We recently came across a side dish called “Crash-Hot Potatoes,” and we were intrigued enough by the name to try them. This recipe is so simple — small red potatoes boiled until fork-tender, then “crashed” and coated in a bit of olive oil for roasting in a hot oven until crispy and delicious. We love the flavors of garlic and basil with olive oil, so we switched up this recipe by using a garlic-infused olive oil and dried basil (instead of thyme or rosemary) which added a very subtle Italian flair that was fantastic. These may be the current number one potato dish in our rotation. Try them — we promise that you will not be disappointed!
Update: We followed friend and commenter Carrie’s tip to crush the potatoes using the bottom of a dry measuring cup wrapped in plastic, and it worked like a charm. We also boiled the potatoes a little longer before crushing them.
In a pot of salted boiling water, cook your potatoes until they are fork tender, approximately 10 minutes.
Dry the potatoes on a plate lined with paper towels, then place the potatoes on a cookie sheet drizzled with olive oil, which prevents the potatoes from sticking and helps crisp them up on the outside. Make sure that your oven is preheated to 425 degrees.
Now for the fun part. With a potato masher (or any other proper crashing/crushing tool in your kitchen arsenal) gently press down the potatoes until they break down in a flattened shape. We have found that it’s a bit tricky to smoosh the potatoes evenly, such that the pieces all stay together. But we improvised by using 2 spoons to reassemble the pieces into a crushed-potato-pancake shape for each potato. Your crushed potatoes might not look pretty, but they will be delicious.
Using a brush, coat the crushed potatoes with the flavored olive oil, then place the cookie sheet of potatoes into the preheated oven. (See how we obscure our malformed crushed potato blobs – those blurry images in the picture – by focusing on the olive oil-brush-technique? On this night, ours definitely were not pretty, but they were delicious. Trust.)
Roast the potatoes in the hot oven until brown and crispy, approximately 20-25 minutes, then add salt and pepper to taste. Looking at our photo, we may have roasted these just a bit too long, but they were still outstanding.
Crushed Potatoes, served with baby zucchini and grilled tri-tip beef (recipes for both coming soon). Crushing the potatoes this way before roasting them results in lots of wonderful potato edges that get crispy and delicious, while the bigger pieces of potato remain soft and creamy. And the recipe is one of the most simple and easy potato recipes we’ve ever tried. We look forward to experimenting with new ways to flavor these potatoes, and we’d love to hear any comments from you if you try your own version!
Yum!! I love roasted potatoes with garlic and olive oil. I’ll have to try this technique (once my kitchen is usable again!).
This is the easiest recipe for roasted potatoes ever! Let us know if you try them!
This Irish chick is IMMEDIATELY pilfering this and adding it to her already bulging book of potato-making!!!
So I made them last night and according to Mr. Serra, “Damn these are good taters!” I found the easiest way/tool to smash with is wrapping a 1 cup measuring cup in plastic wrap and spraying the bottom with Pam. They smash easily, don’t break up and split, and then just toss the Saran Wrap. They come out like beautiful little roasted potato cookies, if you will! And I seasoned with a ton of garlic, rosemary and paprika. Thank you for this!!!
Thank YOU, Carrie, for the great tip on smashing them easily! We will definitely try it your way next time we make them. And look at you….cooking for the Mr…..(wonder what that’s like?)
This trick really really works! Fixed the potatoes for a dinner party (where they received rave reviews) and this time used the measuring cup idea for the squashing and it left the potatoes in little patties much better than the potato masher and was infinitely easier to clean! only problem was that I was too sparing of the seasonings; next time more herbs and garlic.
I used my flat weighted meat tenderizer (the one that looks like a cookie stamp) to crush the potatoes. It worked wonderfully. Thanks for the perfect accompaniment to my Whole Foods veal chop tonight!
Thanks PaulaT! We will definitely try the flat meat tenderizer the next time we make these potatoes. Great idea!
You guys are dangerous! I am sitting here at 12:30in the wee hours of the night waiting for my crushed potatoes to finish cooking. Came home from the movies (Les Miz in Concert, 25th Anniversary) and NOTHING would settle my cravings except a plate full of these potatoes. I don’t know if I should thank you or take out a mob hit!
These potatoes were amazing. I mixed it up a little and infused the oil with garlic, fresh rosemary, lemon juice, and pepper. And I used a meat tenderizer to “crush” them, although it seems any flat surface will work. Yummmm… any seasoning with the crunchy outside and mashed inside will be a home run! Thank you for the idea!!
Thanks Kristen — glad you liked them! Your seasoning sounds delicious!
This sounds wonderful & as a matter of fact has made it to the
menu for tonight’s dinner!!!
I am serving your oh-so-deicious Crushed Potatoes tonight to your own Kevin & Sharon!! I know they will love these!!!
That’s so cool! Please tell them we say hello! Hope you all enjoy the potatoes, and your visit!