Introducing your new favourite potato recipe – buttery, crispy SMASHED POTATOES! Crazy crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, there’s a serious risk that only half of these will make it to the dinner table….
Smashed Potatoes
Let me introduce you to your new favourite way with potatoes.
SMASHED!
CRISPY!
BUTTERY!!
Buttery CRISPY SMASHED POTATOES!
Best ever potato recipe!
If you are yet to experience the joys of crispy smashed potatoes, and my first experience was only 3 years ago when I was introduced to them by Claire from Sprinkles and Sprouts, a fellow Australian food blogger, these are going to change your potato game forever.
These taste like buttery french fries, albeit they are look completely different. “Rustic”, I declare loftily. They’re fluffy on the inside, and ultra crispy on both the underside and on the surface. All those ridges are the best! Forget squashing them neat and flat – the more nubbly the surface, the better the crunch!!!
Tips to make ultra crispy smashed potatoes
Ultra Crispy Smashed Potatoes are straight forward to make – boil, squish, drizzle, bake – but there are two little tips I’ve discovered along the way:
-
Let the potatoes steam dry a bit after smashing them. This ensures optimum crispiness!
-
Use butter and a touch of oil. Because butter = flavour, oil ensures more even and better browning and crispiness. Can’t use just butter because it burns in the oven at high temperatures.
Also, you can totally feel free to add flavourings like garlic and dried herbs, but they do burn a bit so you’ll get little black bits on the surface. In all honesty, these are so tasty as they are, they don’t need anything more! (In my personal, potato-opinion)
How to serve Ultra Crispy Smashed Potatoes
I would be totally happy just munching on these as a snack. And if I had a larger oven, or multiple ovens, I would make loads of these and serve them as a snack at gatherings. Because if you make these with small potatoes as I have done, they are perfect finger food snacking size.
But I typically serve these on the side of mains. It will go with pretty much any Western dish, from pork chops to fish, chicken to steak. Try it on the side of this Steak with Creamy Peppercorn Sauce, these Lemon Garlic Marinated Pork Chops, these Crispy Garlic Chicken Thighs or this Sun Dried Tomato Stuffed Chicken Breast.
However you plan to serve these Crispy Smashed Potatoes, it has your name written all over it. Do it, do it, do it! – Nagi x
More potato recipes
- Crispy Parmesan Crusted Potatoes (side dish or to nibble)
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Sometimes it helps to have a visual, so watch me make these Crispy Smashed Potatoes!!
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Ultra Crispy Smashed Potatoes
Ingredients
Potatoes - choose:
- 700g / 1.4 lb small potatoes (12 - 14) (Note 1)
- 1 - 1.2kg / 2 - 2.4lb medium potatoes (6 - 8)
Cooking:
- 1 tbsp salt (for boiling)
- 30g / 2 tbsp unsalted butter , melted
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3/4 tsp salt (for sprinkling)
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- Finely chopped parsley , optional garnish
Instructions
- Cook potatoes: Bring a pot of water to the boil, add 1 tbsp salt. Cook potatoes until soft - small ones should take around 20 to 25 minutes, medium ones might take 30 minutes. It's ok if the skin splits. Alternatively, steam or microwave them.
- Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F (180°C fan).
- Steam dry: Drain the potatoes and let them dry in the colander for 5 minutes or so.
- Smash! Place on the tray then use a large fork or potato masher to squish them, keeping them in one piece. Thin = crisper. Thicker = fluffier insides. (Both good!) More nubbly surface = better crunch!
- Steam dry again: Leave on the tray to steam dry for 5 minutes or so - makes them crispier!
- Drizzle: Drizzle with butter, then olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Bake: Bake for 45 minutes (small potatoes) to 55 minutes (medium) or until deep golden and crispy. Do not flip!
- Serve hot, sprinkled with parsley if desired.
Recipe Notes:

Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
When I travel, Dozer stays with a golden retriever boarder. Rumbling with his friends, a whirlwind of fur chasing each other around the backyard, somersaulting across the lounge room as they tumble.
I’m told he’s internally fretting about me. 😂
Hi Nagi,
Love your recipes! I’m trying to do a lot of prep for entertaining a large crowd in a few days time. Do you think it would work if I boiled, smashed, cooled then froze these potatoes? Then on the day drizzle oil on them and follow your recipe as usual (maybe up the timings a bit since they’re frozen)?
Or would this affect their crispiness?
Yukon gold baby potatoes, melted butter and blended with olive oil, kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper.
Perfection! Best of fried and baked.
Made this recipe twice so far using medium sized red potatoes. Served with fresh parsley and chive plus a dollop of plain Greek yogurt. Delicious -everyone loved them.
Soooo good! We tried with baby red potatoes and baby gold potatoes, and we prefer the baby reds. We sprinkle on some Tony Chachere’s and some Flavor God Garlic Lovers and use Kosher salt rather than table salt. Mmmm-mmmm!!!
We love these potatoes and I make them often. I want to serve them with your chicken parmigiana which is cooked at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, the potatoes cooking at 390 degrees for about 45 minutes. Can you suggest the best way (temperature) to accommodate both these recipes to cook in the same oven without compromising either one?
Thank you!
Oops sorry forgot to add the stars…..5 of course! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Made these for dinner tonight. Dangerously delicious!! The whole family said best spuds ever so Yay! they are a winner round here. Will be on the menu quite often I’m guessing…..not good for the waistline but can’t resist a tasty buttery crunchy spud😉
pro tip, best potatoes have garlic/onion seasoning. added parm in to the mix as well, yes.
Wow! Made these tonight! Fabulous. Made exactly as the recipe indicates
I made these last night. I ‘took one for the team’ and added a sprinkle of grated tasty cheese in the last few minutes.
Totally wonderful way to serve the humble tater.
can you use canned potatoes for this
I made these last night! Turned out so good! Crispy outside and fluffy inside.
Hello,
Just checking if there’s any reason why I shouldn’t do the boiling and smashing bit a couple of hours before the go in the oven? Want to do for a long lunch and would rather prep in advance. Thankyou!
You can parboil them ahead of time and let dry and refrigerate. I wouldn’t butter/oil them until ready to bake. We made these at a restaurant I used to work as a cook and potatoes were boiled in advance, refrigerated and deep fried to order.
Did you try the delayed cook method? I have just finished boiling and smashing and wanted to wait to cook would be interested in knowing how this worked for you. Thanks
Great easy recipe. All Nagi’s recipes have been wonderful
Making these for the 2nd time! Absolutely delicious. I brushed the butter and oil onto them, so they were evenly coated. Can’t wait to eat them with our steaks tonight!
Made these to go with the chicken parmigiana recipe. My wife and daughter love me to make this for them.
your recipe is utter dickshit!. by mr helmut cheddar!
What a class act.
Wow!! How rude!!!!
I’ve made these a couple of times now but today I did them in my new air fryer. Just YUM!!
Hey Sue, how long in the airfryer?
10 minutes, but watch them.
I made these tonight with
big-ish (half-fist sized-plus?) (my fist, not Nagi’s, obv! :D). My potato masher is a crappy thick plastic one, not the lovely thin metal one Nagi has, so after the initial squoosh I used a fork to press up/down and sideways the way you would for peanut butter cookies.
They didn’t quite stay togther (my fault, so I made the sacrifice and gobbed the side bits). But overall they were amazeballs as a side for BBQ pork ribs and salad, and I will definitely make (and try to perfect) these again.
Wonderful side dish. The creamy inside and crunchy outside is perfect. I followed note 2 and it added the garlic flavor I wanted. I used small Yukon gold potatoes. My potato masher worked great to smash the potatoes.