Crispy Garlic Smashed Potatoes

Every now and then there’s one of those recipes that comes along and I wonder why I haven’t been making it my whole life. These Crispy Garlic Smashed Potatoes are exactly one of those recipes. They’re everything you could want in a potato side dish or appetizer. They’re deliciously, flavorful, fast to make and easy to make. That’s going to make them an instant regular favorite and a holiday dish that needs to be served every single time!

Perfect side dish or appetizer

The Crispy Garlic Smashed Potatoes are boiled until they’re nice and tender and then cooked a second time to get them to crispy up in a way that will make each bite a little bit magical. When making these potatoes as a side dish, they can feed about 4 people. Although, I will say the last time I made them I couldn’t stop eating them while cooking out other dinner items and maybe that serving would have only fed 3 people…

If you’re making these delicious Crispy garlic Smashed Potatoes as a holiday side dish, you might want to double or even triple the recipe depending on how many people you are feeding.

For my family, we have large family gatherings. Think 30 plus people. The Crispy Garlic Smashed Potatoes works better as an appetizer in that case. I can make 1-2 bags of the potatoes and people can have one or two depending on who gets to the h’dourve table first.

Using the best potatoes

You might think that any potato is a good potato. And while I really wouldn’t argue with you there, there is a BEST kind of potato to use for the Crispy Garlic Smashed Potatoes. For this recipe, you want to make sure to use smaller potatoes that are creamier. I personally like Baby Dutch Potatoes, but you can use baby red potatoes or fingerling potatoes too. The baby potatoes are harvested before they mature and generally provide an overall creamy taste to dishes. That’s similar to why I use red potatoes in this Creamy Red Skinned Mashed Potatoes {HERE}.

Ingredients for the Crispy Garlic Smashed Potatoes

One of the best parts of this Crispy Garlic Smashed Potatoes recipe is that it only has a few ingredients. In addition to the potatoes, you have other ingredients that are flavoring agents. Garlic and parsley will really round out the starchiness of the potatoes and give you a savory flavor. The olive oil (and if you decided to use butter) adds in the fat that helps to add a robust flavor. And salt and pepper because well, they help to bring out all those flavors and pull them together.

Tips for making Crispy Garlic Smashed Potatoes

• Use Baby Dutch Potatoes for this or another small, creamy potato like fingerlings.
• Make sure to use a good quality extra virgin olive oil.
• Make sure to use sea salt and fresh cracked pepper.
• Use fresh parsley for this. It will be much more flavorful than dried.
• I like to use Spice World Minced garlic for this recipe. It saves time, ensures all the garlic pieces are small enough and comes packed in oil that will flavor the potatoes. You will hardly ever hear me tell you to use an item like this, but for here, it works.
• To make sure they get nice and crispy, ensure the oven has been pre-heated.
• Make sure your potatoes are fresh. Don’t use questionable, soft potatoes for this. They won’t crisp as well.
• You can make these ahead of time and store them in an airtight container in the fridge for about 3 days.
• You can reheat these potatoes in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes and make them even crispier.

Variations on the Crispy Garlic Smashed Potatoes

I believe this recipe is fantastic as is, but if you want to vary it a little, here’s a few options!

1. Before serving, melt 1/2 stick of butter and drizzle it over the potatoes. I especially recommend that if you are going to be reheating these or making them ahead of time and serving later.
2. Serve with a side of sour cream for those that like to dunk.
3. Sprinkle some crispy bacon over the top before serving.
4. Add some gruyere cheese to them right when they come out of the oven. (Only do this if you’re serving right away).
5. Squeeze about half a lemon over them when the come out of the oven.

Thank you so much for stopping by today, friends! I hope you love the Crispy Garlic Smashed Potatoes. The full, printable recipe is below! Also, if you love potatoes, try these Lemon & Herb Baby Potatoes {HERE}! They’re little explosions of flavor! And these Creamy Red-Skinned Potatoes {HERE} are my favorite mashed potatoes of all time.

Crispy Garlic Smashed Potatoes

These Crispy Garlic Smashed Potatoes are mouthwatering and full of savory flavor! They're a side dish or appetizer recipe you must save!

5 from 7 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Crispy Garlic Smashed potatoes, crispy smashed potatoes, garlic smashed potatoes, smashed potatoes

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Servings: 4 - 6

Author: Rachel

Equipment

• large pot or Dutch oven
• Baking sheet

Ingredients

• 1 1.5 lb. bag baby Dutch Yellow Potatoes
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 4 Tbsp. minced garlic I like to use pre minced for this as it helps to flavor the olive oil
• 1/2 cup parsley, chopped
• 2 tsp. sea salt
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• Additional sea salt and pepper as needed
• Optional: 1/2 stick melted butter

Instructions

• Wash and scrub the potatoes to get any dirt off. I like to also run the water over them in a colander.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Heat a stock pot with water and bring to a boil. Then add the potatoes and cook until they're soft enough to spear with a fork. This should take 15- 20 minutes.
• While the potatoes cook, mix together the extra virgin olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper and parsley.
• Drain the potatoes and spread them out on a ton stick baking sheet. Smash them until they are somewhat flattened. I use a measuring cup to do this. You want them 1/3 inch thick or so.
• Spoon the olive oil mix over each individual potato.
• Bake for 20 minutes or until they edges are crunchy! Season to taste with additional salt and pepper.
• If you decided to add the butter, drizzle it over the potatoes right before serving.