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Crispy Roasted Smashed Potatoes with Basil Aioli

August 22, 2016 By justalittlebitofbacon 14 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using my link. Click here for details.

I love to make smashed potatoes, and one of my favorite ways to make them is thin and crispy and EASY. Fried? Nope! Crispy, yes, but not easy enough. For me, it’s all about roasted smashed potatoes.

Cook them through, get them thin, then a little bit of oil, and into the oven they go to crisp up without me standing over them. Add an awesome basil aioli and you’ll have a recipe you’ll want to make again and again.

Crispy Roasted Smashed Potatoes - These crispy and easy roasted smashed potatoes make a great side dish. Cook the potatoes ahead and then smash them flat and crisp them in the oven. Serve them with a basil aioli to put them over the top. | justalittlebitofbacon.com

Hello, all!

Last year I was reading my Fine Cooking magazine and I saw a recipe for Smashed Potatoes with Lots of Oregano.

Yes, I still read cooking magazines! I love looking on-line for recipes, but I also love getting inspiration for recipes I wasn’t thinking about until I saw a picture for them. That’s where flipping through a magazine comes in. The internet is great for searching, but magazines are great for browsing.

Anyway, back to the recipe! I love potatoes and oregano and smashed potatoes (nothing like getting out your aggressions in a constructive way šŸ™‚ ) so I made the smashed potatoes. And they were tasty.

But it was too much time frying! Lots of oil, I had to do them in batches, they still weren’t as crispy as I wanted. I really LOVE crispy potatoes! So, I figured out my own recipe, while keeping the one part of that recipe which really worked for me.

And what was the part that worked for me?

Cooling the potatoes slowly in the pot to make them all dense and easy to smash!

Extra Crispy Roasted Smashed Potatoes

  • Use small potatoes 1-1 1/2 inches wide. Save 2 inch potatoes for when you want a thicker smashed potato.
  • Cool the potatoes slowly.
  • Smash them to 1/4-1/2 inch thick.
  • Brush them with olive oil.
  • Bake them on the bottom rack.
  • Give them a flip!

Crispy Roasted Smashed Potatoes - These crispy and easy roasted smashed potatoes make a great side dish. Cook the potatoes ahead and then smash them flat and crisp them in the oven. Serve them with a basil aioli to put them over the top. | justalittlebitofbacon.com

Quick Tip: Use wax paper for smashing the potatoes. It prevents the potatoes from sticking and keeps them neat.

Once I had perfectly crispy smashed potatoes down, it was time to think about the sauce.

In our family we are huge fans of Blue Cheese Dressing with potatoes, but I wanted basil. And I wanted an aioli.

So there was nothing for it but to make a basil aioli. An egg, some oil, a whole pile of basil and I was in business! I’ve always used the old-fashioned whisk method (it works!), but lately I’ve been taken with the hand blender method. It’s easy and quick, and is especially good for basil aioli since the blender chops up the basil nicely.

I really love my Kitchenaid hand blender. I use it a few times a week.

If you are not a fan of making emulsions and aioli, I won’t tell anyone if you doctor up some store bought mayonnaise. šŸ™‚ But consider making your own, since the flavor of homemade is off the charts!

Crispy Roasted Smashed Potatoes - These crispy and easy roasted smashed potatoes make a great side dish. Cook the potatoes ahead and then smash them flat and crisp them in the oven. Serve them with a basil aioli to put them over the top. | justalittlebitofbacon.com

If you try my recipe for Roasted Smashed Potatoes, I would love to hear from you in the comments with your experience and rating! And I’m happy to answer any questions you might have.

You can connect with me by subscribing to my emails (see the form in the sidebar or below the recipe card), liking my FACEBOOK page, or by following me on PINTEREST.

– Happy Eating, Annemarie

Crispy Roasted Smashed Potatoes - These crispy and easy roasted smashed potatoes make a great side dish. Cook the potatoes ahead and then smash them flat and crisp them in the oven. Serve them with a basil aioli to put them over the top. | justalittlebitofbacon.com
Print Recipe
5 from 8 votes

Crispy Roasted Smashed Potatoes with Basil Aioli

These crispy and easy roasted smashed potatoes make a great side dish. Cook the potatoes ahead and then smash them flat and crisp them in the oven.
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time25 mins
Total Time35 mins
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: smashed potatoes
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 500kcal
Author: justalittlebitofbacon

Ingredients

  • 8 small yellow potatoes, 1 - 1 1/2 inches in diameter
  • 1 tbsp kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling over the potatoes
  • 3 tbsp olive oil

Basil Aioli

  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/4 cup basil leaves, finely chopped

Instructions

For the Potatoes

  • Scrub the potatoes and put them in a medium pot. Fill the pot with enough cold water to cover the potatoes by about 2 inches. Add the salt and bring the water to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a skewer, 10-14 minutes.
  • When the potatoes are done, transfer the pot (DO NOT DRAIN) to the sink and run cold water into the pot to slowly cool the potatoes. When the potatoes are cool, 5-7 minutes, drain them and put them out on a rack to dry. Potatoes will hold for 3-4 hours at room temperature before being roasted.
  • Preheat oven to 400F. Move the oven rack to the bottom position.
  • Pour 1 tablespoon of the olive oil onto a baking tray and brush it around to coat the tray. Take two sheets of wax paper and put one potato between them. With a flat bottomed measuring cup or bowl, smash the potato to 1/4 - 1/2 thick. Peel off the top layer of wax paper and brush the potato with olive oil. Put the potato, oiled side down onto the the baking tray. Repeat for the remaining potatoes. You should be able to fit 8-10 potatoes on one baking tray.
  • Brush the tops of all the potatoes with olive oil. Roast the potatoes for 10 minutes, or until the bottoms are well browned. Flip the potatoes and roast for 5 minutes more.

For the aioli

  • While the potatoes are roasting, make the aioli.
  • Place the egg yolk, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and mustard in the bottom of a cup which fits the head of your hand blender and is tall enough to hold all the ingredients. Pour the oil on top and allow it to settle for about 30 seconds.
  • Put your hand blender in the cup right to bottom and turn it on low. Keep it at the bottom until the aioli has begun to form and much of the oil has been incorporated. Now tilt and lift the blender up to get the oil at the top. Add the basil and puree it into the aioli.

Notes

  • Cheater Aioli: In a food processor, puree mayonnaise with basil, garlic, mustard, and lemon juice.
  • Potatoes: You can use red potatoes or white potatoes in place of the yellow potatoes.

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Filed Under: 10 ingredients or less, gluten free, recipe, sauces and condiments, side dishes, vegetable dishes, vegetarian Tagged With: basil, potatoes

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Comments

  1. Camilla says

    January 18, 2020 at 8:19 am

    5 stars
    What a fabulous and original recipe, I love potatoes done this way – lush;-)

    Reply
    • justalittlebitofbacon says

      January 18, 2020 at 1:57 pm

      Thank you! It’s a great way to make potatoes.

      Reply
  2. Dan says

    March 21, 2018 at 11:04 pm

    5 stars
    Potato pancakes are one of my favorites. These little gems just might replace them! Thanks.

    Reply
    • justalittlebitofbacon says

      March 22, 2018 at 8:15 am

      Thank you! I do love how crispy and easy these are.

      Reply
  3. Jayne says

    October 17, 2016 at 5:11 am

    5 stars
    Great recipe!!! Perfect starter. I still read cooking magazines too!!!

    Reply
    • justalittlebitofbacon says

      October 17, 2016 at 11:56 am

      Thanks! And there is just something about holding the magazine and flipping through it.

      Reply
  4. swathi says

    September 9, 2016 at 6:35 pm

    5 stars
    That is beautiful Potato dish I have seen Thanks for sharing I am going to try it.

    Reply
    • justalittlebitofbacon says

      September 9, 2016 at 10:28 pm

      Thank you so much! šŸ™‚

      Reply
  5. Emily says

    August 28, 2016 at 11:34 am

    These look so delicious and I love the sound of that basil aioli! I can never get enough basil!

    Reply
    • justalittlebitofbacon says

      August 28, 2016 at 7:41 pm

      I’m with you on the basil! I can never get enough either.

      Reply
  6. Catherine says

    August 25, 2016 at 10:18 am

    I love this idea…I’ve never made potatoes this way before but they look soo good! xo, Catherine

    Reply
    • justalittlebitofbacon says

      August 25, 2016 at 7:59 pm

      I hope you give them a try! šŸ™‚

      Reply
  7. Cathy says

    August 22, 2016 at 1:49 pm

    i make smashed potatoes all the time Annemarie, but I’m totally inspired by your aioli. what a great accompaniment to those crispy spuds. and i read cooking mags all the time too. and fine cooking is my by far my fave!

    Reply
    • justalittlebitofbacon says

      August 23, 2016 at 9:59 am

      I love making aioli. It bumps recipes up a notch and makes them special. And I’m glad I’m not the only one still reading cooking magazines! šŸ™‚

      Reply

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Hello, I’m Annemarie

Welcome to my kitchen! I’m a Italian-American girl who loves fresh foods, local ingredients, and all sorts of comfort foods. Here you will find Mediterranean flavors and recipes from a New England perspective.

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