🥔 SIDE
Patates Lemonates (Greek Lemon Roast Potatoes)
Potato wedges roasted in a bath of olive oil, lemon juice, water, garlic and dried oregano until they drink up the liquid and turn golden at the edges and creamy inside.
Greek · easy · serves 4
prep 15 min · cook 75 min
~488 cal · 7g protein · 54g carbs · 28g fat · 7g fiber · 3g sugars · 4g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Patates lemonates, lemon potatoes, are the standard side dish of the Greek home and taverna, set down next to roast lamb, chicken, grilled meats or fish. Wedges of potato go into a roasting tin with a generous amount of olive oil, lemon juice, water, garlic and dried Greek oregano, and roast for a long time, so that they first in the lemony liquid and absorb it, then crisp and colour at the edges as it disappears.
Greek cooks are firm about what belongs in them. Olive oil, lemon and oregano do the work, with water rather than , and generous oil is the point rather than a mistake. Garlic goes in cut into pieces, not minced, so it does not burn. Some cooks add a little mustard or a spoonful of tomato paste.
They are eaten hot, with plenty of bread for the lemony oil left in the tin.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, egg-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
- 1.2 kg waxy-floury potatoes such as Yukon Gold, peeled and cut lengthways into wedges
- 120 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 80 ml lemon juice, about 2 lemons
- 250 ml water
- 4 garlic cloves, quartered
- 2 tsp dried Greek oregano
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- to taste black pepper
Instructions
- 1Heat the oven to 200°C. Put the potato wedges in a roasting tin large enough to hold them in one layer.
- 2Add the olive oil, lemon juice, water, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper and toss with your hands until every wedge is coated. The liquid should come about a third of the way up the potatoes.
- 3Roast for 30 minutes, then turn the wedges over with a spatula.
- 4Roast for another 35 to 45 minutes, turning once more, until the liquid has been absorbed and the potatoes are soft inside and golden and crisp at the edges. Add a splash of water if the tin dries out before they are tender.✎ Chef’s noteIf they are tender but still pale, finish them for a few minutes under a hot grill.
- 5Squeeze over a little more lemon, check the salt and serve hot with roast lamb, chicken or fish.
Greek home and taverna cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Attica (Athens). Attica is the region around Athens, where moussaka bakes golden with eggplant, spiced lamb, and bechamel. Olive oil, lemon, oregano, and feta run through everything, and the taverna table is built to be shared slowly across many small plates.
🗺️
Greece. Foraged wild greens, horta, are a genuine part of the diet rather than a garnish: blanched, then dressed with olive oil and lemon, or folded into a pie. They matter most during nistia, the long Orthodox fasting stretches when meat, dairy and often fish are set aside and the everyday cooking becomes, in effect, vegan.
🌍
Europe. European cooking is built on the land and the seasons, wheat, butter, and cured pork in the north; olive oil, tomatoes, and seafood around the Mediterranean; preserved vegetables and hearty stews through long winters. Centuries of peasant tradition, guild craft, and royal courts refined techniques from French mother sauces to Italian fresh pasta and Central European baking. Regional identity runs remarkably deep, with a single dish often changing from one valley to the next.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Greece
Gemista (Stuffed Summer Vegetables)Tomatoes and peppers baked slowly around an herbed rice filling, with potatoes roasting in the juices.
MoussakaLayers of eggplant and cinnamon-scented lamb under a deep duvet of béchamel, baked bronze.
SpanakopitaSpinach, herbs, and feta folded into shatteringly crisp phyllo, northern Greece’s classic greens pie.
Browse all Greece recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Oven, Mould or tin.
Storing it: Best straight off the heat. Leftovers keep 2 to 3 days refrigerated and reheat well in a hot oven rather than the microwave.
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Patates Lemonates (Greek Lemon Roast Potatoes)?
Potato wedges roasted in a bath of olive oil, lemon juice, water, garlic and dried oregano until they drink up the liquid and turn golden at the edges and creamy inside.
Where does Patates Lemonates (Greek Lemon Roast Potatoes) come from?
Patates Lemonates (Greek Lemon Roast Potatoes) is a Greek dish from Attica (Athens), Greece.
Can Patates Lemonates (Greek Lemon Roast Potatoes) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Patates Lemonates (Greek Lemon Roast Potatoes) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Patates Lemonates (Greek Lemon Roast Potatoes) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Patates Lemonates (Greek Lemon Roast Potatoes) take to make?
About 90 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 75 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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