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.
480 K 3.9/5 (180 reviews)
45 min.
Easy
2.90 €
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: Leek and potato soup, Gratin "grilled inside", "Day After Pork Belly" Soup, Endives "bonne femme", Normandy seafood stew, ... See them all 84
Oil
Like these other recipes: Roquefort sauce, Tortilla Comtoise, Spinach brik parcels, Hachis parmentier, Chocolate orangettes for Erika, ... See them all 102
Bayleaf
Like these other recipes: Comtoise stuffed tomatoes, Oxtail Parmentier, Creamy cauliflower with smoked salmon, Potato gratin with 3 cheeses, Paté en croute (terrine in a pie crust), ... See them all 66
Thyme
Like these other recipes: Mexican-style pork medallions , Cajun pulled pork, Fried eggs with tomatoes, Pollack Parmentier, Spinach and cauliflower with sesame béchamel sauce, ... See them all 69
Other recipes you may also like
Roast pork with sage, cooked in a bag.
Pork goes particularly well with sage (true for white meats in general), but in this recipe, we'll bring out these flavours to the full by slow-cooking in a bag. The pork roasting joint is simply salted and peppered before being put in the bag and cooked for hours at low temperature. The delicious cooking juices produced is used for braising the vegetables to serve with the roast: turnips and purple artichokes. In this recipe, everything is done gently and at an unhurried pace: this is real slow... May 22th 2025102 K4.6 3 hours 60 min.
Pear verbena tarts
Crisp sweetcrust pastry cases, a velvety diplomat cream flavoured with verbena, and slices of poached pears for delicious and dainty pear verbena tarts. November 22th 202349 K 60 min.
Gingerbread
Maybe this recipe will bring back memories. February 21th 2011298 K4.2 1 hour 4 min.
Bouquet garni
Used very frequently in French cuisine, a secret of French chefs, it adds flavour to a lot of recipes, and it's easy to prepare. The basic principle is to make a small bundle of herbs, bind them in green leek leaves and to tie it up, so that the whole thing can be removed and discarded easily after cooking. March 21th 2017435 K3.5 15 min.
Real custard sauce (crème anglaise)
Real custard or vanilla sauce consists of egg yolks beaten with sugar and cooked slowly in vanilla milk. It is the base or the accompaniment for many desserts. January 17th 2018439 K 24.3 45 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-12-21)
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.