Crispy smashed potatoes
Boiled potatoes squashed flat and roasted in a very hot oven until the craggy edges shatter, creamy inside and very hard to stop eating.
- 60 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $1.10 a serving
- 240 calories
- Vegan
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Most of the time here is hands-off, so you can sit down while it cooks.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1½ lb baby potatoes, about 16 small
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 2 tsp salt, divided
- ¼ cup olive oil, divided
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp garlic powder
Each serving has about 240 calories, 3 g protein, 27 g carbs and 14 g fat, and costs about $1.10 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No baby potatoes? Red potatoes or Yukon Gold potatoes work.
- No fresh parsley? Cilantro works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Put the potatoes in a large pot, cover with cold water by 1 inch, add 1½ teaspoons salt, and over high heat.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Turn the heat to medium and 15 to 20 minutes, until a knife slides into the biggest one with no push.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heatTimer: 18 min
Meanwhile, the oven to 450°F and brush a large with 2 tablespoons of the oil.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Sheet pan. A sheet pan is a flat metal baking tray with a low rim all the way around. The rim catches juices, and the wide surface lets food spread out and brown.
How you’ll know: Everything fits in one layer with a little space between the pieces.
the potatoes and let them dry in the colander for 5 minutes.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Steam. Steaming means cooking food over or in a little simmering water with a lid on to trap the steam. It cooks gently and keeps vegetables bright and tender.
How you’ll know: The color turns vivid, and a fork goes in with just a little resistance.
Timer: 5 min
Dolly’s tip: Dry potatoes crisp. Wet ones just steam.Set them on the pan and press each one flat with the bottom of a glass until it’s about ½ inch thick and split at the edges.
Dolly’s tip: Cracks and ragged edges are the goal. Those are the crispy bits.with the rest of the oil and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt, the pepper and garlic powder.
Drizzle. Drizzling means pouring a thin, slow stream over the top of something. A thin stream spreads a little flavor a long way.
How you’ll know: You see thin lines across the food, not a puddle collecting underneath.
25 to 30 minutes, until the bottoms are deep and the edges are .
Roast. Roasting means cooking in a hot oven, around 400°F to 450°F, usually spread out on a sheet pan. The dry heat browns the outside and brings out sweetness, especially in vegetables.
How you’ll know: The edges are browned and a little crisp, and a fork slides easily into the thickest piece.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Timer: 27 min
Scatter with parsley and serve hot.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
When you host a dinner, Dollop builds the menu around your guests’ allergies, works out a cooking timeline back from when everyone sits down, and puts it all on one grocery list.
