This oven baked 3-ingredient Amish buttered potato bake is the kind of dish that quietly slips onto the Sunday supper table and ends up stealing the whole show. My aunt used to bring a pan of these to family dinners, and no matter what roast or ham was in the spotlight, everyone kept going back for just one more spoonful of those tender, buttery potatoes. It’s a very simple, Midwestern, farm-style recipe: good potatoes, real butter, and a little salt, baked low and slow until they’re fork-tender with golden, toasty edges and puddles of melted butter on the pan. It reminds me of the way church ladies and Amish neighbors cooked—nothing fancy, just honest ingredients and patience.
These potatoes are lovely with a Sunday roast, baked chicken, or a simple skillet of pork chops. Spoon them right from the foil-lined pan, making sure to catch some of the melted butter from the bottom. A crisp green salad, steamed green beans, or buttered peas balance the richness nicely. They also sit well on a potluck table alongside casseroles and ham, and any leftovers can be reheated in the oven to crisp up again or served the next morning with fried eggs and sausage.
Oven Baked 3-Ingredient Amish Buttered Potato BakeServings: 6
Ingredients
3 pounds russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch slices or chunks
1 cup (2 sticks/226 g) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 teaspoons kosher salt (or to taste)
Directions
Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a large rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil, letting the foil come up the sides to catch the butter.
Spread the sliced or chunked potatoes evenly over the foil-lined pan in a single, fairly even layer. It’s fine if they overlap a bit, but avoid piling them too deep so they cook evenly and get some golden edges.
Scatter the pieces of butter evenly over the potatoes, tucking some down between the slices so it melts throughout the pan.
Sprinkle the potatoes evenly with the kosher salt. With clean hands or a spatula, gently toss and turn the potatoes right on the pan to lightly coat them in the butter and salt. Spread them back out into an even layer.
Cover the entire pan tightly with another sheet of foil, crimping the edges so the steam is trapped inside.
Bake covered for 45 minutes, then carefully remove the top foil (watch for hot steam). Give the potatoes a gentle stir to re-coat them in the melted butter.
Return the uncovered pan to the oven and continue baking for 25–35 minutes, stirring once more halfway through, until the potatoes are fork-tender and the edges are turning golden and slightly crisp. The butter will be bubbling and pooled in spots around the potatoes.
Taste a potato and add a pinch more salt if needed, tossing gently on the pan. Serve the potatoes hot straight from the foil-lined baking sheet, spooning some of the melted butter from the bottom of the pan over each serving.
Variations & Tips
For a slightly different character while keeping the spirit of the recipe, you can swap in red potatoes or all Yukon Golds for a creamier texture; they hold their shape nicely and get beautifully golden on the edges. If you like a hint of onion flavor without adding more ingredients, you can bake a halved onion on a separate corner of the pan (or in a small dish beside it) and let its aroma drift over the potatoes as they cook, then reserve the onion for another use. To stretch the recipe for a crowd, use a larger sheet pan and add another pound of potatoes and a small extra knob of butter, then taste and adjust salt at the end. For crisper edges, raise the oven to 400°F (200°C) for the last 10 minutes and spread the potatoes out as much as possible so more of them touch the hot pan. Leftovers reheat well: spread them on a skillet with a tiny dab of butter and warm over medium heat until hot and re-crisped, or chop and fry them up as breakfast potatoes to serve with eggs and ham.
