Crispy Garlic Smashed Red Potatoes
Crispy Garlic Smashed Red Potatoes are an insanely delicious side dish recipe. They're easy enough to make for a weeknight dinner and pretty enough to serve to guests.
You can do all sorts of fancy things to your potatoes, but there's no denying that digging into soft spuds with crispy edges that are laced with garlic and herbs is the way they're meant to be eaten.
I mean, just look at all that crispy deliciousness going on up there!
Why you want to make smashed red potatoes tonight
- Crispy edges that are salty and garlicky = magic.
- Soft potatoes that taste buttery even though we use olive oil in this recipe. (Not that you couldn't swap the oil for butter. We love butter, too.)
- Easy to make side dish recipe right here!
- These smash potatoes are only a tiny bit more difficult to make that boiled potatoes. Read: crazy simple.
How to make smashed potatoes
Luckily for us, making smashed potatoes is super easy. Here's what you're going to do:
- Put some red potatoes in a pot, cover them with water, then boil them until they're soft.
- Smash them. There are 2 ways to do this: You can punch them with your fist, which is messy but totally fun. Or you can take the gentle approach and squish them with the palm of your hand or something heavy, like a pot.
- Drizzle them generously with salty garlic oil then broil your smashed potatoes until the edges are deliciously crispy.
That's it!
Make this smashed potatoes recipe for a party
When I invite friends over for dinner, I like to do as much cooking as possible before they arrive. Are you the same way? These smashed red potatoes are really easy to make ahead of time. Here's what you do:
- Boil then smash the potatoes and leave them on a baking sheet.
- Make the garlic oil.
- 15 minutes before you want to eat, drizzle the potatoes with the oil and pop them into your oven to broil.
Doing it this way lets you get the messy smashing part out of the way before your friends arrive.
Or for more laughs, boil the potatoes then enlist your friends' help in smashing them with their fists. ← Done this and it's FUN!
Prevent your garlic smashed potatoes from falling apart
When you smash potatoes, it can be easy to be enthusiastic and smash them a little too hard. Don't worry, if they fall apart more than the potatoes in the pictures here, that just means you'll have extra crispy bits. And no one in the whole history of the world has ever complained about that.
If keeping them pretty is important to you, squish them gently. And if they do fall apart a bit, they can often be squished back together.
For the prettiest results, make sure you boil the potatoes until they are soft. If they're not quite soft enough, they can break into chunks when you squish them. Nice soft potatoes are much easier to smash.
What to serve with your garlic smashed potatoes
Here are a few of my favorite recipes that go great with these smashed potatoes:
- Perfect Baked Chicken Breasts
- Juicy Baked Pork Chops
- Honey Garlic Chicken
- Salmon Cakes with Avocado Tartar Sauce
- Roasted Parmesan Crusted Chicken
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Favorite Potato Recipes
- Smoky Roast Potatoes
- Extra Crispy Roast Potatoes with Cashew Sour Cream
- Pretty Duchess Potatoes
- Cheesy Leftover Mashed Potato Cakes
- Potato Croquettes with Sriracha Mayo
- Mini Hasselback Potatoes with Roasted Garlic
Garlic Smashed Red Potatoes Recipe
If you love this recipe as much as we do, let us know with a 5-star rating!
Ingredients
- 8 medium red potatoes, 2 lb. total
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon each: pepper and dried thyme
- 2 large garlic cloves, very finely minced
Instructions
- Place the potatoes in a large pot (so they are in a single layer) and cover them with an inch of water. Bring the pot to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft.8 medium red potatoes
- In a small bowl, mix together the olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme, and garlic.¼ cup olive oil, 1 ½ teaspoon sea salt, 1 teaspoon each: pepper and dried thyme, 2 large garlic cloves
- Remove the potatoes from the pot and let them cool slightly. Turn your oven to broil with the rack near the top.
- Smash the potatoes (see notes) then drizzle them with the oil and herbs. Broil for 10 minutes, or until the tops are crispy.
Notes
To smash the potatoes:
- Use your fist to punch them. This way is more fun but also messier.
- Gently squish the potatoes with the palm of your hand or something heavy, like a pot. This way you'll get prettier looking smashed potatoes.
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I cannot tell you how great these are! Made with pork tenderloin. Off the hook delicious!
Super delicious!! A bit heavy on the salt so I may cut that down a little next time, but otherwise soo good. Made this with the ‘juiciest baked pork tenderloin’ recipe and that meal did not disappoint.
Thank you for yet another great recipe, Kristen! These potatoes were a huge hit each time I’ve made them this summer! I love that you can mix it up with different herbs, etc. depending on the rest of your meal. I’ve tried them on the barbeque in a foil broiler pan as well and they were super good too! Both top and bottom get nice and crispy. So simple but so tasty. Thanks again, I love your recipes!
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for coming back to let us know!!
I love roasted potatoes with delicious herbs and spices! In general, I prefer sweet potatoes, but these look splendid! Also, I actually appreciate the use of olive oil here instead of butter–it lends a super lovely flavor and aroma to the potatoes!
Thank you! I love sweet potatoes, too. But with all the crispy edges these smashed potatoes are amongst my favorites.