Introducing your new favourite potato recipe – buttery, crispy SMASHED POTATOES! Crazy crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, there’s a serious risk that only half of these will make it to the dinner table….
Smashed Potatoes
Let me introduce you to your new favourite way with potatoes.
SMASHED!
CRISPY!
BUTTERY!!
Buttery CRISPY SMASHED POTATOES!
Best ever potato recipe!
If you are yet to experience the joys of crispy smashed potatoes, and my first experience was only 3 years ago when I was introduced to them by Claire from Sprinkles and Sprouts, a fellow Australian food blogger, these are going to change your potato game forever.
These taste like buttery french fries, albeit they are look completely different. “Rustic”, I declare loftily. They’re fluffy on the inside, and ultra crispy on both the underside and on the surface. All those ridges are the best! Forget squashing them neat and flat – the more nubbly the surface, the better the crunch!!!
Tips to make ultra crispy smashed potatoes
Ultra Crispy Smashed Potatoes are straight forward to make – boil, squish, drizzle, bake – but there are two little tips I’ve discovered along the way:
Let the potatoes steam dry a bit after smashing them. This ensures optimum crispiness!
Use butter and a touch of oil. Because butter = flavour, oil ensures more even and better browning and crispiness. Can’t use just butter because it burns in the oven at high temperatures.
Also, you can totally feel free to add flavourings like garlic and dried herbs, but they do burn a bit so you’ll get little black bits on the surface. In all honesty, these are so tasty as they are, they don’t need anything more! (In my personal, potato-opinion)
How to serve Ultra Crispy Smashed Potatoes
I would be totally happy just munching on these as a snack. And if I had a larger oven, or multiple ovens, I would make loads of these and serve them as a snack at gatherings. Because if you make these with small potatoes as I have done, they are perfect finger food snacking size.
But I typically serve these on the side of mains. It will go with pretty much any Western dish, from pork chops to fish, chicken to steak. Try it on the side of this Steak with Creamy Peppercorn Sauce, these Lemon Garlic Marinated Pork Chops, these Crispy Garlic Chicken Thighs or this Sun Dried Tomato Stuffed Chicken Breast.
However you plan to serve these Crispy Smashed Potatoes, it has your name written all over it. Do it, do it, do it! – Nagi x
More potato recipes
Crispy Parmesan Crusted Potatoes (side dish or to nibble)
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Sometimes it helps to have a visual, so watch me make these Crispy Smashed Potatoes!!
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Ultra Crispy Smashed Potatoes
Ingredients
Potatoes – choose:
- 700g / 1.4 lb small potatoes (12 – 14) (Note 1)
- 1 – 1.2kg / 2 – 2.4lb medium potatoes (6 – 8)
Cooking:
- 1 tbsp salt (for boiling)
- 30g / 2 tbsp unsalted butter , melted
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3/4 tsp salt (for sprinkling)
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- Finely chopped parsley , optional garnish
Instructions
- Cook potatoes: Bring a pot of water to the boil, add 1 tbsp salt. Cook potatoes until soft – small ones should take around 20 to 25 minutes, medium ones might take 30 minutes. It's ok if the skin splits. Alternatively, steam or microwave them.
- Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F (180°C fan).
- Steam dry: Drain the potatoes and let them dry in the colander for 5 minutes or so.
- Smash! Place on the tray then use a large fork or potato masher to squish them, keeping them in one piece. Thin = crisper. Thicker = fluffier insides. (Both good!) More nubbly surface = better crunch!
- Steam dry again: Leave on the tray to steam dry for 5 minutes or so – makes them crispier!
- Drizzle: Drizzle with butter, then olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Bake: Bake for 45 minutes (small potatoes) to 55 minutes (medium) or until deep golden and crispy. Do not flip!
- Serve hot, sprinkled with parsley if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
When I travel, Dozer stays with a golden retriever boarder. Rumbling with his friends, a whirlwind of fur chasing each other around the backyard, somersaulting across the lounge room as they tumble.
I’m told he’s internally fretting about me. 😂
Made your smashed potatoes for the first time for company . They were a big hit ! Can’t wait to try different kinds of potatoes. Have you tried using yams ?
Hi Mary Ellen, I haven’t I’m sorry! 🙂 I would love to know if it works! N x
I would love to know the same thing as mary ellen, but would ask if that works for sweet potatoes as well.
Hi Roxanne! It totally works with sweet potato! I like to use small ones that I cut in half 🙂 I will share one soon! N x
Made these potatoes for the first time tonight…i found when i started to smash them the fell apart….did i cook them to long in the pot? They are in the oven now….the true test is if my husband likes them…may add some chedder cheese to them….
I added some cheese the last 5 min. Yum!
So GOOD and EASY. Thanks for posting this recipe.
Love hearing that! So glad you enjoyed this Dee! N xx
Nagi, these are so good. What a fun twist for a potato. While growing up we’d sometimes have boiled potatoes as a side dish and I ALWAYS smashed mine! They do take awhile, but well worth the wait. I dipped mine in ranch dressing. Yum!
Something is still off with the timing listed on the recipe. I know someone else previously mentioned it. Luckily I had read through everything and knew to allow more than 50 minutes.
That’s wonderful to hear Cindy! So glad you enjoyed this! Thanks for picking up about the recipe time, strangely the recipe card didn’t recalculate the total time when I updated it 🙂 N xx
So the bake time is 50 minutes instead? My son could live on potatoes (and kind of does). He’s excited to try them (he’s 10 😀 ).
Nope, it’s as per recipe. The reader just pointed out I had put the wrong time in the recipe summary up the top 🙂 N x
I just can’t turn down a good potato. You had me at crispy AND fluffy!
By the by, travel fails make the best memories! I remember fails far better than trips that run perfectly smoothly 🙂
It’s so true!!! And they make the best stories! 😂
These look amazing and i have made them twice now but i must be doing something wrong as they are more soggy than crispy 🙁 I love your recipes 🙂
Hi Belinda – Thinking there’s a chance your oven runs a little cool, try cranking it up a bit and do not take them out until they are crispy!!! They must, they WILL go crispy!
OK will try this for sure, your photos look so delicious!!! Thank you 🙂
Made this for my parents today because they felt like having potatoes, and even though I didn’t cook them as soft as shown in the video, they came out just perfect from the oven, and were gone in two minutes! My mom told me to fit more potatoes onto the tray next time because there juts wasn’t enough delicious potato goodness to go around. Will be making it again and again!
I LOVE HEARING THAT!!!! Your mom is total right. Squeeze ’em in! 🤣
Amazing. I have been looking to find a good recipe for breakfast potato and this is the one! thank you
You’re so welcome MJ!! N x
Ohhhh girl! I just had to come back and tell you we tried these yesterday and they are sooooooooooooo good! * * * * * Gobbled them up before we had the chance to put a dollop of Boursin!
YumYumYum!
Theresa
WHOOT!!!! So glad you loved it Theresa!! N xx
Crispy smashed potatoes, how interesting…will sure try making it during the weekend!
They are DA BOMB!!!!
Love these potatoes – have made two nights running and we’ll probably have tomorrow as well. I smashed mine with a pastry blender and didn’t press too hard. Happy travels. I heard through the doggie grapevine that Dozer really does miss you.
Wow! Just wow!! Where have these potatoes been all my life? Made these for dinner last night. They’re very easy to put together and really don’t require much attention while they cook. I used a mix of very small gold, red and purple potatoes. And the crunch! Oh my, the crunch! The only letdown was when I looked at the nutritional info and saw that this recipe is for 12 people. Aaagh! The two of us scarfed down all but one tiny potato. Still worth it, though. No regrets. None.
WHOOT WHOOT WHOOT!!!!!!! (PS Pfffff to the nutrition. Salad tomorrow!) N x
Hi Nagi! Your adventures sound much like mine! Crazy despite the best laid plans! Haha
Thank you so much for this recipe! I’ve been dreaming about it since it popped into my inbox! I’d like to ask for one adjustment to the recipe – it says total cook time is 50 minutes but you cook for the potatoes on the stove top for 20-30 first and then 40 minutes in the oven after that. That’s well over 50 minutes total when you include the prep time, and it’s very misleading. We popped these into the oven 15 minutes before the rest of our dinner was ready to eat only to realize that we’d have to wait even longer – not ideal in a family with lots of small children. Def my fault for not reading the whole the recipe carefully and timing it better, but I wasn’t expecting another 40 min in the oven after they had already been on the stove top for 25. As I said best laid plans lol, but a recipe update would be really helpful to prevent wnt that from happening to others!
Sorry Elissa! Fixing it now 🙂 Hope everyone thought it was worth waiting for though!! N xx
YEAH 😀
Thank you for sharing.
I am chuckling at the thought of you walking about without a suitcase!!! That is so the sort of thing I would do!!!
I am still shaking my head over it! Thanks for introducing me to the world of smashed potatoes Claire, you rock!
Hi Nagi! I love your adventures in travel post. These potatos are super easy and I love them. As a little treat, I also sprinkled some freshly grated cheddar on top and switched to a fast broil to brown and melt, only about another two minutes. Super taste, crunch and eye appeal. Thanks for the tip. Flap
I’m still shaking my head in disbelief at my stupidity!!! LOVE adding cheese to these potatoes… SO SO GOOD!! N xx
Nagi,
You are too funny and I’m hoping you have resolved all issues with your suitcase, your ski boots and everything else you need for a great skiing experience.
Can’t wait to make these potatoes. They look delicious.
A questions regarding your recent Thai meatballs recipe. I’m in the States and I can’t find bird’s eye chilis. Could this possibly have another name? Ditto vermicelli noodles. Is that the same as rice noodles/rice sticks? I’m assuming so, but not sure.
My life is ridiculous!!! I like to think I’m a pretty organised person but then thinking back over all this, I seem like a total scatter brain! 😂
Vermicelli is just thin spaghetti like angel hair chopped in small pieces
Hi Nagi, I’m still laughing!! Imagining you walking free and breezy then OMG, if that wasn’t enough let alone your ski boots and to top that off all of a sudden getting yanked by a handbag. You’re just TOO MUCH. Almost peeing myself with laughter here.
Now as for these smashed potatoes, I had daughter, son-in-law and their children over for a BBQ today and wanted something different for the potatoes, not knowing what to do. Well, I could have done these potatoes had I opened my e-mail earlier, but was out busy buying the goodies for our lunch. So, ended up just doing baked potatoes in foil to squash them and heap on the our cream. They sufficed for the day, but I’ll try your smashed potatoes next time since they have my name on them. Signed off – aka Do it! do it, do it.
PS – Looks like Dozers having fun as they say “while the cats away the mice will play”.
JOSEPHINE! I kid you not, I had a bounce in my step and I really was feeling so cocky about how freely I was able to stride through the airport…. then to realise I left my suitcase outside?? GAH!!!!!
Hi Nagi, With all your mishaps and leaving your ski boots behind it’s just as well you’re not a competitor in the “Winter Olympics” in Korea right now as I’m visualizing you like the Sth. African a few years ago that did all of his training in the sandy desert (dessert – ha!) for the luge and all his mishaps. Sorry, but I couldn’t help myself. Ha! Ha!
It would be like a Stephen Bradbury…. except I’d be one of those cyclists in the crash pile!!!
Yum! They sound and look awesome as is! I might add a itty bitty dot of Boursin cheese to the hot smashed potato!
Theresa
YES YES YES!
Hi Nagi. For the first time i have a suggestion, in the past your recipes have always been my ultimate guide, they are so good. Thank you. I have made these in the past and using a blob of coconut oil instead of butter makes an interesting change. Seems to really fluff them up. I do love my butter, but do this sometimes for a change and everyone seems to enjoy it.
Never hold back on suggestions Liz!! I really love hearing ideas from readers – and people love reading them down here in the comments section. Thank you for the idea, I will have to give it a go! Especially if it makes them fluff up even more! 🙂 N x
NagiNagiNagi, Oh, how I ❤️ you! Sweet, silly, dog-loving, down to earth SisterFriend. 👭 I’m a “newbie” to your site, and find something delish and exciting almost every day that makes me want to pull out my iron skillets, soup pot, or just a wooden spoon and get back to cooking with love. (I don’t have fancy kitchen equipment.) Today it’s the Smashed Potatoes: what fun to surprise my favorite brother who, like me, thinks Yukon Golds are beyond beyond. Maybe I’ll call them “Nagi’s Olympic Gold Smashed Potatoes”!!
Can I hire you to name all my recipes? 🤣