Parsley Potatoes

Parsley Potatoes is a simple 3 ingredient side dish that delivers on flavor! This recipe for buttered red potatoes is super easy to make and pleases the pickiest of eaters! 

Parsley Potatoes makes a great side dish for Stuffed Meatloaf, Oven Roasted Chicken Breasts, or Chicken Marsala.

Parsley potatoes have to be one of the easiest ways to prepare potatoes ever! This simple recipe for buttered red potatoes is nothing glamorous, but yet everyone loves them!

In fact, growing up, my mom made these buttered parsley potatoes at least once a week. They were so easy for her to throw together AND my picky family of 6 loved them.

Honestly, I am not sure why I waited so long to share this simple recipe with you. While Parsley Potatoes are extremely basic, they are also perfection. Creamy, buttery, and finished with a burst of freshness from the parsley, this recipe for red potatoes makes a perfect side dish for your family meals!

Notes on Ingredients

• Red Potatoes--Red potatoes are the perfect potato to use for parsley potatoes. They are high in moisture, but lower in starch, so they hold up well when they are boiled. You can use baby red potatoes, small red potatoes, or larger red potatoes. If using baby red potatoes you will not need to chop. Otherwise, dice up the red potatoes into equal size chunks, about 1 and ½ to 2-inch chunks.
• Butter--You can't make buttered potatoes without butter! The butter melts over the boiled potatoes and forms a creamy, nutty coating for the potatoes. I recommend using unsalted butter so that you can control the sodium yourself.
• Parsley--Fresh parsley adds a bright freshness to simple buttered potatoes. Curly or Italian parsley are both suitable for this potato recipe. I do not recommend dried parsley, as the dish will be missing the bright fresh herbs provide for this dish.

Tips to Perfectly Boil Potatoes

There is a right way and a wrong way to boil potatoes of any kind. While incredibly simple there are a few things to keep in mind when boiling potatoes.

• Be sure the potatoes are all the same size. This will ensure the potatoes will cook evenly. If your potatoes are not the same size, one potato will be overcooked and one will be under-cooked--neither pleasant.
• Use cold water. If you want your potatoes to cook evenly, you need to use cold water, not warm water.
• Use enough water. Be sure to fully cover your potatoes in water by at least 1 inch. This again helps to ensure all the potatoes will cook evenly.
• Use the right size pot. Be sure your stock pot or saucepan that is at least 6 quarts. You want there to be several inches between the level of water to the top of the pan, to leave plenty of room for the starchy water to boil up.
• Heavily salt the water. Just like pasta, it is best to heavily salt the water to season the potatoes as they cook.
• Simmer Potatoes. Start the potatoes over high heat. Once the water comes to a rapid boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the potatoes are tender. Do NOT be tempted to boil the potatoes over high heat the entire time to speed up this potato recipe, the potatoes will break down too much under a rapid boil.
• Cook until knife tender. The potatoes are ready when a paring knife easily slides through the potato. I find this is a more accurate way to determine that a potato is tender than using a fork.
• Drain Completely. Once you drain the boiled potatoes in a strainer, it is best to return them to the hot pan and place over low heat for a minute or two. This allows all the water to evaporate and lets the butter coat the potatoes evenly.

How to make Parsley Potatoes

• Prepare potatoes by scrubbing clean, pat dry, and cut, if needed, into 1 and ½ to 2-inch chunks.
• Place potatoes in a pan and cover with water. Add salt to the water.
• Bring the water to a rapid boil and then reduce heat to medium and simmer until the potatoes are tender about 15-18 minutes.
• Drain the potatoes and return to the warm pan.
• Place the pan over low heat and cook for 1-2 minutes, to let any remaining water fully evaporate. If using an electric stove, just place it back on the burner you used to boil potatoes, that will be enough heat to evaporate the water.
• Add in the butter in slices and minced parsley and gently toss to evenly coat the potatoes.

Recipe Notes

• Dairy-Free: While I also call these Parsley Potatoes, Buttered Potatoes, you can certainly make this dairy-free if you need them to be!  Good quality olive oil will work as a substitute for butter. Your potatoes will not have the same nutty, buttery taste, but the olive oil is still a delicious option. Vegan butter works as well.
• Seasoning: Feel free to adapt this recipe to your tastes. Add in more butter if desired. Don't like parsley, try another herb. Love garlic, add in some dried garlic powder.
• Storing: Leftover parsley potatoes will keep for 3-4 days in the fridge.

Potato Side Dishes

• Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
• Instant Pot Baked Potatoes
• Air Fryer Potatoes
• Twice Baked Potatoes
• Scalloped Potatoes
• Buffalo Crispy Smashed Potatoes
• Easy Baked Oven Fries

If you gave these Parsley Potatoes a try, I would love for you to leave a comment and review below.