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These Smashed Potatoes are an easy, flavor-packed side dish or appetizer. Little potatoes are boiled, smashed, and roasted with a decadent melted herb butter sauce until they are perfectly crispy. These golden nuggets are impossible to resist. We like to have them with sour cream or Greek yogurt as a drizzle or dip.
Why You’ll Love This Easy Smashed Potatoes Recipe
Delicious Details
- Cuisine Inspiration: American
- Primary Cooking Method: Stovetop, Oven
- Dietary Info: Gluten-free, Dairy-free option
- Skill Level: Easy
Can you believe I am the parent to the one kid in America who refuses to eat mashed potatoes? That’s why I often make this recipe that’s halfway between mashed potatoes and baked potatoes. Smashed potatoes are a family favorite, especially with all the crispy bits and a buttery mix of herbs and seasonings to add extra-savory flavor. Even the no-mash kid gobbles them right up!
You can serve them as an appetizer or as a new twist on a classic potato side. Dress them up with cheese or add sour cream and flaky salt – you have so many options! Here’s why you’ll love these crispy smashed potatoes:
- Easy. You need just a few pantry staples to make this smashed potatoes recipe! A mix of dried seasonings adds flavor and butter adds a decadent touch.
- Versatile. Serve smashed potatoes as an appetizer, as a side dish to a roast, or even just alongside a hearty salad!
- Adaptable. You can play around with the herbs included in this recipe, or season them simply with salt and pepper. See some other suggestions further down if you keep reading.
- Naturally gluten free. Yep, no gluten ingredients here (do read the labels on your spices though, just to be sure), and you can even swap for vegan butter if you need to make them dairy free.
What You’ll Need
Here’s what you’ll need to make this smashed potatoes recipe. The full ingredient amounts are included in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Potatoes: Use small potatoes rather than russet potatoes.
- Butter: I use unsalted butter, but you can use salted butter if you prefer a little more salt.
- Salt and Pepper
- Dried Seasonings: Parsley, paprika, and onion powder.
- To Serve: Sour cream, Greek yogurt, chives, and fresh parsley, optional.
What Are The Best Potatoes For Smashed Potatoes?
You can use any type of potato to make smashed potatoes, but in my opinion, the best potatoes are smaller ones like baby potatoes. You can also use red (or baby red) potatoes, Yukon golds, or small white potatoes. Potatoes that are on the small side are fun because you can treat them almost like potato chips and they’re a perfect handheld size to easily dip into sour cream or ranch sauce.
How To Make Smashed Potatoes
A few easy steps are all you’ll need to take to make these crispy smashed potatoes! Find the detailed instructions in the recipe card lower down.
- Prep. Preheat the oven and grease a sheet pan.
- Make potatoes. Place the potatoes in a saucepan.
- Boil. Cover with water, bring to a boil, simmer until fork tender, then drain.
- Make seasoned butter. Melt the butter.
- Add spices. Whisk in the salt and spices.
- Smash potatoes. Press down on the potatoes until they are about 1⁄2-inch thick.
- Add seasoned butter. Drizzle the butter over the potatoes.
- Bake. Place in the oven and bake until crispy and golden.
- Serve. Sprinkle the potatoes with parsley and chives to serve.
Tips & Variations
- Make sure to boil. Don’t skip the step of boiling the potatoes! This will help them become beautifully fluffy inside while the outside will be nice and crispy after they come out of the oven. You also can’t smash raw potatoes.
- Change up the seasonings. You can season these potatoes very simply with salt and pepper, follow the recipe as written, or add seasonings of your choice.
- Make them spicy. Add a little cayenne pepper to the seasoning mix, or drizzle hot sauce over the potatoes when you serve them. Or try Cajun Blackened Spice for the extra kick.
- Add cheese. I love adding shredded sharp cheddar cheese to my smashed potatoes! You can add the cheese – try other kinds as well, such as Jack cheese or Parmesan cheese – during the last 10 minutes of cooking time.
- Top with bacon. Sprinkle chopped, cooked bacon over the top of your cooked potatoes before serving.
- Dairy-free option. Use olive oil or your favorite non-dairy butter in place of the butter.
How to Store & Reheat Leftovers
If you have any leftover potatoes, they will keep well so you can reheat them another time. Here’s how to do it:
- Fridge – Place cooled, leftover potatoes in an airtight container and store them in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- To Reheat – Arrange the potatoes on a baking sheet and reheat them in the oven at 375°F until hot and slightly crisped up. You can also pop them in the air fryer at 370-380°F for several minutes.
Make it a Meal
As mentioned, smashed potatoes are a perfect snack to nibble on during the cocktail hour, or you can make them to serve with a variety of main dishes. Or, they can be a main dish! See my serving suggestions below:
- Salad. Make crispy smashed potatoes your main meal and add a fresh salad. My Easy Greek Salad, Winter Fruit Feta Salad, or Roasted Asparagus Salad recipes make for a great side to smashed potatoes.
- Roast. Potatoes are perfect with roasted meat! Serve potatoes with a Bottom Round Roast or a Rosemary Balsamic Roast Chicken. If you don’t have time for roasting, just make a quick batch of Garlic Butter Steak Bites while the potatoes are in the oven.
- Other vegetables. Whatever main dish you choose, add potatoes to your plate along with Roasted Cauliflower, Roasted Butternut Squash, or Roasted Asparagus.
- As a snack. You can enjoy smashed potatoes as a quick snack, along with a variety of dips! Try serving them with Buffalo Ranch Sauce, Dill Cucumber Yogurt Dip, sour cream, Tatziki, or even homemade Hummus.
- Drinks. Serve a bowl of smashed potatoes as an appetizer along with a few cocktails, like a Cherry Vanilla Dirty Coke or glasses of Cucumber Gimlet White Wine Sangria.
More Potato Side Dishes
Smashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds small potatoes
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt , plus additional for cooking the potatoes
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- To serve: Sour cream, Greek yogurt, chives, fresh parsley
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly coat a large sheet pan with oil or cooking spray.
- Place the potatoes in a medium saucepan. Cover with cold water and add a large pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until fork tender. Drain well and return the potatoes to the pot for a few minutes to allow the moisture to evaporate.
- While the potatoes are boiling, melt the butter in a small bowl, and stir in the salt, parsley, paprika, onion powder, and pepper.
- Spread the potatoes out on the prepared pan. Lightly grease the bottom of a glass or a flat metal spatula and gently smash the potatoes to crack the skin until they are about 1⁄2-inch thick.
- Drizzle the butter over the potatoes and bake at 425°F for 40-50 minutes or until crispy and golden.
- Sprinkle with minced parsley or chives, and serve with sour cream or plain Greek yogurt, if desired.
Did you make this?
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