How I Make Crispy Smashed Potatoes
Smashed potatoes have become one of my favorite formats of potatoes in my life. And they are super easy to make, though—like all good things—they do take a little bit of time. First you have to boil the potatoes until they are completely soft, then you smash them to expose some fluffy creaminess from inside, and then you roast them until their the paper thin skins and the craggy surfaces created by smashing get browned and crispy. I didn’t realize until I started making these that even though I eat a lot of potatoes, I rarely eat them in a way where I can truly taste the pure flavor of the potato itself. In the photo above there are mini red skinned potatoes and purple ones. Spouse and I found that while we enjoyed every potato on the tray, there was something about the red skinned potatoes that had a little bit of extra something in their natural flavor that we preferred over the little purple ones. I encourage you to get whatever types of tiny potatoes you can find and try making this recipe with them, to see if you can taste a difference—for science.
Below is my recipe for how I make my smashed potatoes, which have become a go-to side or snack on many an occasion in my household. Some suggestions for how to enjoy them are:
Top them with little dollops of my creamy garlicky whipped feta dip, crispy bacon, and fresh herbs like in the photo above
Use them in place of croutons for an epic salad, like my BLT salad recipe
Make them for a breakfast in place of homefries or tater tots; bonus points if you drizzle them with chili crisp
To season the potatoes shown here, I used Spice Tribe’s Haitian-inspired Mama Manje blend and this made the house smell SO GOOD while the potatoes were baking, so I definitely recommend this blend. (I received this product as part of a paid partnership with Spice Tribe but this recipe is not sponsored and I gladly use their products in my everyday cooking). This blend does not contain any salt, so I have control over how much salt I add to the potatoes. However, you can use whatever seasoning blend you want; just check to see if it has salt and avoid oversalting if it does. For herbs, I used chopped chives, oregano, and lemon thyme, but you can use whatever fresh herbs you love; potatoes are great with pretty much anything, after all! The flower petals are dianthus from my garden; they are safe to eat but really there for the aesthetics.
Ingredients
1 pound mini potatoes
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt, divided, plus more to taste
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
1/2 tsp low-sodium or salt-free spice blend*
*I like to use Spice Tribe’s Mama Manje blend or Fly by Jing’s Mala Spice Mix.
Procedure
Add cleaned potatoes to a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and add 1 teaspoon of salt.
In the meantime, preheat the oven to 450°F.
Continue boiling potatoes until very soft and a fork pokes through with no resistance, about 20–25 minutes. Drain and allow to cool slightly.
In a large mixing bowl, combine potatoes, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste), and the spice blend of your choice. Toss to coat the potatoes in the oil and spices.
Dump the potatoes and any excess oil/seasoning onto a large sheet pan. Use the back of a fork to gently press down and smash the potatoes. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil.
Bake for 25 minutes or until you notice some browning on the fluffy parts.