Crispy Smashed Potatoes
These smashed potatoes are baked to crispy perfection! You're going to love this smashed potatoes recipe. Find topping ideas within the post!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 14, 2024
Would you look at those crisp and golden potatoes? Tell me you don’t want to eat those puppies straight off the pan. Yeah, I know you do. I do, too. These crispy smashed potatoes are best when they’re hot and fresh, so right off the pan is actually the best serving method.
Smashed potatoes are fun for brunch or dinner. They’re also perfect any time you get a hankering for some crispy potatoes, but want something a little more redeeming than French fries. They go great with hearty salads, too, when salad-for-dinner feels too austere.
These smashed potatoes are a fun way to use up the bag of potatoes in your pantry. They’re gluten free and vegan, too, for all to enjoy.
Smashed potatoes aren’t the quickest potato option around (you’ll boil them until tender, then smash and bake), but they are not difficult to make. Will you try them this weekend?
How to Make the Best Smashed Potatoes
Choose small potatoes, rather than large. You can use this technique on potatoes of any size (even Russet potatoes!) but for crispy potatoes, choose potatoes around the size of a golf ball or two.
Smaller potatoes are usually available in red or yellow varieties. Both are delicious, but the red potato skins have more flavor, so the reds were my favorite.
Use a large baking sheet. In my dream world, everyone owns a half-sheet pan (affiliate link), because that’s what us recipe testers are always baking on. You need a large baking surface to accommodate all the potatoes, while leaving a little breathing room around each one. If necessary, use two pans instead.
Brush the baking sheet with olive oil. I generally use parchment paper for its non-stick surface and easy clean-up factor, but baking the potatoes against an oiled baking sheet makes them even more crispy. It’s worth the clean-up, if you ask me.
Add a little garlic and onion powder. These are my secret ingredients when I’m working with potatoes. They add a subtle savory note that sends potatoes over the top! They’re especially great when you’re baking potatoes, since you run the risk of burning your garlic in the oven (burnt garlic is the worst flavor).
Watch How to Make Smashed Potatoes
Smashed Potato Topping Suggestions
I was surprised to find that I liked my crispy potatoes best when baked without cheese. You could always add a dusting of cheese after baking, though, such as grated Parmesan or crumbled feta or goat cheese.
Creamy or herbed sauces contrast deliciously with these golden, craggy potatoes. Here are some ideas:
- Easy Romesco Sauce
- Aji Verde (Spicy Peruvian Green Sauce)
- Green Goddess Dressing
- Tahini Sauce
- Basil Pesto or Kale Pesto
- Vegan Sour Cream or regular sour cream thinned with a splash of water and pinch of salt
Craving more potatoes? Here are a few of my favorite recipes:
- Best Baked Potato
- Ultra Crispy Baked Potato Wedges
- Delicious Crispy Hash Browns
- Roasted Breakfast Potatoes
- Perfect Roasted Potatoes
- Herbed Red Potato Salad (no mayo!)
Please let me know how your smashed potatoes turn out in the comments! I love hearing from you.
Crispy Smashed Potatoes
These smashed potatoes are baked to crispy perfection! You’re going to love this smashed potatoes recipe, which is both vegan and gluten free. Recipe yields 4 side servings.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds small-to-medium red or yellow potatoes
- 1 tablespoon plus ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt, divided
- 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, chives and/or green onion
Instructions
- To prepare the potatoes, scrub them clean if dirty and rinse under running water. Remove and discard any nubby sprouting areas. Place the potatoes in a large Dutch oven or soup pot.
- Fill the pot with water until the potatoes are submerged and covered by 1 inch of additional water. Add 1 tablespoon of the salt. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat and continue cooking until the potatoes are very easily pierced through by a fork (smaller potatoes are done around 20 minutes, and medium around 25 minutes).
- While the potatoes cook, preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and drizzle 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over a large, rimmed baking sheet. Brush the oil so it’s evenly distributed over the sheet.
- When the potatoes are done, drain them in a large colander and let them cool for about 5 minutes, until they can be handled safely.
- Evenly distribute the potatoes over the prepared baking sheet, and use a potato masher or a serving fork to gently smash each potato to a height of about ½ inch. (Thinner potatoes are more crispy.)
- Drizzle the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil over the smashed potatoes. Sprinkle the garlic powder, onion powder and remaining ¼ teaspoon salt over the potatoes. Finally, sprinkle them lightly with freshly ground black pepper.
- Bake until the potatoes are nice and golden on the edges, about 25 to 30 minutes. Sprinkle them with chopped fresh herbs, and serve hot.
Notes
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Yum! I love potatoes. I’ve made a similar recipe that used brie cheese on top. So good!
Thanks, Amber! I’m happy you love them.
You had me at potatoes and then added the idea of using pesto as a sauce…..I can’t wait to try this!!!!
Hooray!
This recipe, more or less, is a Christmas dinner staple at our house, so I can thoroughly recommend it! It’s particularly good with new potatoes, which are in season here in New Zealand at Christmas.
I love that! Great idea, Sasha.
Thanks for this excellent way to make crispy potatoes super delish!
Thank you for your review!
You are the best Kate! I recommend your cookbook to everyone I talk to about food. So, everyone. I love this recipe but for that salt & vinegar chip taste I crave I add 1/2 white vinegar to the water I boil the potatoes in prior to baking. So yummy!
Thank you for sharing you love for the cookbook, Kelly! I appreciate your review.
OMG tried these yesterday….AMAZING!! The only issue I had was I only got two! I left the kitchen for 15 minutes and GONE….but my thoughtful family did leave me two AMAZING Smashed Potatoes :)
I’m so glad they were that good! Thanks for your review, Jennifer.
I saw almost the exact same recipe on the Medical Medium website. I made it with chopped rosemary, and it was delicious!
I’m glad you loved it!
I’ve tried this recipe yesterday together with the romesco sauce and it was delicious. Thank you for all this amazing recipes and keep it this way !
You’re welcome! More coming soon :)
Hi there from Germany!
I made your “Chicken Soup without Chicken” – yummy! I will most certainly smash some potatoes – the idea itself is worth following and the outcome sounds tasty!
Thanks, Stefan.
I love your blog site! Since I’d never made smashed potatoes, thought I’d give it a whirl. I followed your recipe exactly (using Maui small yellow potatoes) and they turned out perfect. I didn’t use any sauce over them. Didn’t seem like they needed it. Maybe at a later time. I’ll be back to your site again. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome! Thanks for sharing, Nancy.
These were totally scrumptious!
I’m glad you loved them!
I don’t see an oven temp to bake the potatoes–just to reheat. Same for both? They look wonderful–
Hi Nancy! See step 3. 425. I hope this helps!
These potatoes are the bomb! So delicious and crispy and very moorish. They might take a while but they are not labour intensive at all and really simple to prepare. They are so yummy that we are having them again tonight
Great, Linda! Thanks for sharing you loved them.
Hi Kate and Cookie! Made these tonight and they are everything you say they are. Delicious and really so very easy. Thanks for this recipe!
Mary Ann and 6 Collies
Thanks for your review, Mary!
These were so tasty! Fresh herbs at the end is a great touch! Kate, you’re my hero!
Thanks for sharing, Marie! I’m excited you love them.
Yum! Perfect use for some leftover potatoes. Thanks, as always, for a delicious recipe!
You’re welcome, Courtney!
These were amamzing!!!
My family kept complaining that i should have cooked more.
I loved it! It is so crispy and the garlic is perfect here.
Thank you kate!
You’re welcome! Thanks for your comment.
I am going to try thses tonight what vgan dish do u serve with them ?
These would be great with a large salad!
An absolutely great idea! I just need something to smash my potatoes with (-;! I really love your recipes! Thanx a lot!!
You’re welcome! Let me know if you try it.
Great recipe – easy and delicious. Paired it with your romseco sauce which was a hit!
Delicious combination! Thanks for your review, Mary.
i made these today for lunch along with a big salad. They were outstanding and much loved by all.
Thank You for all of your great recipes.
You’re welcome, Margaret! I’m glad you are enjoying them.
Made these tonight with homemade veggie burgers and broccoli soup. Absolutely delish!
I tried them with a potato mix that included purple potatoes and they were really good too!
Thanks for all of your wonderful offerings.
That sounds like a great combination, Anne! I appreciate your review.
Made these for my family and while the flavor was good, I had a difficult time smashing these! I used a potato smasher, but seemed to break the potatoes more than smash them. Ultimately used my wrist to smash them, didn’t look pretty, but the flavor was good.
Thank you for sharing, Mandy! I’m glad you liked them. I’m sorry they didn’t smash well for you. Did they seem dry?
Good question, perhaps they might’ve been over boiled and/or baked. I live at elevation so sometimes cooking and baking is factor with recipes. I’ll try again!
These are absolutely delicious…THE BEST! As suggested, I used a combo of small red and yellow potatoes and they were both so flavorful; soft & warm on the inside, crispy on the outside. With every bite throughout dinner, I kept proclaiming, “Mmm, so good! These are so yummy! My new favorite! YUM!” I doubled the recipe for the family and may need to triple it next time! Thank you!!!
You’re welcome, Bea!
LOVE this recipe!! I make them nice and crispy around the edges
Thank you, Judy!
These were as delicious as they sounded on your post! Added to our new favorites!
Great to hear, Laura!
Do you think I could boil the potatoes tonight and then bake them tomorrow? I have company for supper after I get off work until and neet to save on time.
Here is a quick question: I am cooking just for myself and am always looking for time effective recipes. Could I do the first step of boiling the potatoes, smash them, and freeze on a cookie sheet? Then I could pull out one serving at a time and bake them to thaw and crisp up. Do you think that would work???
I don’t think that would work very well. The baking time is passive time, so you wouldn’t be saving too much. Sorry!
I found your blog when googling for simple but healthy mac and cheese recipes and stayed because you feature delicious looking vegetarian food with instructions simple enough even for a cooking newbie like myself feels like they are attainable.
I made these potatoes today and they were delicious! Thank you for sharing the recipe, it made for a delicious lunch and I look forward to trying more of your recipes in the future.
I’m happy your search brought you to the blog! Thank you for sharing, Kris.
I love these, especially with your creamy tahini sauce! With that sauce, they taste just like the fries I used to get at university from the local kebab van (except fresher!). Such a flashback and definitely worthy of repeated recreations — nostalgic and tasty! So good!
(I didn’t have garlic and onion powder on hand, but a bit of crushed garlic mixed into the olive oil drizzled on top of the potatoes was delicious, and an easy substitution if anyone is stuck!).
Thank you for sharing, Kathryn!
Made crispy mashed potatoes-too good, very tasty.
Thank you for your review, ABHA!
This was another good one and so simple to make. Thanks!
You’re welcome, Tiffany!
I made these exactly by the recipe and they turned out great. I used a heavy bottomed glass to smash them and it was easy. I sprinkled with fresh rosemary and thyme and they were mmm.
Thank you for sharing, Becky!
Made these today with an oven roasted turkey breast. Used chopped fresh dill to top after they were baked. So good!
Thanks for sharing, Connie!
I am looking for information which I did not get. I want to boil and smash the potatoes one day and cook in the oven the next day. Is this possible?
Hi Sandra, I haven’t tried that. I’m sorry! It may work, let me know.
Can you remake them up to the part when you put them in the oven?
Hi Sherri, sorry I’m not sure what you are asking?
It needs to tell me how to cook them…..not acres of ‘how yummy they are!’
The “how to cook them” part is called the “recipe”, which is clearly highlighted above with helpful tips.
This area is where the review/comments are made…exactly where people are supposed to say “how yummy they are”. ♂️
I made this with yellow finglerling potatoes and they were great. If you don’t have a lot of time remember finglerlings boil up much faster. You just eat more of them!
So good! Everyone in my family loved these, even my potato-hating 4 year old. They asked me to make double the quantity next time. :) Thanks for another keeper, Kate!
I am making these babies right now! I will send a pic once they are done!
What did you think?
Made these last night – WOW!!!! I loved them and hubby thought they were incredible!!!
That’s great, Hazel! Thank you for your review.
Just made this tonight along some pounded pork fritters a caper butter sauce finished with cream.
It is a keeper. I put some finely chopped onions. They caramelized and came out great.
Thank you for sharing, Ralph!
Second time making these – they are so good! My potatoes were a little soft this last time and were getting stuck in the masher so I used the bottom of a heavy glass to smash them. Delicious!!!
I love to hear that! Thank you, Dee.
Loved these potatoes! My intent was to make them as a side for dinner tonight. But they were so delicious that they became my main course! Definitely making them again. Thank you for the great recipe!
You’re welcome! I have done that myself. You’re in good company!
I bought New York Steaks for dinner. The $5.97 per pound price was too tempting. As I was looking at each steak, i was thinking about what I would serve as sides. Your smashed potatoes came immediately to mind. I have made them before and they were delicious. Better yet, I had stopped at a farm and bought baby potatoes–just the perfect size. I was going to use them in baked potato soup, but my husband ( who has been working out of town) is unexpectedly home and he is not fond of soup. So, I am happy my husband is home for dinner and am going to start the potatoes when I start the BBQ. Thank you for the recipe.
Hello,
I tried these today. I will be serving them at the Thanksgiving gathering tomorrow. I do not understand the enthusiasm at these potatoes. They turned out rather common and pain tasting. I sampled them after them had cooled. I will continue to look for a more interesting potato recipe. Smashed to the correct height produced a limp pile of mildly flavored potatoes with golden edges. I did add more time to them as they were not golden enough. Sad I will have to serve this to my guests, as I have already informed them of what was on the menu. Hopefully they do not share in my opinion .
Just made these today for Thanksgiving dinner. They were great! Thanks for sharing the details of the recipe.
You’re welcome, Sharon!
I baked my potatoes in pressure cooker(12 min)first. They came out perfect.
Wonderful flavor and so simple
We’ve made these crispy smashed potatoes twice now. Easily one of our favorite new recipes! Thanks, Kate.
I used medium sized Russets (that were on sale – $2 for a 5# bag) and cut them in half before boiling. After boiling, I set them on their sides on the sheet before smashing. I followed all other directions to “a T” and they came out beautifully.
Thank you for sharing, Mark!