Parmesan Balsamic Caramelized Onion Smashed Potatoes

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Parmesan Balsamic Caramelized Onion Smashed Potatoes - a tasty way to change up your traditional mashed potatoes recipe for your Sunday dinner or holiday meal. | cupcakesandkalechips.com

Your holiday meals or Sunday Suppers need a little extra flavor, so for a change from plain old mashed potatoes, serve a side dish with flair like these Parmesan Balsamic Caramelized Onion Smashed Potatoes.

Parmesan Balsamic Caramelized Onion Smashed Potatoes

Parmesan Balsamic Caramelized Onion Smashed Potatoes - a tasty way to change up your traditional mashed potatoes recipe for your Sunday dinner or holiday meal side dish. | cupcakesandkalechips.com

Originally posted on February 26, 2012, photos updated on November 1, 2015.

When I was a kid, Sundays always went the same way. I got dressed in my Sunday best, which, much to my displeasure, usually involved tights and patent leather Mary Janes. Then we were off to church at 9am, followed by an Entenmann’s chocolate frosted mini-donut from the church basement and a ride across town for CCD (a.k.a. Catechism or Sunday School).

Religious education complete, the whole family then congregated at Grandma & Grandpa’s house for Sunday Dinner. The cousins all played while the adults sat in the dining room reading the newspaper and chatting. I was typically in the backyard losing a game of one-on-one baseball (we had a very complex set of rules in order to do this) or H-O-R-S-E to my cousin, Nathaniel. At some point in the afternoon, I would crawl in Grandpa’s lap to read the comics.

Then we would all gather around the table for one of my Grandma’s wonderful Sunday dinners. Sometimes it was spaghetti or chicken noodle soup, or stuffed cabbage (which I always ate without the cabbage), but more often than not, it was some sort of roast or chicken with a side of mashed potatoes. I would have a huge pile of mashed potatoes, usually with my corn mixed into it – those were pretty much the only two vegetables I ate as a kid. Probably too many mashed potatoes, since now I don’t really love them. On Thanksgiving, with all of the other awesome side dishes, I don’t feel that they are worthy of any of the valuable real estate on my plate. Then I found a recipe for Caramelized Onion Mashed Potatoes, and I was a fan again. I’ve made them several times, and thought it was time to put my own spin on them.

Parmesan Balsamic Caramelized Onion Smashed Potatoes - a tasty way to change up your traditional mashed potatoes recipe for your Sunday dinner or holiday meal side dish. | cupcakesandkalechips.com

[Tweet “Forget plain old #mashedpotatoes and make Parmesan Balsamic Caramelized Onion Smashed Potatoes!”]

Caramelized onions

During The Bug’s nap, I cooked the onions till they were all browned and caramelized, added some balsamic vinegar and water, then let them cook a little more, until they were all gooey. Then I put them in the fridge till it was time to finish up dinner, and folded them into the potatoes right at the end.

Caramelized onion mashed potatoes on my plate

They were sweet, salty, tangy, and tasty, and went perfectly with the flavors in the gravy from the crockpot roast and Lemon Parmesan Roasted Broccoli. It’s also great to spoon some French Onion Meatballs and the sauce right over the top.

I hope you like them, too!

Parmesan Balsamic Caramelized Onion Smashed Potatoes - a tasty way to change up your traditional mashed potatoes recipe for your Sunday dinner or holiday meal side dish. | cupcakesandkalechips.com

Did you have family Sunday Dinners as a kid? Do you now? What are some of your favorite Sunday Dinner meals?

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Parmesan Balsamic Caramelized Onion Smashed Potatoes

A tasty way to change up your traditional mashed potatoes recipe for a Sunday dinner or holiday meal side dish.
Prep: 12 minutes
Cook: 18 minutes
Total: 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the caramelized onions:

  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 medium sweet onion Vidalia, Maui, etc., chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
  • 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • 1 Tablespoon water

For the potatoes:

  • 2 pounds white potatoes peeled and cut into about 1 inch chunks
  • 1 cup buttermilk or 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt and 1/2 cup milk, plus additional if needed
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
  • 1/8 teaspoon black pepper or to taste

Instructions

For the caramelized onions (can be made ahead, and kept in the fridge):

  • Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat, and add onions.
  • Cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. You may have to lower the heat a little as they start to brown.
  • Add balsamic vinegar and water, cover and lower heat. Cook until soft and sticky. Set aside until potatoes are ready.

For the potatoes:

  • Cover potatoes in a pot with water, and bring to a boil.
  • Cook for about 15 minutes, or until potatoes are fork tender. Drain.
  • Add the buttermilk (or yogurt and milk) and mash with a hand potato masher. I like to leave it a little chunky. Add additional milk if needed to achieve desired texture.
  • Stir in the reserved caramelized onions, parmesan, salt, and pepper.

Notes

Adapted from Cooking Light's Caramelized Onion Mashed Potatoes.
Nutrition Facts
Parmesan Balsamic Caramelized Onion Smashed Potatoes
Amount Per Serving (1 g)
Calories 128 Calories from Fat 36
% Daily Value*
Fat 4g6%
Saturated Fat 1g5%
Cholesterol 8mg3%
Sodium 284mg12%
Potassium 516mg15%
Carbohydrates 16g5%
Fiber 2g8%
Sugar 1g1%
Protein 6g12%
Vitamin A 105IU2%
Vitamin C 13mg16%
Calcium 138mg14%
Iron 3.7mg21%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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Here are some more potato dishes you might enjoy…

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And a few from my friends…

Parmesan Balsamic Caramelized Onion Smashed Potatoes - a tasty way to change up your traditional mashed potatoes recipe for your Sunday dinner or holiday meal side dish. | cupcakesandkalechips.com

Bowl of caramelized onion mashed potatoes from topBowl of caramelized onion mashed potatoes

28 Comments
  1. Oh my gosh! These sound SO good! What a great way to mix it up at the Thanksgiving table, too! I don’t cook on Thanksgiving but I definitely will be giving these a try on a Sunday dinner soon! Thanks SO much for linking up to HIt Me With Your Best Shot!

  2. We love balsamic and caramelized onions and mashed taters (well, actually, potatoes in just about all forms!) so I’m thinking I need to make these, STAT! Looks so tasty. 🙂

  3. This look so delicious! I’d love it if you shared this post and some of your other recent posts at Worthwhile Wednesdays!
    Allie (www.craftyallieblog.com)

  4. I could eat these with nothing else, they look soooo good! Our Sunday dinner after mass was pot roast, mashed potatoes and corn. I also mixed my corn and potatoes together back then.

  5. I am so with you – never very wowed by mashed potatoes. And I’m a serious potato lover! But I think you’ve solved my issue. Parmesan and balsamic and carmelized onions? Um, YES! That will certainly kick regular mashed potatoes up multiple notches! This sounds so amazing and may have to make a debut at my Thanksgiving table – thanks for sharing!

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  7. These potatoes look fantastic, yum! I love basic mashed potatoes, but it’s fun to do something different sometimes too…love the flavors going on here!

    1. Brianne @ Cupcakes & Kale Chips

      Thanks! Yes, these are some of my favorite flavors, so why not put it all together 🙂

  8. The smashed potatoes sound amazing!
    Aren’t family dinners the best?! I remember mine so fondly. I think my favorite thing of all time was the green bean casserole. It was kind of a family joke when I went through a phase where I wouldn’t really eat anything else at those dinners…but I still have a special spot in my heart for plain old fashioned green bean casserole…

    1. Brianne @ Cupcakes & Kale Chips

      I try to stick to “real food”, but there is no substitute for green bean casserole with Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom and French’s French Fried Onions! You make me laugh and cry a little. My Grandma, who passed away several years ago, would spend all day on Thanksgiving saying “I brought the green bean casserole” like that commercial.

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