Crispy Smashed Potatoes
I like to think of these as the grown up version of hash browns. They’re crispy and salty on the outside, soft, creamy and steamy on the inside. That was borderline food erotica for me to type. Let me take a second.
Haha these are amazing. They’re so simple to make, and are the perfect snack to serve for #SuperBowlSunday, or as a great side dish to any meal. They’re also so versatile - why didn’t I cook up a bunch of bacon to toss on top of these?! You can keep them simple with coarse salt, fresh ground pepper and chopped herbs, or get fancy wit it and treat them like baked potatoes, topping them with cheese, sour cream, bacon, anything your tummy desires. K my mouth is watering - let’s get cookin! :)
What You Need:
- As many small potatoes as you wish. I purchased a small bag from my local produce market that weighed out to 3 lbs of Yellow Potatoes. You can, of course, use whatever kind you like, but yellow potatoes work really well. Also try out red :)
- Coarse salt. I used Kosher salt because of the large grains. The flavor of Kosher salt also doesn’t overwhelm the potatoes.
- Ground pepper
- EVOO
- Fresh herbs of your choice - I used fresh Rosemary, which pairs so nicely with potatoes :)
- Cheese if you wish
What To Do:
- Preheat your oven to 450F.
- In a large stock pot, bring potatoes to a boil in salted water. Reduce the heat and allow them to simmer until they’re tender, about 18-20 minutes.
- When they are fork tender, remove them from the water and allow them to cool a bit.
- On a baking sheet, drizzle a generous amount of good olive oil. This will help them not to stick, as well as help the skin crisp up.
- Place your potatoes on the baking sheet, giving them enough space. If they’re too close, they’ll steam instead of get crispy. Time for smashing! You have a few options here - you can use the heel of your hand, a spatula, back of a large spoon, or even a potato masher to gently smash the potatoes into flat little gems of goodness.
- In my pix you can see where I used way too much pressure and the potatoes definitely exploded instead of staying in a compact little smushed taters. That’s ok too, though. I just put more cheese on those to keep them together lol
- Brush each potato with olive oil, and season liberally with salt, pepper, herbs, and cheese. Potatoes need a ton of salt so make sure you don’t skimp.
- Throw them in the oven for 15 minutes. The skin will get all crispy and golden, the cheese will have melted, and your kitchen will smell amazing. I actually turned on my broiler to get some nice toastiness on the cheese as well. Serve while hot.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy! And they’re so delicious and can curb your cravings for fast food fries. I even like em with *gasp* ketchup lol. I hope you try em out! And if you do, let me know :) I love to hear about how readers have adjusted recipes to their families’ tastes, or have shared meals with their loved ones :) Thank you so much for reading and sharing <3