These crispy smashed potatoes with herbs have a tender, fluffy interior, and crispy edges. Kind of like a cross between a baked potato and French fry. If you want to take them over the top, add hot sauce and creamy blue cheese dressing and turn them into crispy smashed Buffalo potatoes.
Like an upscale French fry-baked potato hybrid, these garlic-and herb-topped crispy smashed potatoes with herbs have crunchy edges and tender, fluffy interiors that we simply adore.–Angie Zoobkoff
Crispy Smashed Potatoes with Herbs
Ingredients
- 2 pounds (20 to 24) fingerling potatoes any variety, skin on
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 to 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped herbs such as rosemary, thyme, parsley, chives, or a combination
Instructions
- In a large pot over high heat, place the potatoes and enough cold water to cover them by several inches. Generously salt the water and bring it to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer until just before the potatoes are fork-tender, 6 to 13 minutes, depending on their size. Drain the potatoes in a colander and let them cool for 10 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C).
- Lightly coat a rimmed baking sheet with oil. Evenly space the boiled potatoes on the sheet and, using a small glass or a fork lightly coated with oil, gently flatten each potato by pressing down until it’s smashed into an oblong shape.
☞ TESTER TIP: If you find that it’s a little crowded with all the potatoes on a single baking sheet, slick a second sheet with oil and divvy the potatoes between them. Trust us. What results will more than offset the annoyance of cleaning a second baking sheet.
- Generously brush the potatoes with 2 tablespoons of the melted butter, sprinkle them with salt and pepper to taste, and roast for 10 minutes.
- Add the garlic and herbs to the remaining 3 tablespoons butter, brush the potatoes again, and bake until golden brown and crisp at the edges, 10 to 18 minutes more. We think you can take it from here…
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
These potatoes are as described: crispy, buttery, and golden brown with a very nice hit of garlic. The recipe is simple but not fast. There is ample “hands off” time but still took 85 minutes for me to complete the full recipe.
One time driver is that fingerling potatoes were unavailable at my market so I used small Yukon Gold potatoes. This added to my time in pot to get the potatoes tender, increasing from 10 to 30 minutes.
Even with this, it was well worth the wait—crispy on the outside and buttery soft inside with that nice garlic and herb flavor.
The herbs I used were fresh from my garden: chives, thyme, parsley and a bit of tarragon.
one word…scrumptious! These potatoes are super easy and full of flavor. Creamy on the inside, crispy on the outside, and easy to adapt. I made them once with rosemary and once with thyme—both were great. The timing was perfect and they can share the oven with a roast or other dishes.
For us, 2 pounds of little new potatoes made 4 servings—2 for dinner the first night and the other 2 servings were the basis of a breakfast hash the next day.
These potatoes are a wonderful accompaniment with their lovely presentation, their mix of both crispy and soft textures, and bursts of butter and herb flavor. Not only did I eat too many of these delicious potatoes, but I added them to a Nicoise salad the next day. They are as delicious hot as they are cold.
I used fresh thyme, chives, and parsley combo. Both boiling and roasting times were exactly right.
Smashed potatoes are certainly not new, however, adding butter, garlic, and herbs to the two-part roasting process definitely elevates this simple dish to the next level. Super buttery and crispy!!!
It was very easy to prep and assemble the ingredients. I used a fingerling medley and fresh herbs from my garden (a combination of Italian parsley, lemon thyme, and rosemary).
The only change I would make for the next time would be to raise the oven temperature to 450°F for the second roasting to get to that wonderful crispy stage in only 8 to 10 minutes. At 425°F, the second roasting took 18 minutes to get to that crispy stage. I was a little concerned that they might dry out with this prolonged roasting, but they were still moist in the middle while crispy on the outside edges.
A definite keeper for me with this oven temperature adjustment.
I served these crispy potatoes with grilled balsamic flank steak and steamed fresh haricot verts served with butter and fresh herbs.
This recipes can easily serve 6 people as a side dish. As my family consists of my husband and me, we had leftovers! So the leftover potatoes (and unused chopped herb medley) ended up in a very tasty frittata this morning with red bell pepper, red onion, bacon, and Gruyere.
Such culinary bliss from such simple ingredients and easy preparation. These crispy, buttery potatoes are like crack! (Or, well, so I assume.) Next time, I’ll swap out duck fat for some of the butter. And probably add some broccolini to the roasting tray. I’ll definitely be making these again.
This is the warm spring garden come to dinner. Tender, fresh, and creamy-crunchy, these potatoes sweet with butter and pungent with crisped garlic and herbs (I used rosemary and onion blossoms which taste like chives) steal the show. Be generous with the salt, it elevates the earthy potatoes’ natural flavors and a grinding of fresh pepper gives it just enough piquance. These crispy smashed potatoes hit the mark of simple elegance.
I would stop just short of describing my family as a meat and potatoes kind of family. That said, we’ve had potatoes in so many ways and incorporated with many different flavors. We had never, however, thought to smash a potato so that it becomes a type of baked potato-french fry hybrid. The result is a potato that is at once both delightfully crunchy in spots as well as soft and smooth in others. It also presents a lot nicer than a side of french fries for a more upscale meal.
I would add more butter with the herbs and garlic for the second round in the oven to kick it up a notch. I used a mix of fresh thyme and parsley.
The title really tells it all so the only thing in question was whether the recipe delivered. In short, it did. Par-boiling the potatoes was a key step that leaves room for interpretation—I probably could have kept mine boiling for another minute or two but it was no big deal.
Some of the potatoes broke up in the crushing process but again, no big deal. Mine turned out more crispy on the bottom than the top. Not sure if that’s the way they are supposed to be but I’m not complaining. Now butter and potatoes alone is good for me but adding that extra brush of butter with herbs really took this, as they say, to another level. Yet again, no leftovers!
We used fresh thyme for the herb.
I halved this recipe because 2 pounds of potatoes for 2 people seemed like a ridiculously large amount when I was creating my grocery list for the week. After I made them, however, I saw the error of my ways. There may have been a few potatoes left on the sheet pan after we ate dinner, but my husband quickly finished them as I was putting away the rest of the leftovers from the meal.
The recipe is very easy. I had my doubts about the amount of time it would take to brush each potato with the butter-herb mixture, but it actually went pretty quickly and I was able to work on other parts of dinner while they were in the oven.
The texture is exactly as promised: a cross between a french fry and a baked potato and the flavor of the butter, garlic and herbs takes it over the top. This is a recipe that I intend to repeat regularly—and not halve next time.
This recipe is easy to follow and do and a great everyday dish that can be fancied up with different spices for variety. The potatoes came out crispy on the outside with a soft potato filling inside. The butter, garlic, and herbs added flavor to the potatoes.
This recipe easily serves 4 to 6 people as a side dish. I couldn’t find fingerling potatoes at my local grocery store, so I used baby creamers. Some of these potatoes were fairly small, about 1/2″ in diameter, while others were larger 1″ to 2″ in diameter. I used a combination of oregano, basil and rosemary for my herb topping. I also used chives as a topping.
I simmered the potatoes for 10 minutes after bringing them to a boil as directed. The potatoes were slightly less than fork tender at this point. After cooling for 10 minutes, I placed the potatoes on an olive-oil coated, rimmed baking pan. I used an oiled fork to gently smash each potato down as pictured. I brushed the potatoes with butter and sprinkled them with salt and pepper. I put them into a preheated oven and baked them for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, I removed the potatoes from the oven, brushed them with butter again, and sprinkled fresh garlic and herbs on the potatoes. I had to bake the potatoes for 20 minutes, however, instead of 10 for the potatoes to get golden brown and crispy. This was the only adjustment that I would make in the recipe.
Originally published February 08, 2020
These were the hit of dinner. They were so good that four people–four!–ate two pounds of potatoes by ourselves. I made one stupid mistake. I toss the boiled potatoes on a sheet pan and used another sheet pan to squish them. Dumb. There was so many, I had one giant smashed potato. I then had to carefully extract them, one by one, and separate then on two sheet pan so that all those edges could get crispy and brown.
Alan, not dumb, um… time-saving, perhaps?! Either way, I’m delighted you enjoyed the potatoes. They are a winner.