These are our all-time favorite, ridiculously crispy Smashed Potatoes! They’re nice and crisp on the outside with light, fluffy interiors and the perfect amount of seasoning and spices!
Love potatoes? Us too! Try our Roasted Potatoes, Mashed Potatoes, or super popular Potato Soup next.
Smashed Potatoes
Hands down, smashed potatoes are the favorite side dish at my home. And especially around the holidays — we wouldn’t imagine serving a holiday dinner without these on the table!
Smashed Potatoes are about as simple as possible to make without sacrificing any flavor– which is a must have for a side dish. A few seasonings plus a couple of tips and tricks and you’re on your way to the most flavorful and perfectly textured smashed potatoes around!
Let’s Chat Potatoes
For this recipe, we recommend baby Yukon gold/gold/Dutch yellow potatoes. We love the creamy, tender, and buttery flavor Yukon golds deliver and they roast amazingly well. Their skin is also delicate, which is a major plus for Smashed Potatoes!
The smaller the potatoes, the better. Smaller potatoes will cook more evenly and develop better crispy exteriors.
Do your best to get as similarly sized potatoes as possible. If there is a lot of variation in the sizing, you may end up with some perfectly crisp and tender potatoes while others aren’t quite done.
- Grate the Parmesan cheese over the potatoes with a mini grater. This gives the cheese the best possible texture and it melts perfectly over the Smashed Potatoes
- Fresh herbs such as finely chopped parsley or thinly sliced chives add a nice fresh touch.
Quick Tip
The reason we don’t use real garlic or other dried herbs is that they tend to burn with the high oven temperature — better to add garlic powder and then garnish with real herbs at the end of cooking time.
Smashed Potato Tips
- Use a high oven temperature. The high temperature helps the potatoes get perfectly crispy and caramelized. If your potatoes aren’t caramelizing in the oven or if they’re browning too quickly, your oven temperature could be off; here’s how to test your oven temperature.
- Let the potatoes dry. After draining the potatoes, let them stand in the strainer for about 5 minutes and steam dry. Then, after you’ve smashed the potatoes and arranged them on the pan, let them dry for another 4 or so minutes. This gives you ultra-crispy potatoes. If they’ve got extra liquid from boiling, they’ll steam instead of roast.
- Generously salt the water. To thoroughly season the potatoes, make sure to add salt to their cooking water!
Smashed Potatoes FAQs
Do you have to boil potatoes before baking?
Yes! Boil or steam the potatoes first so they’re easy to smash and cook well.
How long should you boil potatoes?
It depends on their size, but a good rule of thumb is to cook until they can be pierced through with a fork while in the water.
Make sure the potatoes have plenty of water (and space) to boil in!
Why are my Smashed Potatoes not crispy?
A few reasons could be:
- Over-crowded pan
- Roasting more than one pan in the same oven at a time
- Not allowing the potatoes to steam dry (potatoes with lots of moisture will steam instead of roast)
- Oven is reading hotter than it actually is
Quick Tip
Number 1 Smashed Potato Tip:
Use a LARGE sheet pan. For crispier roasted potatoes, use a large sheet pan, preferably 15×21 inches, to prevent overcrowding. Overlapping potatoes steam and become soggy instead of caramelizing. If a large pan isn’t available, use two smaller ones.
More Delicious Side Dishes:
- Garden Salad with a quick homemade dressing
- Cornbread Dressing with sourdough bread and cornbread!
- Roasted Sweet Potatoes with two recipes — sweet or savory!
- Green Bean Casserole made from scratch
- Beet Goat Cheese Walnut Salad with a honey-Dijon dressing
Smashed Potatoes
Equipment
- large sheet pan, 15 x 21-inch
- Pastry brush
- Large pot
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 pounds baby gold potatoes see note 1
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon melted unsalted butter or use extra olive oil
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- Fresh parsley or chives, optional
- Parmesan cheese optional
Instructions
- Preheat to 400°F (200°C). Use an extra-large (15×21-inch) sheet pan or 2 smaller ones and use a pastry brush to spread 1/4 cup olive oil evenly over the pan(s). Set aside. Clean the potatoes; no need to peel.
- To steam potatoes, see note 2. Boil potatoes: Bring a large pot of water to boil. Once boiling, add 1 tablespoon salt. Return water to boil, then add potatoes. Cook until potatoes can be pierced with a fork, about 20–25 minutes for baby potatoes or 25–30 for larger potatoes. Once potatoes are tender, drain and let stand in the colander to steam dry, about 5 minutes.
- Place potatoes on a clean surface. Working 1 at a time, cover a potato with a clean kitchen towel. Apply pressure with your palm on top of the towel and potato. Smash the potato to the height of 1/2-inch and remove the towel. Use a metal spatula to gently scrape up the potato and transfer to the prepared pan. Repeat until all potatoes are smashed and on the pan, ensuring potatoes aren’t overlapping or too close together—they need room! Let smashed potatoes stand on the sheet pan to steam dry for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, melt butter. Add seasonings to a small bowl—garlic powder, paprika, salt, and pepper (or to taste) and stir. Use the pastry brush to spread the melted butter evenly on the tops of all the potatoes. Sprinkle seasoning blend evenly on top of the potatoes, avoiding dropping seasonings on the pan (they’ll just burn).
- Bake 35–45 minutes for baby potatoes and 45–55 minutes for larger potatoes or until potatoes are crispy and golden. Check potatoes a few times as you near the end of baking time to avoid burned potato bottoms. No need to flip the potatoes halfway.
- Remove from oven and promptly grate on Parmesan cheese (if using) and sprinkle with fresh herbs. Serve immediately—these are best hot! Smashed Potatoes don’t store well and aren’t great being made ahead of time.
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
