This smashed potato recipe will not only surprise, but also conquer the hearts of those at your table. These potatoes are perfectly baked, crispy on the outside and very fluffy on the inside, topped with aromatic garlic sauce. If you want a simple side dish that goes to any meal, try this recipe for the best-smashed potatoes.

Today, potatoes are tremendously popular vegetables all over the world. However, perhaps no other vegetable had the potato fate. Did you know that the potato plant was brought on the continent somewhere around 1530, from South America? Initially, it was welcomed with hostility in entire Europe. Potatoes were appreciated for its ornamental qualities and not for the delicious tubers, rich in starch. It was used as forage and long considered poisonous to humans. How did the potatoes get onto people’s tables? Mainly, it was the hunger that “convinced” the plebiscite that they wasted an extraordinary resource.

Potato dish varieties

In about 500 years, potatoes have become accessible to every kitchen in all possible forms and shapes. We have fried potatoes, baked potatoes, boiled and mashed potatoes. Potatoes as filling for pies and salt pancakes, and of course they are the favorite ingredient for salads and soups. Baked potatoes are mostly popular in winter. That’s probably because of the cold time of the year when starting the oven is a delight. Here you find a simple, unique and ultra-tasty way to prepare potatoes quickly.

Ingredients for smashed potatoes

As the title suggests, you need potatoes as a first. You’ll need both red and yellow, for diversity in taste and texture. Choose uniform potatoes of equal size.

Olive oil. This fragrant oil will be used to grease the potatoes when baking. You know the extra tang it gives to any dish. Garlic. Isn’t it simply crazy delicious? That is pretty much everything you need. Just throw in some garlic cloves with the potatoes, season everything with some coarse salt and bake.

Garlic – Balsamic sauce for smashed potatoes

Baked potatoes are good, but baked potatoes with appetizing sauce made of garlic, olive oil, balsamic cream, and lemon juice is so much better. When you take the potatoes out of the over, you smash them with your fist (if you wanna be like Hulk) or use a potato masher. Gently press the masher on the baked potatoes until they crumble. No need to puree it.

Getting back to the garlic – balsamic sauce. Take a bowl, peel off and smash some cloves of garlic. Add a pinch of salt. Add some tbsp of olive oil along with a few tbsp of balsamic cream. Lemon juice will freshen up the sauce, so don’t miss that. Mix everything and set aside for later.

How to bake whole potatoes?

Preheat the oven at 220 degrees Celsius. Thoroughly rub and wash the potatoes with a cloth until perfectly clean. You do that because you’ll eat the skin of the potatoes later on, and you don’t want mud in your teeth. Sting each potato with a fork a few times to allow the steam to come out of the vegetables while baking. Dry each potato with a clean paper towel.

Place the potatoes in a shallow baking tray. Even if you do not imagine that there is any secret to making baked potatoes, there are details that can make the difference. Add some garlic cloves and sprinkle with olive oil and salt. Insert the baking tray into the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour and let the magic happen.

How to smash the potatoes?

When baking time expires, take out the tray from the oven. Take a potato masher and press a little on each potato until it cracks. You can do that with your fist but watch out as you may get burnt. Don’t force it so that potatoes don’t lose their shape too much. After that, add 1 or 2 tbsp of the garlic-balsamic sauce to each smashed potato. You can grate some parmesan on top as well. There’s always room for parmesan, isn’t it? Get that flavorful combo back into the oven for additional 3-5 minutes. That’s all!

These smashed baked potatoes are delicious as sole or served with any meat dish such as roast duck or turkey. Delicious potatoes can delish any vegetarian tastes along with a nice green salad. My point is that this extraordinarily simple dish can be perfect for every occasion. Smashed potatoes are the perfect companion to meat as well as vegetables.