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Your New Favorite Potato
Domino Potatoes look like the hardest thing on the table, but they’re just potatoes, a mandoline, and clarified butter. The technique comes from the famous Francis Mallmann. Each russet gets sliced thin, fanned out like a row of falling dominoes, and roasted until the edges are crispy and golden while the insides turn soft and creamy.
For my version, I like a little extra clarified butter for crispier edges and the most amazing fresh herb oil that runs down between the layers at the end. It’s one of the easiest potato dishes to make, and it looks and tastes like it came out of a top-rated restaurant kitchen.
Table of Contents
How to Cut Domino Potatoes
If you want to use the scraps, peel the potatoes before you trim them. I have a few easy ways to use them up in the scraps section below. If you’re throwing the scraps out, skip peeling the whole potato. It’s way easier to trim it into a brick first, then use a peeler to clean up any little bits of skin left on it.
Using a mandoline slicer is the best way to cut these. You need the slices to be very thin and the same thickness so they finish cooking at the same time. Be careful to keep slices together as you cut. You want them in perfect little sliced rectangles when you place them on a baking sheet and let them domino.
Use parchment paper for easy cleanup. I also like to lean the stacks against the rim of the baking sheet to prop them up a little. You don’t have to, but I like how it looks at the end.
Why Use Clarified Butter
You may want to swap this for the butter in your fridge, but you can’t. Regular butter contains milk solids, and at 425°F those solids will burn before the potatoes are done. Clarified butter doesn’t have milk solids, so it can take much hotter temperatures than regular butter.
If you can’t find it at the store, you can substitute it with ghee, which is slightly nuttier and works the same. Or you can make it.
How to Make Clarified Butter
This is easy to make and all you need is a stick of butter. Melt 1 stick slowly over medium-low heat without stirring. Skim the foam off the top, then pour the clear yellow butter through a fine-mesh strainer and leave the milky solids behind in the pan.
Crispy Golden Outside
Soft Creamy Inside
How to Tell When They’re Done
Go by color, not the timer. The 45 to 60 minute range depends on your oven and how big your potatoes are. You want the tops deep golden with crispy edges. If they still look pale, give them more time. Spoon the herb oil over them while they’re hot, then finish with flaky salt.
No Potato Left Behind
What to Do with the Potato Scraps
Trimming four potatoes into bricks leaves you with a good pile of scraps, and they don’t have to go in the trash. Just remember to peel the potatoes before you trim them. Put the scraps in a container, cover them with water, and keep them in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
You won’t have enough for a full batch of anything, so weigh your scraps and scale the recipe down to match. They’re perfect for a small batch of my Fried Mashed Potato Balls, which are already made with russets. My Potato Croquettes with Cheese call for Yukon golds, but russets work too. Or keep it simple and boil them for a small batch of mashed potatoes.
The Perfect Pairings
Start with a Blue Cheese Dirty Martini and my Scallops Meuniere with a lemon caper butter sauce. For your main, Steak with Peppercorn Sauce with these domino potatoes and a peppery Arugula Fennel Salad. For dessert, Orange Crepes in a warm blueberry orange sauce.
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Frequently Asked Questions
You can make the herb oil and clarified butter ahead, but slice the potatoes right before baking. Cut potatoes turn brown if they sit, and you can’t keep them in water because it gets trapped between the slices.
Use ghee. It’s clarified butter that’s cooked a little longer, and it works exactly the same here. You can also make your own in about 10 minutes. I walk you through it in the clarified butter section above.
I use Mother-In-Law’s Kimchi Gochugaru. It’s Korean chili flakes with a mild, fruity heat.
Equipment
- mandoline or chef’s knife
- paper towels
- Rimmed baking sheet
- parchment paper
- small bowl
Ingredients
Potatoes
- 4 large russet potatoes, washed
- 6 tbsp clarified butter, melted
- seasoned salt, or kosher salt, to taste
Herb Oil and Finish
- 2 tbsp chives, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp dill, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp parmigiano, freshly grated
- 1 ½ tsp gochugaru
- 1 tsp red wine vinegar
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- kosher salt, to taste
- black pepper, to taste
- ⅓ to ½ cup olive oil
- flaky salt, for topping, to taste
Instructions
- Prep the Potatoes: Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Trim each potato on all sides into a rectangular block. Slice each block 1/16 inch (1.5 mm) thick with a mandoline or knife, keeping the slices from each potato together in a stack. Pat each stack dry with paper towels.
- Assemble: Place the stacks on the prepared baking sheet. Tilt and fan each stack slightly so the slices overlap like fallen dominoes, keeping the slices tightly packed. Spoon 1 tbsp clarified butter over each stack and season with seasoned salt.
- Bake: Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, until deep golden and crisp at the edges. Spoon the remaining 2 tbsp clarified butter over the stacks halfway through baking.
- Make the Herb Oil: Combine the chives, dill, parsley, parmigiano, gochugaru, red wine vinegar, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and olive oil in a small bowl. Stir to combine.
- Serve: Spoon herb oil over the potatoes and finish with flaky salt.
Kitchen Cam
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
made these without the herb oil, still incredible. my favorite way to eat potatoes from now on and if you have a good knife or a mandolin slicing the potatoes is not a big deal. i made mashed potatoes with the leftovers from shaping the rectangles, nothing went to waste!
That’s awesome Giuliana, that’s a great way to use the leftovers too! I’m so glad you liked them!
Can I substitute clarified butter with ghee?
Hey Aya,
You can! ☺️