Crispy Smashed Potatoes
By the Tapas kitchen · Updated
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 1 hr 10 min
- Total
- 1 hr 25 min
- Yield
- Serves 4
You boil these until soft, smash them flat and roast them until the edges turn glassy and crunchy, so they land somewhere between a roast potato and a french fry. A little baking soda in the water roughens the surface so it crisps, and they need to boil until a knife slides in with no resistance, or they split apart instead of flattening.
Ingredients
Serves 4
The salt amounts here are for Diamond Crystal kosher salt. If you have Morton kosher salt, use a little over half as much, because its grains are denser and saltier by the spoon.
Steps
- Put the potatoes in a large pot, cover with cold water by an inch, and add the kosher salt and baking soda. Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower to a steady simmer. Cook until a paring knife slides into the biggest potato with no resistance at all, 15 to 20 minutes after the boil.
- While they cook, heat the oven to 450°F with a rack in the upper third. Spread 3 tablespoons of the olive oil over a rimmed sheet pan. No parchment; the potatoes crisp against the bare metal.
- Drain the potatoes and let them steam in the colander for 5 minutes, until the skins look dry and dull.
- Spread them out on the oiled sheet pan with space between each. Press each one flat with the bottom of a heavy glass or measuring cup until it is about ½ inch thick and the edges crack and splay. Leave them 5 minutes to steam off a little more, then drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and grind over plenty of pepper.
- Roast until the undersides are deep golden and release from the pan, about 25 minutes. If they stick, give them a few more minutes. Flip with a thin metal spatula and roast until the second side is browned and the cracked edges are dark and crunchy, 10 to 15 minutes more.
- Toss the parsley over them, grate over the zest of the lemon, and finish with flaky salt. Serve straight from the pan.
Notes
The potatoes can be boiled and smashed on the sheet pan up to 4 hours ahead and kept at room temperature, or a day ahead in the fridge; roast just before serving and allow a few extra minutes if they are cold. Leftovers recrisp in a 425°F oven or an air fryer. Small red potatoes are fine too.
To make more or less of it, paste the ingredients into our recipe scaler and it works out every amount.
