How to cook potato grenaille
The French call very small potatoes "grenaille". This is a typical way of cooking them: the tiny potatoes are pan-fried in their skins and make an excellent accompanient for meat.
Grenaille can be made with any kind of potato; it is a question of size, rather than variety, though I think that firm-textured potatoes, such as rattes or charlottes, work best. I am using rattes in the photos.
The cooking is a combined method: boiling first, then frying. This is quicker than using a single method.
Grenaille can be made with any kind of potato; it is a question of size, rather than variety, though I think that firm-textured potatoes, such as rattes or charlottes, work best. I am using rattes in the photos.
The cooking is a combined method: boiling first, then frying. This is quicker than using a single method.
466 K 3.9/5 (180 reviews)
45 min.
Easy
1 kg
7 IngredientsLast modified on: September 16th 2015
1 kg 
4 tablespoons 
2 
2 sprigs 
2 
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 15 min.
Cooking: 35 min.
All in all: 45 min.
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time
Step by step recipe
Stage 1 - 5 min.
Prepare the grenaille
Thoroughly wash 1 kg potatoes of very small size in lukewarm water.Stage 2 - 5 min.
Drain and transfer them to a large saucepan.
Use this opportunity to check each potato, trimming off any eyes and bad bits, and discard any black, green or damaged potatoes.
Use this opportunity to check each potato, trimming off any eyes and bad bits, and discard any black, green or damaged potatoes.
Stage 3 - 10 min.
First-stage cooking: boiling
Cover the potatoes with cold water and bring to the boil.Boil until the potatoes are just barely cooked.
Stage 4
Drain the potatoes.
Stage 5 - 2 min.
Second-stage cooking: frying
Heat a large non-stick pan on medium heat and add 4 tablespoons oil, 2 bayleaves, 2 sprigs thyme and 2 cloves garlic.Stage 6 - 1 min.
When the oil is hot, add the potatoes and stir well to coat them with oil.
Stage 7 - 20 min.
Leave the grenaille to fry, stirring from time to time...
Stage 8
...until nicely browned.
Salt and pepper.
Salt and pepper.
Stage 9
This is goes very well with grilled meat, for example.
Remarks
You can also try frying in clarified butter instead of oil.
Keeping: Several days in the fridge, covered with plastic film.
Source: Home made.
Nutritional information
| Proteins (gr) | Carbohydrates (gr) | Fats (gr) | Energy value (in k-calories) | Energy value (in k-joules) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole recipe | 20 RDI=8 % | 200 RDI=20 % | 60 RDI=9 % | 1,420 RDI=70 % | 5,930 RDI: 70 % |
| Per 100 g | 1 RDI=1 % | 20 RDI=2 % | 5 RDI=1 % | 130 RDI=7 % | 550 RDI: 7 % |
How much will it cost?
- For 1 kg : 2.90 €
Change currency: 
Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
This recipe uses (among others)
Potatoes
Like these other recipes: Real home-made chips* , Potato tortilla (Spanish omelette), Ardennes Salad, Turnip top soup, Fillets of sole Dieppoise, ... See them all 83
Oil
Like these other recipes: How to cook red meat properly, Comtoise tart for Seàn, Granola, Pears and caramelised walnut samosas , Chocolate orangettes for Erika, ... See them all 96
Bayleaf
Like these other recipes: Pork roast with herbs, Duo of slow-cooked pork, Small ratatouille with , Spaghetti Bolognese, Cajun pulled pork, ... See them all 65
Thyme
Like these other recipes: Courgettes (zuchinis) , Hasselback or "Swedish-style" potatoes, Beef braised in reduced red wine, Preserved lemons, Roasted vegetables with thyme and green sauce, ... See them all 67
Other recipes you may also like
Stock-pot fish
A julienne of vegetables (small sticks) mixed with choice morsels of fish, slowly cooked in vegetable stock.December 31th 2013321 K4.3 2 hours 40 min.
Celeriac Rémoulade
A classic recipe of traditional French bistro cooking (winter salad).December 21th 2020410 K5 20 min.
Chicken nems
Nems are probably the best known Far Eastern dish in France. These small crispy rolls can be made in different flavours: chicken, crab, pork, etc. Making your own is not very complicated, the only difficulty is in the rolling stage. You will find in this recipe full details on how to successfully...April 6th 2017517 K3.8 2 hours 25 min.
Spaghetti Carbonara
A very famous Italian pasta recipe: egg yolks, cream, bacon, Parmesan and lemon juice.February 21th 2011343 K 24.8 25 min.
Shortcrust pastry (pâte brisée)
This is for sweet or savoury tarts, quiches or pies. The difference between this and sweetcrust pastry (pâte sablée) is in the very small amount of sugar and the absence of ground almonds.December 29th 2019390 K 24 35 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-08-17)
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post a comment or question
Follow this recipe (as 3 people already do)
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.