Spicy Potato Wedges, a delicious, vegan, and gluten-free side dish, baked in the oven until crispy on the outside and fluffy when bitten into. Flavourful and delicious, the whole family will love this recipe.
Health Benefits of Potatoes
Potatoes are high in carbohydrates which are necessary for long term energy. Potatoes are complex carbohydrates which are a necessary part of our everyday diet.
They also contain vitamin C, potassium (if you leave the skin on), vitamin B6, calcium, iron and dietary fiber. They don’t contain fat, sodium and cholesterol and are an excellent source of energy.
Ounce for ounce, the skin contains more nutrients — including the majority of the vegetable’s fiber — than the rest of the potato
Thanks to fiber, potatoes are good for your heart and blood system, scraping the cholesterol out of your blood vessels.
Vitamin C and B6, as well as minerals found in potatoes help you maintain healthy skin.
In addition to that, potatoes help you relieve high blood pressure, reduce internal and external inflammation, treat diarrhea and kidney stones.
If potatoes are so healthy, how come they have an “unhealthy” reputation?
The misconception of potatoes being unhealthy comes from cooking methods involving lots of oil like deep frying chips. But it has nothing to do with the vegetable itself.
Healthy Ways to Cook Potatoes
To benefit from all the nutrients potatoes provide it is recommended not to peel them. Just brush the dirt off with a brush and cut off any dark spots.
Avoid deep frying potatoes as most of the nutrients will disappear and you will end up with a lot of extra fat.
Baking a potato is the best way to prepare it, as baking, or microwaving a potato causes the lowest amount of nutrients to be lost.
The next-healthiest way to cook a potato is through steaming, which causes less nutrient loss than boiling which results in significant nutrient loss, as the water-soluble nutrients leach out into the water.
In a potato, those water-soluble nutrients include B-complex vitamins, vitamin C, potassium and calcium. As much as 80 percent of potatoes vitamin C may go down the drain if you boil them. The same thing can happen with peeled potatoes that are left to soak, a method used to stop darkening.
Spicy potato wedges ingredients:
- Potatoes: I used Rooster potatoes, but you can use any floury and waxy potato.
- Vegetable or sunflower oil: I use rapeseed oil to cook most of my dishes. However, any type of oil can be used.
- Onion powder: you can also use minced onion if you want, but I find onion powder more convenient.
- Garlic powder: Minced garlic tends to burn so use garlic powder.
- Paprika: I used sweet paprika but feel free to use smoked paprika if that is what you prefer. Any other spice will do, feel free to add your favorite ones.
- Seasoning: You can add additional salt and pepper to the wedges once they are baked.
It requires minimal prep: the only job here is slicing or cutting the potatoes and guess what?
You don’t need to peel them!
You don’t need to peel potatoes for potato wedges and that makes this recipe quick and easy to make. You don’t need to boil or soak this wedges before baking them too, what’s not to love?
How to make the best baked potato wedges ever:
▪︎Preheat the oven to 200C/390F. The wedges need to cook on high heat for the perfect crunch.
▪︎Start with selecting potatoes. For the baked potato wedges, my recommendation will be waxy potatoes with a low starch content like Rooster . They will hold their shape better than starchy kinds.
▪︎Make sure your potatoes are all roughly the same size.
▪︎Scrub the potatoes to get rid of dirt, dry with a kitchen towel and cut potatoes into wedges. Try and keep them to equal sizes as much as possible for even cooking. I like mine chunky, so I go for big potatoes.
▪︎Toss the wedges in the oil then season the potato wedges with the spices. Mix to combine until the wedges are well coated with the seasoning.
▪︎Transfer the seasoned potatoes to a lined baking tray on a single layer
▪︎Bake the potato wedges in the oven for 35 minutes. Flip the wedges over once during this time so both sides cook evenly. Bake the potato wedges until crispy (not burnt) and done on the inside.
How to cut wedges:
Start by cutting the potato lengthways, then cut the halves into two (so you have 4 pieces of potato).
Making the wedges crispy:
Spacing the spuds out, using a hot tray and flipping them half way will result in crispy wedges.
One thing to consider for crispy wedges is not letting them sit too long in the seasoning.
The longer the wedges rest in the seasoning before they’re baked, the more moisture the salt will draw moisture from the potato. This will increase the chance the wedges will steam instead of roast, which is not what we want.
CAN I FREEZE AND REHEAT THEM?
Yep! Just allow to completely cool then store in the freezer. Reheat from frozen until crisp again!
Freezing/Reheating – Allow to completely cool then store in the freezer in a ziplock bag. Bake from frozen at 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 until crispy/hot again (10mins or so).
Luckily, baking potatoes is also a healthy way to eat them and one of the most delicious as well!
Did you make this recipe? Take a pic and share it on Instagram with the hashtag #aveggiecooks and tag @aveggiecooks__. I would love to see it!
Spicy Potato Wedges
Ingredients
- 1 kg Potatoes (4 large potatoes)
- 2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil
- 1 teaspoon Paprika
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 teaspoon Onion Powder
- Salt and Pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200C/390F/Gas Mark 6
- Slice your potatoes into wedges. I find this easiest by halving the potato, then slicing those halves into 4. That's 8 wedges per potato but it depends on the size of the potato
- Add to a large mixing bowl and combine with vegetable oil, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and black pepper. Don't leave them sitting or the salt will draw moisture from the potatoes and cause them to go soggy.
- Space out wedges on tray or they'll steam and not go crispy. Bake for 35-40mins or until golden, crispy and very lightly charred. Flip once half way through and turn the tray. Timings will depend on size of wedges so just be vigilant.
- Check if need more seasoning and serve.
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