TL/DR – Buttermilk Packet Potatoes. Like buttermilk mashed potatoes but without the mashing. Thinly sliced red potatoes with a buttermilk and butter dressing, folded into a packet and cooked on the top rack of a grill or in the oven. Perfectly imperfect and delicious.
These Buttermilk Packet Potatoes are so easy and tasty. Picky eaters will eat these. There are endless things you can do to a potato, but one of the simplest flavor explosions is to mash it with buttermilk. I had extra buttermilk but I was too lazy to mash, so I created this basic, tangy version in a packet.
The recipe calls for 4 to 6 red potatoes. I use 4 medium potatoes. If they’re tiny, then I’ll use 6. They always slice out to seem like much more potato than I thought. Make a big piece of foil by folding two pieces of foil about the size of cookie sheets together several times to create a seam. Slice the potatoes just thinner than 1/8 inch and spread them out over the foil.
The recipe calls for softened butter and buttermilk which get whisked together with salt, pepper and garlic powder. If the butter is too stiff, microwave the buttermilk for 5 seconds at a time until it’s relatively smooth, like a salad dressing. Pour this mixture over the potatoes with fresh parsley or chives and toss them around. Then move them in a pile into the center of the foil and fold a packet around them.
For more packet potatoes, try Grilled Foil Packet Potatoes. Also quite simple to make are Roasted Potatoes.
Buttermilk Packet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 4 - 6 red potatoes
- 3T finely diced fresh parsley or chives
- 2T softened butter
- 1/4 c buttermilk
- 3/4 t kosher salt
- 1/4 t pepper
- 1/4 t garlic powder
Directions
- Step 1 Tear two pieces of aluminum foil, each about the size of a cookie sheet. Place one on top of the other, shiny sides facing in, and fold at one edge four times until you have one large sheet of foil. Spread it out onto a cookie sheet, shiny side down.
- Step 2 Thinly slice the potatoes, about 1/8 inch or even thinner and spread them out onto the foil.
- Step 3 Whisk together the softened butter, buttermilk and seasonings. If it’s too gloppy, microwave for 5 seconds at a time until it’s thick, but pourable.
- Step 4 Pour the buttermilk mixture over the potatoes and toss to coat, then pile the potatoes in the center of the foil.
- Step 5 Take two opposite sides of foil and meet at the top, then fold down over the potatoes, not too tightly. Then fold the other ends in to form a packet.
- Step 6 Place on the top rack of the grill and cook for about 25 minutes, checking for tenderness and cooking longer if necessary.
