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. 😂
What degree oven
5th
Hi Antoinette – in Step 2 of recipe thanks! N x
I made this recipe last night.
I didn’t boil the potatoes as well as I should have (no fault of the recipe – I didn’t wait until the water was boiling when I put the potatoes in because I was trying to hurry it!).
Squashing it was a mess but I persevered and put butter (I put double the butter because the splat was all over the place because it wasn’t cooked through) and the olive oil. There were lots of black bits (I suspect burnt butter) but it still came out delicious!
I definitely will ‘actually’ follow the recommendations next time so it looks neater and fluffier.
Definitely make it – even if you make a mistake it’s still delicious. I think those odds are worth the effort. 🙂
I am glad it worked out for you! N x
Hi! I love making these and I’m still tryin got perfect them, my issue is that when I smash them, the split into pieces rather than lay flat in one paddie. Any suggestions?
I cut crosses in the tops of the boiled potatoes to guide where the skin breaks. That way they don’t just burst open anywhere. Maybe that helped?
Me too! I think maybe they are not boiled enough? Not soft enough, even though they seem pretty soft, I don’t know what else it could be.
Made the smashed potato earlier tasted amazing you don’t need to make potatoes any other way will make again and great to make for a starter.
So glad you enjoyed them, David! N x
Made these smashed potatoes earlier they tasted amazing will be making them again they will be my go to potato recpie you don’t need to make potato’s any other way
Hello! Can I boil and smash them ahead of time, then bake hours later? Thank you 😊
I haven’t tested that but I think it would work…it might take longer to get crispy since they will be cold when you bake them. N x
Chilling after smashing then baking increases the level of resistive starch, and thats a good thing. I leave mine covered in the fridge over night usually
Sounds like a great tip. Thanks for sharing.
Can you make the crispy smashed potatoes with sweet potatoes?
Unfortunately not, they are much soft. 🙂 I’d have to figure out how to do this with sweet potato! N x
Why are you not to flip them?
Because the underside is flat against the tray which makes it go super crispy and by leaving the top exposed the whole time the top goes extra crispy too!! N x
Thank you!!!!
This is fantastic. I wasn’t sure about the oil and the butter and was inclined to only use butter. But I read your statement about why to use both and it made sense. I’m so glad I did. Next up, I’m going to make your flatbread or your Naan. I haven’t decided on which, yet. They both look great.
PS Your site is the absolute best! I see a recipe I like somewhere and immediately come to your site to see how it should be done. LOL!
Unbelievably delicious! I’ve made many versions of spuds but this is hands down the best!
These turned out amazinggg! Thank you for posting this recpie.
Made these to go with the Parmy. Delicious! They didn’t look as good as yours but were very very tasty! This is a forgiving recipe as it’s all about the taste!!
I found this variation from the small smashed potatoes to be easy and amazing! I added some rosemary and Parmesans and my family loved them!
Nagi yet again you have risen my cooking to a new level. My husband is addicted to these. They were easy peazy and the only thing I did was after I smashed them up I put them in the fridge all day as I was busy. Well just amazing. Thankyou again. 💞
These are delicious with duck fat instead of the oil and butter.
A flip flop would be delicious with duck fat,
Hi Nagi, what type of roasting pan did you use for the ultra crispy smashed potatoes?
Hi Lisa, it’s just a regular cookie tray 🙂 N x
Is there any reason why I couldn’t boil and crush the potatoes in advance, let them go cold and then bake in the oven later? Thanks
You definitely could Mary, they may take a little longer in the oven though 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi. I was wondering if sweet potatoes will work with this recipe? I have an overabundance of farm fresh sweet one’s. The regular white potatoes smashed are so very good!
I made these the other night to go with some bbq lamb cutlets. I did a bad job as I was in a rush. Although everybody said they were great, I knew they could have been much better.
Tonight I’m bbq’ing some lamb again, so I made sure to give myself enough time to do a better job.
These just came out of the oven, and they are damn good!
My wife and I tried one and she loved it, but I have to be careful not to talk too much about the butter and oil, or she won’t eat them.
I made these potatoes many times can’t count. We love hot chips so I found these a little healthier 🙂
Sometimes I added thyme and whole garlic together with the potatoes. Other time I made them as a side dish with roast chicken, so boiled the potatoes in chicken broth and it was yaammy.
Thank you for giving me inspirations