These Smashed Fingerling Potatoes are soft and creamy on the inside, extra crispy and buttery on the outside. All you need is 6 ingredients and less than 1 hour to make this crowd pleasing appetizer or side dish.
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Why We Love Garlicky Smashed Potatoes
- They're soft and creamy. By boiling the potatoes before oven roasting, we ensure the center becomes soft, fluffy, and absolutely irresistible! It's like mashed potatoes packaged inside the best salty, crispy exterior.
- No weird ingredients needed. These potatoes are seasoned with the basics - butter, oil, spices, and salt. If you've got fingerling potatoes, you likely can make these potatoes without running to the store.
- Multi-purposeful. Smashed potatoes make a good side dish to breakfast, lunch, and dinner or an easy appetizer for game days and hosting. There's never a bad time to bring out crispy, fluffy potatoes.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Fingerling potatoes - Fingerling potatoes are a small variety of potato that naturally grow much smaller than common potatoes like yellow and russet. They look like stubby, small potatoes and are commonly sold year round in groceries stores, with their peak harvest season being late spring through early summer.
- Salted butter - Although most of our recipes call for unsalted butter, we love the extra savoriness salted butter adds to these potatoes. If preferred, unsalted butter or ghee will work well will additional salt to taste.
- Avocado oil - A neutral oil with a high smoke point. If you don't typically buy avocado oil, any neutral high-smoke point oil will work. You could even use unrefined coconut oil, but it will leave a hint of coconut flavor in the smashed potatoes.
- Herbs de Provence - This spice is a common blend used to season meats and vegetable dishes. There are many different variations, but most typically combine a dried blend of spices such as fennel, thyme, marjoram, parsley. If needed, substitute the herbs de Provence for Italian seasoning, dried thyme, or your favorite seasoning blend.
How to Make the Best Smashed Fingerling Potatoes
Boil the potatoes. Place the scrubbed and rinsed fingerling potatoes in a pot of cold water with 1 tablespoon of salt and bring to a boil with a lid. Boil until the potatoes can easily be pierced with a fork, 20-25 minutes.
Drain and cool. Once fork tender, drain the potatoes using a colander. Allow the potatoes to cool for about 5 minutes before smashing.
Smash the potatoes. Space the potatoes out on a sheet pan, then gently squish down each potato using a heavy, flat bottomed glass until about ½" thick.
Drizzle and season. Drizzle the melted butter and avocado oil over the smashed fingerling potatoes. Sprinkle with granulated garlic, herbs de Provence, and 1 teaspoon sea salt.
Oven bake and serve. Roast at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-25 minutes, or until golden and crispy. Serve hot with additional sea salt to taste.
Air Fryer Smashed Fingerling Potatoes Option
Air frying these garlic fingerling potatoes is a good option if you're making a smaller batch or don't want to heat up the whole using the oven.
How to air fry: In a large pot boil the fingerling potatoes until fork tender. Drain the potatoes and let sit for 5 minutes. Smash and drizzle the potatoes as usual, then sprinkle with granulated garlic, herbs de Provence, and 1 teaspoon sea salt.
Using a spatula, carefully transfer the potatoes to the air fryer and place them in the basket in a single layer (work in batches as needed). Air fry at 375 for 12-15 minutes.
Recipe FAQs
Can smashed potatoes be made ahead?
We wouldn't recommend cooking these potatoes completely ahead of time because they wouldn't be nearly as fresh and crispy upon reheating. With that being said, you can do some of the prep work ahead of time and bake right before enjoying.
To prep ahead, follow recipe steps 1 through 4, then tightly cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator for 1-2 days, then pull out to bake when ready!
Are smashed potatoes healthy?
Potatoes are naturally high in carbs, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Potatoes can absolutely be a part of a healthy diet and these smashed potatoes in particular are made without cheese. These smashed potatoes can be eaten on a Whole30 diet when made with clarified butter or ghee.
Can smashed potatoes be frozen?
Yes! These garlic smashed potatoes will freeze well when stored in an airtight bag or container for up to 3 months. Reheat from frozen in the air fryer or oven until hot and crispy.
Can I make smashed potatoes with big potatoes?
We wouldn't recommend substituting the fingerling potatoes for large russet potatoes, but small gold Yukon potatoes would work.
What to Serve with Crispy Fingerling Potatoes
The best thing about smashed fingerling potatoes is they go with just about anything (breakfast included!) Here are a few of our favorite mains to serve them alongside:
Smashed Fingerling Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 lb fingerling potatoes, scrubbed
- 3 tbsp salted butter, melted
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- ½ tsp granulated garlic
- 1 ½ teaspoon herbs de Provence or dried Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.
- Place your fingerling potatoes in a pot of salted cold water and bring to a boil with a lid. Boil until the potatoes can easily be pierced with a fork.
- Drain your potatoes into a colander and let sit for 5 minutes.
- On a sheet pan, gently squish down each potato using a heavy, flat bottomed glass. If your potatoes stick, spray the bottom of the glass with non stick spray. You want the potatoes to be ½" thick so the interior is still light and fluffy.
- Drizzle the melted butter and avocado oil over your potatoes. Sprinkle with granulated garlic, herbs de Provence, and 1 teaspoon sea salt.
- Roast at 425 degrees Celsius for 20-25 minutes, or until golden and crispy. Once cooled slightly, taste for seasoning and add additional sea salt if necessary.
Notes
- The herbs de Provence can be substituted for Italian seasoning, dried thyme, or your favorite seasoning blend.
- You can substitute fingerling potatoes for baby Yukon gold potatoes but not russet or red potatoes.
- To air fry these potatoes, follow steps 1-5 and then place in a single layer in the air fryer basket and cook at 375 degrees F for 12-15 minutes.
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