Here I’ll share my take on the viral crispy smashed potato salad!
Yes, me again being 10 years too late to keep up with a viral food trend! This one caught my eye and unlike 99% of the others, I knew I had to make it. And boy I’m glad I did. Follow me…
Crispy Smashed Potatoes
Potato salad is great. But once you turn the boiled potatoes into crispy smashed potatoes, we enter a whole new level of deliciousness.
Why roast the potatoes?
Mainly for textural purposes. Turns out roast potatoes in a tangy, creamy dressing taste amazing! Roasting the potatoes will also help develop a little more flavour from the caramelisation too.
Why smash the potatoes?
Smashing the potatoes increases the surface area and adds more texture to them. As such, there’s more opportunity for the potato to flake and become crispy. Typically speaking, the thinner the potato the crispier it’ll be.
For most of my smashed potato recipes, I boil the potatoes, then smash and roast them. Here I’ve actually just roasted them, before smashing them and roasting them again. Works a charm and no need for the stove!
To smash the potatoes, I use a potato masher, but any sort of flat kitchen utensil will do the trick.
Process shots: halves baby potatoes and coat in oil, salt and pepper (photo 1), roast (photo 2), smash (photo 3), roast again (photo 4).
Crispy Potato Salad
For the dressing, I like to combine everything first and then add in the potatoes, just so they stay as crispy as possible for as long as possible.
The base of the dressing is mayonnaise and sour cream, spiked with some lemon juice and dijon mustard. This makes for a nice creamy and tangy base for the salad. I then love adding bacon, alongside some celery, red onion, pickles, chives and parsley.
Process shots: add ingredients to bowl (photo 1), mix and check seasoning (photo 2), add potatoes and bacon (photo 3), mix (photo 4).
Crispy Potato Salad FAQ
If they’re nice and crispy they actually hold up pretty well. You will want to serve immediately, but you’ve probably got around a half-hour window to work with. It’s still delicious past that, but the potatoes begin absorbing in the dressing.
I use baking paper, but if you’ve got a decent tray that isn’t prone to sticking you should be fine. Don’t use foil, they will stick.
You can really follow your heart with the additions. I recommend giving the recipe a go as stated, but dill, spring onion, radish and cucumber all make great subs/additions.
Serving Crispy Potato Salad
This makes an awesome Side Dish – just serve up as soon as you can. No making it ahead of time unfortunately!
Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for this smashed potato salad shall we?!
How to make Crispy Smashed Potato Salad (Full Recipe & Video)
Crispy Smashed Potato Salad
Equipment
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
- 1x Very Large Greaseproof Baking Tray (or use 2 regular)
- Potato Masher (or something like a spatula to smash the potatoes)
- Large Mixing Bowl (for dressing/combining potato salad)
Ingredients
- 1kg / 2lb Baby Potatoes (see notes)
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1/2 tsp Salt, plus more as needed
- pinch of Black Pepper
- 200g / 7oz Streaky Bacon
- 180g / 3/4 cup full-fat Mayo
- 60g / 1/4 cup full-fat Sour Cream
- 2-3 tbsp finely diced Gherkins/Pickles
- 2 tbsp finely diced Fresh Parsley, plus more to garnish if desired
- 2 tbsp finely diced Fresh Chives
- 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
- 1 tsp Dijon Mustard
- 1 large stalk of Celery, finely diced (1/3 cup)
- 1/2 small Red Onion, finely diced
- 1/2 tsp Sugar, or to taste
- 1/4 tsp EACH: Salt, White Pepper, or to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.
- Cook the bacon using your preferred method to your desired texture. Chop just before needed.
- Halve the potatoes and toss them on a very large greaseproof baking tray with 2 tbsp oil, 1/2 tsp salt and a good pinch of black pepper. Flip them all over so they're cut side down (use 2 trays if you need to).
- Roast them for 15-20 minutes, or until they turn golden, a little crispy and are soft enough to smash. Use a potato masher or other suitable utensil to press down on the potato and smash them to even thickness (the thinner they are the crispier they'll be; just make sure they don't break apart). Drizzle with a little more oil if they're looking dry. I also like to season with a pinch more salt.
- Place them back in the oven for another 20-30 minutes until the potatoes are deep golden and crispy. Timings will be dependent on how big the potatoes are, so just be vigilant and use your best judgment. If you notice the ones around the outside charring a little too quickly, just remove them if needed. The potatoes will crisp a little more as they cool.
- Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl combine all of the remaining ingredients (bar the bacon). Once everything is evenly distributed, toss through the potatoes and bacon, then serve up with extra parsley if desired. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Your Private Notes:
Nutrition
Looking for more?
You’ll find plenty more delicious comfort food like this in my Debut Cookbook ‘Comfy’
