Pommes de terre fondantes, also known as melting potatoes, are thick potato rounds treated like meat: seared in oil or animal fat, basted with butter, and then braised in the oven. The result is a side dish with deeply caramelized surfaces, custard-like interiors, and a glossy pan sauce.
As the days grow shorter and the crunch of leaves marks each step, my cooking shifts from quick and fresh to slow and cozy. Hearty potatoes, specifically melting potatoes—aka pommes de terre fondantes if you’re feeling fancy—quickly enter my dinner rotation.
The dish consists of thick potato rounds seared until golden, then braised in herb-infused chicken broth and butter until their centers become custardy and the sauce is glossy. Despite their recent internet fame, melting potatoes are nothing new; they’re rooted in a classic French technique and have long been a staple on French dinner tables. Former Serious Eats senior culinary editor Sasha’s pommes de terre fondant recipe is my go-to because it’s simple, elegant, endlessly riffable, and impressive enough for any festive occasion.
After countless batches, I’ve learned it’s the tenderness of the potatoes and the buttery richness that make them outrageously delicious—but another thing I love about melting potatoes is how easy it is to make the dish your own by riffing on the base recipe. Customizable with different stocks, fats, and toppings, they’re proof that French cooking can be both classic and weeknight-friendly.
You can change up the herbs, swap out garlic for onions or other alliums, or add toppings, such as gooey cheese, like we do in our recipe for French onion melting potatoes. To make the dish even more delicious, Sasha’s recipe calls for browning the potatoes in rendered animal fat. “Duck fat, schmaltz, and beef fat are all great options that’ll lend a rich depth of flavor to the potatoes,” he writes. “If you don’t have fat already rendered, but plan on serving this side with something like a steak or a roast; you can render trimmings or do an initial sear on the roast’s fat cap and produce enough fat for browning the potatoes, get them in the oven, and then turn your attention back to the meat.”
Serious Eats / Brittney Cottrell, Food Stylist: Tricia Stuedeman, Prop Stylist: Keoshia McGhee
Use Good-Quality Stock
I like to customize the stock as well—because what truly makes these potatoes special is how the liquid reduces into a sauce that seeps into every bite, deeply flavoring the potatoes and making them meltingly creamy inside.
Open my freezer and you’ll find what looks like an evidence locker of bones and vegetable odds and ends—meticulously bagged, labeled, and waiting for the stockpot. That collection fuels my melting potatoes. Chicken stock is the classic choice, but I often vary it depending on the meal or the dietary restrictions or preferences of my guests: beef stock with steaks, pork stock with pork chops, and I’ve even used shellfish stock for seafood dinners. No matter the flavor, starting with a rich and flavorful stock makes all the difference.
Vicky Wasik
How Gelatin Turns Store-Bought Stock Into Liquid Gold
Most store-bought broths and stocks lack the collagen that gives homemade stock its body, which is why they taste thin and watery. If you don’t have stock that sets into a jiggly gel when chilled, fortifying your stock with gelatin is essential. Blooming powdered gelatin in store-bought broth gives it much-needed richness so the braising liquid doesn’t just boil away, but thickens into a silky sauce that’s thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Few other melting potato recipes use this technique, and it’s one of the things that sets Sasha’s apart.
Vicky Wasik
For the Best Potatoes, Cook Them Like Meat
Treat these melting potatoes like meat from start to finish: Brown them well, baste them like a steak, and braise them until they’re meltingly tender. The result is a dramatic transformation—burnished potatoes with buttery, melt-in-your-mouth centers. Melting potatoes shine on both a weeknight and a holiday table, a delicious reminder that French cooking doesn’t have to be intimidating.
