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!
- 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.
- Serve with a side of sour cream for those that like to dunk.
- Sprinkle some crispy bacon over the top before serving.
- Add some gruyere cheese to them right when they come out of the oven. (Only do this if you’re serving right away).
- 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.

Garlic Rosemary Purple Smashed Potatoes
Equipment
- large pot or Dutch oven
- Baking sheet
Ingredients
- 12 fingerling Purple 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
- 2 tsp crushed dried rosemary
- 2-3 Tbsp pine nuts
- 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, rosemary, 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. Serve with fresh parsley and top with the pine nuts.
Yum, I would love these so much. I just love garlic and I love potatoes!
These look so amazing. I have seen these before and have always wanted to make them. I really need to get the ingredients so I can try them out.
We love smashed potatoes! And this looks extra delicious. Can’t wait to try.
Oh yum! I love garlic potatoes but have never made them this way. I absolutely want to try this! Thanks for the recipe idea!
The crispy part sounds so delicious. I will be making these.
We cook garlic potatoes a lot in our home! Man they are delicious and can go with so many meats!
I LOVE mashed potatoes but these smashed potatoes look like an amazing side dish! I’m saving this for dinner next week, yum!
These look fun and delicious! I would even sprinkle on some cheese.
These look amazing! I live a mostly freegan lifestyle and come across a lot of potatoes, so it’s awesome to have a new way to enjoy them with minimal add-on ingredients.
These Crispy Garlic Smashed Potatoes look so delicious. I can’t wait to try them.
This recipe is such a people-pleaser. I’m sure it will satisfy the crowd, especially in the holidays!
Wow! I’m sure this taste so good and absolutely delicious! Can’t wait to try this I’m sure my husband would love this!
These look amazing! I love garlic and I love potatoes. What could go wrong mixing the two?
This looks like it would be a fun side to any dinner!
Yum! I bet these potatoes would go perfectly with a side of chili. It’s been so cold here the last few days and I am looking for some good comfort food. I’ll have to try the smashed potatoes, I’ve heard they are the bomb.
These sound so good. I can’t wait to try this recipe. Thanks for sharing it with us.
This sounds wonderful. I’ve not tried it with those potatoes before and don’t normally add parsley either. I need to get potatoes in to try this it sounds delicious!!!!
I’m always looking for new potato recipes to try. This looks delicious!
I was looking for a fun way to mix up our potato side dish night and these are so good and full of flavor! Will be making them again for sure. Such a yummy side dish.
Umm these are my absolute FAVORITE potatoes!!
Mmmm…. how good these potatoes look! My family will go crazy over it!
Oooooh! I have several family members who will love these. I might just bring these for Thanksgiving!
That looks so good! I’m going to try it soon. Thanks for the recipe!
I have some baby potatoes so will surely try this crispy garlic smashed potato recipe asap😍. Looks so yummy and I love potatoes too!❤️
Boiling my potatoes now and went to set oven but there’s no temp on the recipe! I’m going to try 375 and keep a close eye on them.
Sorry! It’s 450 degrees. Thank you for letting me know too! I added it.
These look so good!!! I have pinned this post so I can give them a try out x