We may earn a commission when you click on the affiliate links in this post.
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
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.
Very easy recipe. I used fresh grated Parmesan cheese with garlic powder and they were delicious. Put chives and parsley on top when done and ate with a little sour cream. Delicious.
Yum! Thank you for your comment and 5-star rating. These potatoes are seriously my favorite and I make them all the time – I’m glad you like them too.
Love these so much! Can I make them ahead of time and store in the fridge?
They will taste best fresh out of the oven, but you can refrigerate them and reheat them in the oven, air fryer or microwave within a few days. Thanks for asking!
Definitely will make these again. Dinner for 10. Everyone loved them. BUT – didn’t crisp up. the cheese, milk, mixture did get into the potatoes a good bit so very flavorful. The chesse went around the edges during cooking so used those crisps while serving.
This recipe calls for Parm.. I used Peccorino Romano which should a great sub. Next time I might cook the same but finish with a quick trip in the broiler with some extrat cheese topping.
I did cook in a glass dish.
It might be the cheese, I’m not sure what happened. You also need to let them cool in the pan a good 5 minutes before removing.
Can you use margarine instead of butter?
I would not recommend using margarine. I don’t think the parmesan will stick as well.
Delicious! My Mother in law and I keep exchanging this recipe back and forth, this is a keeper for sure. 🙂
So glad you liked it, this is one of my favorite potato sides.
I have made these several times and they are easy and delicious.
100% let them rest bc I didn’t one time and the Parmesan didn’t adhere to the potato.
Making them again tonight.
Thanks for the comment, yes it definitely makes a difference if you can be patient and let them rest for a few minutes.