Introducing your new favourite way with spuds – 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….
I haven’t even been in Japan for 24 hours yet, and already had some pretty impressive Travel Fails. It all started back in Sydney, when I was bragging about how light my suitcase was. “It’s because I’m an efficient packer,”, I said smugly, multiple times.
As we strode through the airport to the check in counter, I marvelled at the luxury of moving so freely when I’m usually weighed down by multiple bags.
I’m still astounded how far through the airport I got before it dawned on me. “OMG”, I said, my face draining. “I LEFT MY SUITCASE ON THE SIDEWALK!!” I yelled as I sprinted back across the airport, out to where the Uber dropped us, relieved beyond words to see my suitcase was still there with a nearby security guard eyeing the unattended suitcase suspiciously – and rightfully so!
Travel Fail # 2 was even more impressive. It may have involved me leaving my ski bag on the luggage carousel at Tokyo airport. It may have also involved me not realising until the next day, when we were literally just about to board the bullet train to the snow. It may have involved everyone else going ahead to the snow without me while I went aaaaalll the way back to the airport to fetch my ski boots.
Travel Fail #3 was not so much epic as it was embarrassing because it occurred in a public environment. In the fully booked express train back to the airport, my suitcase with its super wheels that “roll oh-so-smoothly, I love this suitcase!”, took it upon itself to roll all the way down the carriage as the train accelerated. Then me chasing after it, except the strap of my handbag got caught on an armrest, bringing me to an abrupt halt.
Such are the joys of travel!! You have to laugh!🤣
In the spirit of my current trip to Japan, I had hoped to bring you something Asian-y, however, when I was making the video on the flight, I discovered half the footage was corrupt. So we’ll “just” have to make do with these Ultra Crispy Smashed Potatoes instead.
It’s a hard life. It’s a hard, hard, life.
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!!!
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.
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)
This one has your name written all over it. Do it, do it, do it! – Nagi x
Extra crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside. They taste like French fries except they're buttery (and look more rustic! 🙂 ) These will be your new favourite way with potatoes! Makes 12, depending on size of potatoes. Make as many as can fit on the tray once smashed, as long as they aren't touching. Recipe VIDEO below.
- 700 g / 1.4 lb small potatoes (Note 1)
- 50 g / 3 tbsp unsalted butter , melted
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Finely chopped parsley , optional garnish
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Bring a pot of water to the boil. Cook potatoes until soft - small ones should take around 20 to 25 minutes, large ones might take 30 minutes. It's ok if the skin splits. Alternatively, steam or microwave them.
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Preheat oven to 180C/350F (standard) or 160C/320F (fan / convection).
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Drain the potatoes and let them dry in the colander for 5 minutes or so.
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Place on the tray then use a large fork or potato masher to squish them, keeping them in one piece. Thin = crisper. More nubbly surface = better crunch!
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Leave on the tray to steam dry for 5 minutes or so - makes them crispier!
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Drizzle with butter, then just a bit of olive oil (about 1/4 tsp on each). Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
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Bake for 40 minutes or until deep golden and crispy. Do not flip!
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Serve hot, sprinkled with parsley if desired.
1. I've used a variety of potatoes over the years and this works great with all types, including baby potatoes. High starch potatoes will yield a fluffier inside, whereas waxy potatoes are a bit less fluffy but are sort of creamy. You'll love both!
You can make these with smaller or medium potatoes. Small ones - size of a golf ball or smaller - will come out crisper (like finger food, you can pick them up), whereas larger ones have the same crispiness on the surface but you get more fluffy potato on the inside because they don't get squished as thinly. I like them both ways!
2. Flavourings: If you add garlic or dried herbs into the butter, it has a tendency to burn so you end up with black bits and they can be bitter. If you're really keen for garlic flavour, use the side of your knife to smash 2 cloves so they burst open. Place in small saucepan with butter and melt, then leave to infuse with garlic flavour. Discard cloves and proceed with recipe.
For herbs, add a generous amount (dried or fresh) into the pot of boiling water so the potatoes get infused with herb flavour. Discard herbs and proceed with recipe.
3. Nutrition per potato, assuming 12 potatoes.
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
LIFE OF DOZER
While I’m in Japan, Dozer is with the 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. 😂
Made these potatoes for the first time tonight…i found when i started to smash them the fell apart….did i cook them to long in the pot? They are in the oven now….the true test is if my husband likes them…may add some chedder cheese to them….
So GOOD and EASY. Thanks for posting this recipe.
Love hearing that! So glad you enjoyed this Dee! N xx
Nagi, these are so good. What a fun twist for a potato. While growing up we’d sometimes have boiled potatoes as a side dish and I ALWAYS smashed mine! They do take awhile, but well worth the wait. I dipped mine in ranch dressing. Yum!
Something is still off with the timing listed on the recipe. I know someone else previously mentioned it. Luckily I had read through everything and knew to allow more than 50 minutes.
That’s wonderful to hear Cindy! So glad you enjoyed this! Thanks for picking up about the recipe time, strangely the recipe card didn’t recalculate the total time when I updated it 🙂 N xx
I just can’t turn down a good potato. You had me at crispy AND fluffy!
By the by, travel fails make the best memories! I remember fails far better than trips that run perfectly smoothly 🙂
It’s so true!!! And they make the best stories! 😂
These look amazing and i have made them twice now but i must be doing something wrong as they are more soggy than crispy 🙁 I love your recipes 🙂
Hi Belinda – Thinking there’s a chance your oven runs a little cool, try cranking it up a bit and do not take them out until they are crispy!!! They must, they WILL go crispy!
OK will try this for sure, your photos look so delicious!!! Thank you 🙂
Made this for my parents today because they felt like having potatoes, and even though I didn’t cook them as soft as shown in the video, they came out just perfect from the oven, and were gone in two minutes! My mom told me to fit more potatoes onto the tray next time because there juts wasn’t enough delicious potato goodness to go around. Will be making it again and again!
I LOVE HEARING THAT!!!! Your mom is total right. Squeeze ’em in! 🤣
Amazing. I have been looking to find a good recipe for breakfast potato and this is the one! thank you
You’re so welcome MJ!! N x
Ohhhh girl! I just had to come back and tell you we tried these yesterday and they are sooooooooooooo good! * * * * * Gobbled them up before we had the chance to put a dollop of Boursin!
YumYumYum!
Theresa
WHOOT!!!! So glad you loved it Theresa!! N xx
Crispy smashed potatoes, how interesting…will sure try making it during the weekend!
They are DA BOMB!!!!
Love these potatoes – have made two nights running and we’ll probably have tomorrow as well. I smashed mine with a pastry blender and didn’t press too hard. Happy travels. I heard through the doggie grapevine that Dozer really does miss you.
Wow! Just wow!! Where have these potatoes been all my life? Made these for dinner last night. They’re very easy to put together and really don’t require much attention while they cook. I used a mix of very small gold, red and purple potatoes. And the crunch! Oh my, the crunch! The only letdown was when I looked at the nutritional info and saw that this recipe is for 12 people. Aaagh! The two of us scarfed down all but one tiny potato. Still worth it, though. No regrets. None.
WHOOT WHOOT WHOOT!!!!!!! (PS Pfffff to the nutrition. Salad tomorrow!) N x
Hi Nagi! Your adventures sound much like mine! Crazy despite the best laid plans! Haha
Thank you so much for this recipe! I’ve been dreaming about it since it popped into my inbox! I’d like to ask for one adjustment to the recipe – it says total cook time is 50 minutes but you cook for the potatoes on the stove top for 20-30 first and then 40 minutes in the oven after that. That’s well over 50 minutes total when you include the prep time, and it’s very misleading. We popped these into the oven 15 minutes before the rest of our dinner was ready to eat only to realize that we’d have to wait even longer – not ideal in a family with lots of small children. Def my fault for not reading the whole the recipe carefully and timing it better, but I wasn’t expecting another 40 min in the oven after they had already been on the stove top for 25. As I said best laid plans lol, but a recipe update would be really helpful to prevent wnt that from happening to others!
Sorry Elissa! Fixing it now 🙂 Hope everyone thought it was worth waiting for though!! N xx
YEAH 😀
Thank you for sharing.
I am chuckling at the thought of you walking about without a suitcase!!! That is so the sort of thing I would do!!!
I am still shaking my head over it! Thanks for introducing me to the world of smashed potatoes Claire, you rock!
Hi Nagi! I love your adventures in travel post. These potatos are super easy and I love them. As a little treat, I also sprinkled some freshly grated cheddar on top and switched to a fast broil to brown and melt, only about another two minutes. Super taste, crunch and eye appeal. Thanks for the tip. Flap
I’m still shaking my head in disbelief at my stupidity!!! LOVE adding cheese to these potatoes… SO SO GOOD!! N xx
Nagi,
You are too funny and I’m hoping you have resolved all issues with your suitcase, your ski boots and everything else you need for a great skiing experience.
Can’t wait to make these potatoes. They look delicious.
A questions regarding your recent Thai meatballs recipe. I’m in the States and I can’t find bird’s eye chilis. Could this possibly have another name? Ditto vermicelli noodles. Is that the same as rice noodles/rice sticks? I’m assuming so, but not sure.
Vermicelli is just thin spaghetti like angel hair chopped in small pieces
My life is ridiculous!!! I like to think I’m a pretty organised person but then thinking back over all this, I seem like a total scatter brain! 😂
Hi Nagi, I’m still laughing!! Imagining you walking free and breezy then OMG, if that wasn’t enough let alone your ski boots and to top that off all of a sudden getting yanked by a handbag. You’re just TOO MUCH. Almost peeing myself with laughter here.
Now as for these smashed potatoes, I had daughter, son-in-law and their children over for a BBQ today and wanted something different for the potatoes, not knowing what to do. Well, I could have done these potatoes had I opened my e-mail earlier, but was out busy buying the goodies for our lunch. So, ended up just doing baked potatoes in foil to squash them and heap on the our cream. They sufficed for the day, but I’ll try your smashed potatoes next time since they have my name on them. Signed off – aka Do it! do it, do it.
PS – Looks like Dozers having fun as they say “while the cats away the mice will play”.
JOSEPHINE! I kid you not, I had a bounce in my step and I really was feeling so cocky about how freely I was able to stride through the airport…. then to realise I left my suitcase outside?? GAH!!!!!
Hi Nagi, With all your mishaps and leaving your ski boots behind it’s just as well you’re not a competitor in the “Winter Olympics” in Korea right now as I’m visualizing you like the Sth. African a few years ago that did all of his training in the sandy desert (dessert – ha!) for the luge and all his mishaps. Sorry, but I couldn’t help myself. Ha! Ha!
It would be like a Stephen Bradbury…. except I’d be one of those cyclists in the crash pile!!!
Yum! They sound and look awesome as is! I might add a itty bitty dot of Boursin cheese to the hot smashed potato!
Theresa
YES YES YES!