cookie sheets and about 4lbs of potatoes slides length wise about 1/2 inch thick. Spices were dry ranch and Lowrys seasoned salt. AMAZING!!!!!! Thanks!!!!!
I just made these and they were delish!! I’m so glad I tried them and will be making again ASAP! They are so easy and a must try!
I made these tonight. They were delicious. I have a question though. My cheese/butter at the bottom was turning brown, the last 20 minutes I had to cover with foil. Do you use foil on yours? How do you keep it from browning too much if not?
It is supposed to turn a bit brown, the cheese around the potatoes will get a little more brown than the cheese under the potatoes.
I used a Pampered Chef stoneware casserole dish; they turned dark brown–next go round I am going to try using the glass dish instead.
I just realized i am out of garlic powder! Can I get away with using other ones and specifically which ones??
You can just leave it out and you would be fine.
I HAVE MADE THESE FOR YEARS. I USUALLY ADD BUTTER FLAVORED SALT. IT MAKES THEM ESPECIALLY TASTY 🙂
Mmmmm these look yummo…I’m not meant to have too much butter.. Can u recommend a substitute???
You could try a spray butter or cooking spray at the bottom of the pan, it won’t taste exactly the same, but would be a little more healthy.
Can you use a healthy butter substitute like Earth Balance? That’s pretty much all I use nowadays. I rarely buy real butter because Earth Balance is so damn good! 🙂
I don’t know, I have never used it. Try it and let me know how it works out!
could you use sliced potatoes? I have large potatoes and was thinking sliced would be easier for the kids to eat? anyone had any luck with just slicing versus the half potato?
I have done the half potato and cut it into smaller pieces for my kids after it is cooked. I am sure you could try it sliced too.
This looks amazingly delicious and I love the idea of having melted parmesan on potatoes!!
Do you use a metal pan or a glass?
A glass 9×13 pan
thanks for the beautiful and tasty recipe! Obrigado pela bela e gostosa receita!
Make them all the time!! Love them!!! Friends love them too! (I may have told a few of them that this was my own “original” recipe). Tee hee! Thanks
these are delicious! i made them for dinner tonight and my boys who don’t like potatoes ate them right up 🙂 i used mozzarella cheese because that’s what we had on hand and i seasoned them with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. we definitely be making again!
These were amazing!! My husband and 8 year old gobbled them up and my 8 year old actually asked me to make them again!!!