"My School Dinner Lady Mom's Crispy Roast Potatoes: The £1.50 Secret Ingredient Revealed!"

EVERYONE has their own way of whipping up a roast, but it turns out that we may be cooking our spuds all wrong.

A former school dinner lady has revealed how to nail the for scrumptious Sunday roasts – and it’s all thanks to a special £1.50 ingredient.

Credit: instagram/kate keogh Credit: instagram/kate keogh

Kate Keogh took to Instagram to share how her mum gives the potatoes that extra crunch.

“If there’s one thing mum knows how to make it’s a crispy, fluffy roast potato,” Kate said in the video posted on her page .

According to the mother and daughter duo, it’s best to use the Maris Piper variety, as “they go really lovely and fluffy in the middle”.

However, if you can find this type in your local store or farmers market, other varieties work just fine too.

Once you’ve peeled and chopped your spuds, it’s time to boil them – and according to Kate’s mum, there’s no need to start with cold water.

As well as adding “plenty of salt”, there’s another secret ingredient that will make all the difference – .

The kitchen staple, which sells for around £1.50, is said to be an effective technique for making extraordinarily crispy roast potatoes with fluffy interiors.

This is because boiling potatoes in alkaline water with baking soda breaks down their exteriors, creating a starchy slurry that crisps up in the oven, enhancing both texture and flavour, explained the pros at Serious Eats .

For the perfect crunch, the pair added just half a teaspoon.

“I don’t know the science behind how this works […] but it makes them really crispy,” Kate said in the clip.

According to Kate’s mum, you should boil the spuds for around ten minutes – by which point they should be “a little bit soft”.

While the potatoes are boiling, it’s time to preheat your oven, as well as the tray they’ll be roasting on.

When the tray’s hot, you can add a generous amount of oil – the duo opted for vegetable oil because that “makes it the crispiest”.

You should then place the tray back into the oven to heat up until the oil becomes “bubbling hot”.

Another secret ingredient the foodies added to the spuds after they had done boiling is flour, before they gave the pot a vigorous shake.

Once you’ve added your seasoning of choice, you can place them onto the oil-covered tray and chuck it into the oven for a good 45 minutes.

The pair shared another pro tip – to ensure all your spuds are cooked to perfection, flip them over and place the ones closer to the edge into the centre of the tray and vice versa.

All chuffed with the mouth-watering result, Kate said: “These are the best roast potatoes ever.”

“I could just here and eat this tonight,” her mum agreed.

Posted just five days ago, the video has taken the platform by storm, racking up more than 800k views.

Many flocked to comments, where one shared their go-to tip: “If find Rice flour makes them super crispy!”

“Omggg they look sooo good! I could eat the whole bowl,” a foodie chimed in.

“We do this but add our own homemade rosemary salt and they’re amazing!” another said.