Oven Baked Potato Wedges
by Sommer Collier — on Jun 17, 2026 The secret to truly great oven baked potato wedges starts long before they go into the oven. I soak the potatoes in ice water to help create crisp edges and fluffy centers, then coat them with simple seasonings before baking. The result is a restaurant-worthy side dish that’s surprisingly easy to make at home, with a fraction of the effort.
What’s better than thick-cut french fries? How about even thicker cut potato wedges! They’re fatter, with a more tender, fluffy potato inside and an extra-crispy exterior. Everyone agrees my air fryer potato wedges recipe is fantastic for making two servings, so today I’m sharing another easy method to make a larger batch of potato wedges in the oven for several people, because it’s nice to share! Follow my simple step-by-step instructions, and you’ll easily bake up perfect wedges for a party appetizer or snack, or to serve as a side with nearly any main dish protein.
Table of Contents
Sommer’s Recipe Highlights
More Fry is Better – I love baked french fries that have the perfect balance of crispy and fluffy textures. Wedges are basically just larger versions of the same food, with more skin on each wedge to get crispy, and bigger pieces with more soft and pillowy potato inside. What’s not to love?!
Simply Delicious – The two main ingredients to make the best oven baked potato wedges are 1) potatoes and 2) oil. Then I’m also tossing them with a few smoky, savory, and bold spices that make the wedges taste restaurant-quality.
Starter or Side – A plate overflowing with tater wedges is a fabulous appetizer by itself… Be warned, it’s easy to fill up on them! I also serve them as a side dish with classic casual American foods, like burgers, and always with a dipping sauce or two.
Key Ingredients and Tips
- Potatoes – Russet potatoes are best for making wedges. They are thick and hearty enough to hold up to baking at a high temperature, and get much crispier on the outside than waxy potatoes.
- Olive oil – I use a smooth, high-quality olive oil for cooking. But you can use another high-heat and neutral tasting oil, if you like! Avocado oil and canola oil are both great options.
- Spices – I use a combination of smoked paprika, ground cumin, garlic powder, kosher salt, and black pepper to season the potatoes. Feel free to change these up, however, and use whatever spices you want!
How to Make
Find the full ingredient proportions, detailed instructions, storage tips, and a video tutorial in the printable form at the bottom of the post.
Prep – First, I fill a large bowl with ice and water to make an ice bath for the potato slices. I set the bowl aside, and scrub the russet potatoes super well… You leave the potato skins on to make classic baked potato wedges, so it’s important to get as much dirt cleaned off as possible. I dry the potatoes with a clean paper towel, place them on a cutting board, and use a very sharp knife to slice them in half lengthwise. Then I slice each half into 4 even wedges, so there are 8 pieces per potato. (Say that 3 times fast.)
Soak – The potato pieces will begin to brown quickly (or oxidize, if you want to get technical), so I quickly place them into the bowl of ice water as they’re cut. Soaking raw cut potatoes stops them from browning while also removing the excess starches that can otherwise make potatoes soggy and sad.
After I get all of the wedges into the water, I set the bowl aside and preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, or 375 degrees for a convection oven, if I want to get going on baking the wedges ASAP… The potatoes need to chill in the cold water and soak for at least 15 minutes, but up to an hour is best to get out as much starch as possible. So preheat the oven whenever you are ready to bake in about 15 minutes.
Drain – Once the oven has preheated, I drain the water from the bowl and dump the potato pieces into a colander, and then onto a dry towel. I gently roll them around in the towel to soak up as much water as I can. Any extra moisture can mess up the baking process and create that dreaded soggy potatoes situation.
Drizzle and Season – While the pieces continue to dry on the kitchen towel, I get out a rimmed baking sheet and gather the spices and oil. You can line the pan with parchment paper, if you like, to help cut cleanup time.
Now I transfer the wedges to the large baking sheet and drizzle on the oil. I keep my hand several inches above the potatoes while I’m drizzling, so I can easily coat every piece and don’t just glug the oil in one spot. Then I sprinkle on the seasonings… Smoked paprika, ground cumin, salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Again, keeping your hand several inches above the pieces makes it easier to sprinkle the spices evenly.
Arrange – I use my hands to toss the wedges around in the oil and seasoning mix. You can toss them with spatulas, but be sure you’re really coating the potatoes evenly. Next, I spread the potatoes in a single layer across the baking pan in rows, keeping them slightly away from each other so the wedges get golden brown on all sides. Lining them up also makes it easier to flip the taters with a spatula!
Bake! – I slide the baking sheet onto the middle rack of the preheated oven and set the timer for 20 minutes. Once time is up, I get the pan out of the oven, use a metal spatula to flip the wedges over, and back in the oven they go. Continue to bake them for 10 minutes to make firmer potatoes with lightly crisp edges, or up to 15 minutes for the baked potato wedges to be more crispy on the outside and softer on the inside.
I use a fork or sharp knife to stab into a piece of potato and test for doneness. Pop them back in the oven for another few minutes if they aren’t quite fork-tender.
Expert Tips
I have 3 not-so-secret tricks for making the best baked wedges…
- Cut the potatoes into equal-sized wedges so they bake evenly.
- Yes, you really, really need to soak them in a bowl of cold water. Like french fries, it’s nearly impossible to get perfectly crispy potato wedges without removing the excess starch. And be sure to dry them thoroughly, too!
- Take the time to meticulously spread the wedges out across the baking sheet. They’ll get golden and crispy only if the heat can work its way around all sides. Then I spread them back out after flipping them once while baking.
Serving Suggestions
We’re not exactly reinventing the wheel here, people… Of course, you know that restaurant-style wedges are great to serve as an appetizer or side dish with ketchup, ranch dressing, and smoky bbq sauce. These are fantastic options, for sure, and there are so many more dipping sauces to choose from! Try some of my favorites here –
- Comeback Sauce… The name says it all!
- Lemon Garlic Aioli
- French Fry Sauce
- Chick-Fil-A Dipping Sauce
- Burger Sauce
- Garlic Parmesan Sauce
- Cheddar and Cream Cheese Sauce
And I highly recommend using the wedges to make chili cheese fries with sour cream to really lean into the baked potato vibe!
Storing and Reheating
Hmmm. I don’t think we’ve ever actually had leftover tater wedges. They disappear pretty quickly once I pull them out of the oven! If you do have leftovers, place the room-temp potatoes in a sealed container and store them in the refrigerator. You’ll certainly want to eat them within a day or two before they get too soft.
I suggest reheating them on a baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes, flipping them halfway through. You can also reheat the potato wedges in an air fryer for 5-6 minutes at 350 degrees. They should get hot and slightly crisp again, but be careful to not over do it or they’ll get dried out.
Frequently Asked Questions
Soggy baked potato wedges are usually the result of not letting the pieces soak in the ice bath for long enough and/or not drying them off completely before seasoning. Or it’s also possible the wedges were a bit too close on the baking sheet and/or the pan was overcrowded. Remember, to make the best wedges from scratch, you just need them to be soaked, dried, and spread out!
Absolutely! As-is, this recipe makes roughly 6 servings. Since leftover tater wedges don’t hold over well, I usually make a half batch when it’s just Dan and me munching at home.
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More Potato Recipes
Oven Baked Potato Wedges
Video
Ingredients
- 2 pounds russet potatoes or Yukon gold
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Set out a large bowl of ice water for the potato wedges. Cut each potato lengthwise in half, then cut each half into four equal wedges, eight wedges total per potato. After cutting each potato, drop the wedges in the ice water to soak.
- Once all the wedges are in the soaking water, preheat the oven to 400°F (or 375°F convection.)
- Once the oven is fully preheated and the potato wedges have soaked for at least 15 minutes, place a colander in the sink and set out a large rimmed baking sheet. Place a clean dish towel over the baking sheet.
- Dump the potato wedges in the colander to drain. Then dump them out on the clean dish towel. Gently press each potato wedge with a dish towel to remove all excess moisture. Then remove the towel, leaving the wedges on the baking sheet.
- Drizzle the potatoes with olive oil, then sprinkle the tops with smoked paprika, ground cumin, salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Toss all the potato wedges to evenly distribute the oil and seasoning. Lay them out in rows, leaving space around each wedge. *Placing them in rows makes them easier to flip in batches.
- Place the potato wedges in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Use a flat metal spatula to flip the potato wedges over, and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes to your desired crispiness and color. When ready to remove them from the oven, poke the largest wedge with a fork to make sure its fork-tender.
- Serve hot with your favorite dipping sauces.
I could live on these potatoes, breakfast, lunch and dinner! So tasty!