My Chef-Husband Made Me His Marry Me Potatoes and I Would Definitely Say 'I Do' All Over Again
Chef Luke Venner's Marry Me Potatoes
Unpopular opinion: I don't love potatoes. Although I love fries, which I believe exist in a category all their own, the rest of the potato options just aren't that appealing to me. Baked potatoes? Hard pass. Mashed potatoes? Even worse. And don't get me started on the scalloped potatoes my mom used to make for Easter when I was little. Sorry, mom, but those were the absolute worst.
I'll opt for any other side than potatoes given the choice and usually defer to pasta, rice and veggies over a milky mash. My husband Luke on the other hand, who hails from the great Midwest state of South Dakota, would argue there's no more perfect side than mashed potatoes or a baked potato loaded with all the fixings.
Luke also happens to be a chef. So early on in our relationship when he told me about a certain potato dish his previous girlfriends went crazy for—even wanted to marry him for—I was skeptical to say the least. I mean I've heard of Marry Me Chicken, but could a potato dish really be as persuasive?
Surely I too, wouldn't be wooed by a potato I thought, recalling all of the other dishes I would have happily accepted a ring for: cacio e pepe, veal milanese, his best-ever BLT! There was no way I was going to fall in love with some simple spuds, but here's what happened when he went into the kitchen to make me his Marry Me Potatoes.
Related: My Chef-Husband Made Me the World's Best Breakfast Sandwich and My Mornings Are Forever Changed
Ingredients for Marry Me Potatoes
The 3-ingredient list for these mouthwatering Marry Me Potatoes is short and sweet. You'll need potatoes, obviously. Luke used baby reds for this recipe, although he says you can use any potato. You'll also need fresh herbs, like thyme or oregano, salt and lots of butter. He prefers using unsalted butter, but if all you have is salted just make sure to taste before you start salting the finished potatoes. With a shopping list this short, these were already a winner in my book.
Related: Marry Me Chicken Recipe Makes a Great Dinner Idea
How to Make Marry Me Potatoes
Now I have to warn you straight out of the gate: The ingredient list might be short, but the cooking time is long for these potatoes. It's not a difficult process, though, and I guarantee they're worth it.
To get started, slice the ends off of each potato to create 3/4-inch thick "coins" as Luke referred to them when I asked his preferred name for their cute little shape. Also, it's important to keep the skin on, which will help them hold their shape.
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Once you have your coins ready to go, it's all about "full power, high heat," Luke says. That's chef speak for get your stainless steel skillet nice and hot over high heat, then space out six or seven coins with a liberal pat of butter in the center. Stainless steel has better convection than say, cast iron, but you can use whatever pan you have.
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Then you want to add enough water to cover the potatoes, your herbs of choice, a sprinkle of salt and you guessed it—more butter. Why? According to Luke, the high heat emulsifies the butter in the water and that glazes the potatoes as they cook. Once it evaporates all you'll be left with is clarified butter, which is what gets the flat sides of the potato coins super crispy.
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I have to admit, at this point I still wasn't sold. I mean, these potatoes looked like basic boiling rounds floating around in water but I was determined to see this one through to the end and understand what the girlfriends of yore deemed "marriage material" potatoes.
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After about 20-30 minutes or so, the tops of your potatoes will still be glazed doughnut white, but the water around them will have turned into a thin slick of clarified butter. This is when you have to pay attention, Luke tells me because I had been zoning out up until now with a glass of Chabils in one hand and a mindless Insta scroll in the other.
"You really just let the heat rip like that the whole time?" I ask him, fearing the obvious burning I would elicit attempting this on my own. "Once you hear them start to crackle you can lower the heat to low to get that crystallized crispy base," he answers. A peek into the pan also shows wilted herbs as another hint that we're getting somewhere.
"These are called Marry Me Potatoes, not leave in the middle of the night potatoes," he laughs, adding that once the butter breaks into brown butter we take our time.
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After giving the coins a few brown butter baths with a spoon and letting them do their thing for another 20-30 minutes, he gets to work on two juicy steaks that will go alongside his Marry Me Potatoes. He tells me they're Wagyu and I immediately perk up, thinking they might be more enticing as an engagement offer than the spuds, but then I see him start to flip the potatoes.
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One look at the perfectly fried, golden tops and I get it: These are no ordinary taters. In fact, I can see why the ones who came before me would want to stick around for these bad boys. They were perfectly golden, fondant potatoes with a flawlessly crispy outer crust. If I were making a TikTok video, I definitely would have scraped across the top of the potatoes with a knife to show everyone just how crispy they were.
But after I saw the golden crust something dawned on me. "Now you have to do this whole process on the other side?!" I shrieked in a high-pitched (read: hangry) panic.
"No, only one side is crispy; the other side is boiled," he says taking them off one by one with a spatula to a paper towel waiting nearby.
Phew.
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I'm relieved that I don't have to wait another 40 minutes to take a bite of these potatoes, and Luke starts plating things up. He pours a silky, demi-glace sauce over the steaks and places two perfect potato coins alongside each, with a bowl of verdant broccoli in the center of the table. Simply blanched, then seasoned with salt.
"Looking good," I say, eager to see if the potatoes live up to the hype.
"French cuisine 101," he replies with a debonair grin.
Kelli Acciardo
Related: The Best Way to Make a BLT According to My Chef-Husband
My Honest Thoughts on My Chef-Husband's Marry Me Potatoes
One bite and I was sold. He was definitely getting a chef's kiss for these. Soft in the center and crispy, crunchy and fried on the outside, these were life-changing potatoes. So good, TBH, that I had a feeling I would be requesting a lot more of them in the future. Honestly, I would wait even longer for them—they're that magical.
In the end, it wasn't really about how good the potatoes were, though. Incredible, yes, but it was more about the gesture. Anyone who spends that much time making you potatoes is 100% marriage material if you ask me. Then again, I already knew Luke was. I married him well before the potatoes.
Top Tips for My Chef-Husband's Marry Me Potatoes
? Pick your potatoes wisely. Luke liked the look of the baby reds at the grocery store for this recipe, although he also likes to use smaller fingerlings or creamier Yukon potatoes. Opt for whatever small potatoes look good at your market.
? Be liberal with your butter. This is not the dish to be dainty with the dairy. Instead, Luke likes to do one very liberal pat of butter per potato.
? Be patient. As I witnessed, the secret ingredient to this recipe is patience. You want to let the potatoes cook slowly until all the water evaporates so don't try to rush this step. It's all about low and slow at the beginning, then low, low once you reach the clarified butter phase.
Kelli Acciardo
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