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Smashed Herb Potatoes with Garlic Yogurt
Boiled, flattened, then roasted hard — the surface area is the entire point.
- Prep
- 10 minutes
- Cook
- 45 minutes
- Total
- 55 minutes
- Yield
- 4 to 6 servings
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A roast potato has one crisp face and a lot of interior. A smashed potato is the same potato rearranged so that nearly all of it is surface, and that is why it is worth the extra step. The failure mode is trying to smash them too early: an undercooked potato resists the press and cracks into shards instead of flattening, and there is no way to fix it once it has broken up.
So the potato is boiled until a knife slides in with no resistance at all, well past the point you would stop for a potato salad, then allowed to steam dry for a few minutes before it is pressed. Dry starch crisps; wet starch bakes into a paste. They go into a hot, heavily oiled pan and roast at 450°F, and the reward for the higher temperature is the lacy crust that forms where the flesh has been pushed out to the edges.
The garlic yogurt is raw, made while the potatoes roast, and it exists to give the crisp surfaces something cool and sharp to land in. Grate the garlic rather than chopping it so it disperses; a clove sitting in a pocket of yogurt is unpleasantly strong. Everything up to the smashing can be done a day ahead, which is what makes this a practical dish for a table with several other things going on.
What you need
Ingredients
Measurements
Metric converts only measures that are mathematically safe. Density-dependent cups stay as Nicole wrote them.
Scale the batch
4 to 6 servings
Potatoes
- 2 pounds small waxy potatoes, all roughly the size of a golf ball
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt, for the cooking water
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Garlic yogurt and herbs
- 3/4 cup whole-milk Greek yogurt
- 1 small clove garlic, finely grated
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons water, to loosen
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
- 2 tablespoons snipped chives
- Flaky salt, to finish
How it goes
Method
Read the whole thing once before you start. Nothing here is difficult, but the timing is unforgiving at the end.
Boil well past done
Put the potatoes in a large pot, cover with cold water by two inches and add the 2 tablespoons of salt. Bring to a boil and cook 18 to 22 minutes, until a knife meets no resistance whatsoever at the center. Underdone potatoes shatter rather than flatten, so err generously on the long side.
Steam dry in the colander
Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C). Drain the potatoes and leave them in the colander for 5 minutes, shaking once. You will see the surfaces turn from wet to chalky as the residual heat drives the moisture off. This is what makes the crust possible.
Oil the pan, then the potatoes
Pour half the oil onto a large rimmed baking sheet and tilt it to coat. Space the potatoes out on the oiled pan with several inches between them, then drizzle the rest of the oil over the top and season with the salt and pepper.
Press to about half an inch
Press straight down on each potato with the base of a measuring cup or a wide glass until it is roughly 1/2 inch thick and the edges have gone ragged. Those ragged edges are where the crust forms, so a rough result is better than a neat disc. Press once, firmly, rather than repeatedly.
Roast without turning
Roast 35 to 45 minutes until the undersides are deep brown and the thin edges have gone lacy and dark. Do not flip them — the pan-side face is where the real crust is, and turning them halfway gives you two mediocre sides instead of one excellent one.
Make the yogurt, then assemble
While they roast, whisk the yogurt, grated garlic, lemon juice, water and salt until it is spoonable rather than stiff. Spread it across a platter, pile the hot potatoes on top, and scatter over the dill, chives and a pinch of flaky salt. Serve immediately, while the contrast between hot crust and cold yogurt is at its sharpest.
On the bench
Equipment
3 of these change the result. The rest are conveniences, with a workaround given. Nothing here is a brand recommendation — the spec is what matters.
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Large rimmed baking sheet
Two pounds of smashed potatoes need real estate. Any that touch will steam at the join and you lose the crust exactly where two potatoes meet.
- What matters
- Half-sheet, 13x18 inches, heavy uncoated aluminum. Use two pans rather than crowding one.
Flat-bottomed cup or small heavy pan
Smashing needs a flat rigid face wider than the potato, pressed straight down. A fork or masher tears the potato apart instead of flattening it.
- What matters
- A straight-sided measuring cup, a heavy tumbler, or the base of a small saucepan.
Fine rasp grater
Grated garlic melts into the yogurt evenly. Chopped garlic sits in pockets, and one bite in five is overwhelming.
- What matters
- Fine rasp grater or the smallest holes on a box grater.
- Search for
- “microplane grater garlic” (paid link)
Thin metal turner
OptionalThe crust wants to stay on the pan. A thin stiff edge slides under and lifts the potato with its crust attached.
- What matters
- Thin, unbeveled metal blade, at least 3 inches wide.
- If you skip it
- Let the pan cool for two minutes before lifting; the crust releases more willingly as the sugars set.
- Search for
- “thin metal turner spatula” (paid link)
The list
What to buy
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Cook's notes
What we would tell a friend
- Waxy potatoes hold together under the press. Russets are too floury and tend to disintegrate, though they do give a shaggier, crunchier result if you accept some breakage.
- The potatoes can be boiled, dried and refrigerated up to a day ahead. Smash and roast them straight from cold, adding about 5 minutes.
- The mistake to avoid is a crowded pan. Steam from neighbouring potatoes is the difference between crisp and leathery.
- For a dairy-free version, replace the yogurt with tahini loosened with lemon juice and water, which is thinner but just as sharp.
From the kitchen
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