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Smashed Potatoes is a great way to make a delicious side of potatoes that’s buttery, crunchy and delicious without the hassle of prepping the potatoes. This smashed potatoes recipe is the love child of my mashed potatoes and my crunchy garlic potatoes. But unlike those recipes, there is no peeling or cutting involved. All you have to do is par-boil, smash, season and bake! To par-boil means to partly cook the potatoes in boiling water. The goal is to soften the potatoes enough, so they easily smash under the weight of a drinking mug.
Smashing the potatoes creates more surface area for the potatoes to get a golden crust as they bake with butter in a hot oven. Another great aspect of this recipe is you don’t even have to measure all the seasoning. Just season with your heart. This recipe calls for garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper and dried parsley. You can always add more or less, this is what works for us!
Tips for the Best Smashed Potatoes
- Buy the bags of petite potatoes. They come in 24 oz bags at my local Kroger. I like the gold ones because they’re a creamier texture but buy what you can find. The reason you want the petite potatoes is then you don’t have to cut into even size pieces.
- This recipe calls for 72 oz or 3 bags of petite potatoes which feeds my family of six. You can easily halve the recipe but if you’re making the full recipe, you’ll need two sheet pans most likely.
- The potatoes get really crispy when cooked on the bottom rack of the oven. If you’re making the full recipe and have two sheet pans and both don’t fit on the bottom rack, just stagger the sheet pans on two racks as close to the bottom as possible. When you flip the potatoes and put back in the oven, rotate the pans so both have a chance to be on the bottom rack.
- Use a flexible offset spatula to flip the potatoes to ensure the best part of potato doesn’t get stuck to the bottom of the pan.
Smashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 72 oz petite gold potatoes
- olive oil
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- kosher salt
- black pepper
- dried parsley
- 12 tbsp salted butter divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- Add whole petite potatoes to the water (no need to peel them).
- Once the water re-reaches a low boil, set a timer for 14 minutes.
- Drain the potatoes.
- Oil the bottom of two sheet pans.
- Take dry potatoes and using the bottom of a mug, smash the potatoes down onto the sheet pan.
- Season with garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper and dried parsley.
- Top the potatoes with 8 tbsp diced butter (4 tbsp per sheet pan)
- Bake on bottom rack for 30 minutes. If you don't have enough room to fit both sheet pans on the bottom rack.
- Flip the potatoes and add remaining 4 tbsp of diced butter (2 tbsp per sheet pan)
- Put back in the oven for 10-15 more minutes.
- Remove from the oven and serve warm.