Crispy Smashed Potatoes served with melted herb butter are one of the most heavenly potato recipes. These are pure comfort food and a beautiful side dish for family dinners, romantic date nights, holidays, or dinner parties.
Soft fluffy centers are surrounded by a golden-brown crust on each and every one. And those crunchy edges are simply addictive...
Smashed Potatoes Ingredients
A 1.5-pound bag of baby potatoes has about 12 in the bag, approximately 6 adult servings. If using a medium size instead of small baby ones, you will need to bake them for 50-55 minutes, or they won't get as crispy on the edges.
Garnish with melted herb butter and fresh herbs like fresh parsley, dill, chives, rosemary, fresh thyme, and a little more salt and pepper if you wish.
Smashed Potatoes
- 1.5 pounds of baby yellow potatoes
- good olive oil
- herb butter
Herb Butter
- ½ cup butter
- ¼ cup fresh herbs - minced thyme, parsley, rosemary, or basil.
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
How To Make Smashed Potatoes
Step 1: Put the potatoes in a large pot of water, be sure to cover with 1 inch of water. Add 1 teaspoon of sea salt to the water, and turn the heat on high.
PinStep 2: Boil baby potatoes for 20 minutes until fork tender.
Larger potatoes will take longer until fork tender.
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Remove potatoes from the hot water, and place in a colander to drain, let cool down, and steam escape for 5 minutes.
Step 3: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place them on an ungreased large rimmed baking sheet pan.
PinStep 4: Using a potato masher, gently press down until the potato goes flat but not all the way through, and still retains overall shape. Use a fork to help release the potato masher if it sticks into the potato.
Step 5: After all the potatoes are smashed, let them rest for 5 more minutes to release more steam, this helps them get gorgeous golden color and those crispy edges. The thicker parts will stay soft and fluffy when cooked.
Step 6: Brush each with olive oil, and sprinkle sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper all over. Pop into the oven for 45 minutes at 400 degrees until the edges are crispy and golden brown.
Homemade Herb Butter
You can drizzle regular melted butter or herb butter when they come out of the oven...try this recipe, it is amazing and you can use it on everything from steaks to vegetables.
Garnish with lots of fresh chopped herbs...
Smashed Potatoes Top Tips & Variations
- Allow the potatoes to rest in the colander for 5 minutes after boiling to release steam, this will help them get crispier golden edges.
- After smashing them, again allow the steam to release for a few minutes before putting the olive oil on, it helps them get those golden-brown tops.
- Use a potato masher, a small water glass, or a meat tenderizer mallet. Gently press down, but not all the way through, just until they spread out.
- Use a fork to release the potato from the masher while smashing.
- Sprinkle on some more toppings like grated cheddar cheese, and shaved parmesan cheese, and dollop on some sour cream onto each potato.
Baby potatoes are pulled from the soil before they are fully grown into large potatoes. They have thin skins, a sweeter flavor, and a creamy texture. Most importantly, they retain their shape in recipes. You can bake, broil, roast, grill, simmer, steam, sauté or boil them.
Most baby potatoes are sold in 1.5-pound bags, and there are approximately 12 in the bag.
Small baby potatoes will get crisp edges. Varieties of smaller potatoes work really well, and so do medium potatoes. Different types of small red potatoes, baby Yukon golds, or any high starch potato make good smashed potatoes. The higher the starch content the more fluffy the inside will be. Waxy potatoes have a creamier and stiffer texture.
What To Serve With Crisp Potatoes
These go so well with fancier dishes like Beef Roast, sizzling grilled steaks, Stuffed Chicken Breasts, and Grilled Lamb Chops. And try them with a Baked Corned Beef Brisket, Cheeseburger Meatloaf, or Cherry Balsamic Pork Loin for special family dinners.
More Potato Recipes
Bake your Hash Browns in muffin tins and skip the frying on your stovetop altogether. NO MESSY STOVETOP TO CLEAN! This recipe is so popular for holidays and special occasions. Speaking of the holidays, get my wildly popular tips on how to reheat Mashed Potatoes!
Potato Salad loaded with Red (crispy bacon), White (potato), & Blue (cheese) with crisp celery and green onions. Tater Tot Casserole is an easy breakfast recipe that takes 15 minutes to prep and bakes golden brown in just 50 minutes.
A BBQ Potato Salad recipe with yummy flavors from your favorite bbq sauce, crumbled bacon, buttermilk ranch, crunchy celery, and cheddar cheese. Made with secret ingredients in place of mayo, this super creamy potato salad is inspired by one of America's favorite recipes, a loaded baked potato!
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Crispy Smashed Potatoes Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
Smashed Potatoes
- 1.5 pounds baby yellow potatoes
- olive oil
- herb butter
Herb Butter
- ½ cup butter
- ¼ cup fresh herbs - minced thyme parsley, rosemary, basil, and thyme (other herbs to try: sage, dill, chives, tarragon, oregano, or marjoram
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
Instructions
Smashed Potatoes
- Put the potatoes in a large pot of water, be sure to cover with 1 inch of water. Add 1 teaspoon sea salt to the water, and turn heat on high.
- Boil baby potatoes for 20 minutes until fork tender. Larger potatoes will take longer until fork tender. Remove them from the hot water, and place in a colander to drain, let cool down and steam escape for 5 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place potatoes on an ungreased large rimmed baking sheet pan.
- Using a potato masher, gently press down until the potato goes flat but not all the way through, and still retains overall shape. Use a fork to help release the potato masher if it sticks into the potato.
- After all the potatoes are smashed, let them rest 5 more minutes to release more steam, this helps them get the a gorgeous golden color and those crispy edges. The thicker parts will stay soft and fluffy when cooked.
- Brush each with olive oil, sprinkle sea salt and fresh cracked pepper all over. Pop into the oven for 45 minutes at 400 degrees until the edges are crispy and golden brown.
- Serve with butter or herb butter while they are hot.
Herb Butter
- Leave butter out at room temperature for a few hours to soften. If you cut the cube into little cubes and it will soften faster.
- Snip fresh herbs in a glass jar with kitchen scissors until the herbs are finely minced or chop on a board. I like to use parsley, rosemary, basil, and thyme.
- Mix soft butter, 3-4 tablespoons finely chopped herbs, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper. Optional, add finely crushed garlic!
- Place your herb butter in a small sealed container. Try it on toasted bread, steak, fish, or vegetables.
Notes
baby potatoes
You can make this recipe using different kinds of potatoes. I used baby yellow potatoes, a 1.5-pound bag has about 12. The small size of the potato helps them cook faster and get crisper. Large potatoes will be fluffy but not as golden and crisp.butter
Melt regular butter on the potatoes when done, or make herb butter. If you love garlic, add crushed garlic into the herb butter, it is delicious.reheating
The best way to eat smashed potatoes is fresh out of the oven, you can reheat the leftover ones on a sheet pan, at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes until hot.mashers
If you don't have a potato masher, you can use a meat tenderizer or a large serving fork to press them down.Top Tips
- Allow the potatoes to rest in the colander for 5 minutes after boiling to release steam, this will help them get crispier golden edges.
- After smashing them, again allow the steam to release for a few minutes before putting the olive oil on, it helps them get those golden-brown tops.
- A 1.5-pound bag of baby potatoes has about 12 potatoes inside approximately 6 adult servings.
- Use a potato masher, a small water glass, or a meat tenderizer mallet. Gently press down, not all the way through, just until they spread out.
- Use a fork to release the potato from the masher while smashing.
- You can add regular butter or herb butter when they come out of the oven.
- If using large potatoes instead of baby potatoes, you will need to bake them for 50-55 minutes, and they won't get as crispy.
- Garnish with fresh herbs like parsley and thyme, and a little more salt and pepper if you wish.
These look so good! Your pictures are jumping off the screen! I've never bought baby potatoes. We just get a big bag of russets, but now that we've been including a lot more potatoes in our diet (for potassium), this recipe is on our must-try list.
Love this recipe! Taking it to a pool party this weekend as my dish to pass. Thanks for the tips on reheating. Delish!
These are so easy to make (thanks for the video of how to make them!) and amazing flavors! We added a scoop of sour cream and chopped crispy bacon to the top of ours. LOVE these just as they are too!