Meet our new favourite side dish. Yukon Gold potatoes are boiled, smashed, roasted until crispy, and then topped with a decadent, yet heart-healthy, avocado garlic aioli. Be still my heart. In the spirit of new beginnings for our little family of three, I decided to add something new to my Thanksgiving repertoire this year. Eric and I polished off the first batch all on our own…no regrets! hah. Well, my only regret was that I didn’t make a bigger batch.
Here’s a quick visual how-to…
These are incredibly easy to make, yet taste like something from a high-end restaurant. Yup, that’s right, we’re getting fancy pants up in here.
In conclusion, I recommend making this recipe as soon as humanly possible. You won’t be sorry. I know this dish is going to be on high rotation in our house this winter (much like our old stand by). Who said winter was all gloom and doom? I beg to differ. Bring on the comfort food!
Crispy Smashed Potatoes with Avocado Garlic Aioli
Yield
7 medium potatoes
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
One of my all-time favourite ways to enjoy Yukon Gold potatoes! Smashed, crispy, and served with an addictive—yet healthy—avocado garlic aioli sauce. These smashed potatoes make a killer side dish. I recommend looking for potatoes on the smaller side if you can, as they "smash" a bit easier, but larger potatoes will turn out fine too. Smashed potatoes inspired by Leaf.
Ingredients
For the potatoes:
- 2 to 2 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes (or try red or new potatoes)
- 2 to 3 tablespoons (30 to 45 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
- Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, for seasoning
- Garlic powder or granules, for sprinkling on top
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced
For the Avocado Garlic Aioli:
- 1 large avocado, halved and pitted
- 1 large or 2 small garlic cloves
- 1/2 tablespoon (22 mL) fresh lemon juice, or more to taste
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) soy-free Vegenaise (or vegan mayo of choice)
- Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions
- Add potatoes into a large pot and cover with water (do not peel the potatoes). Turn the heat to high. When the water starts to boil, reduce heat slightly, and simmer the potatoes uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes, until fork tender.
- When there is about 10 minutes left of boiling the potatoes, begin preheating the oven to 450°F (230°C).
- When the potatoes are fork tender, drain in a colander and cool for 5 minutes or so.
- Place the potatoes on a large, lightly greased baking sheet. (Skip the parchment paper for this recipe, as an oiled baking sheet with produce crispier potatoes.) With the base of a mug or metal measuring cup, "smash" (press down on) each potato until each one is mostly flattened. Some potatoes might break apart a little, but this is totally fine!
- Drizzle each potato with about 1 teaspoon of oil and sprinkle on a generous amount of salt and pepper. Finally, sprinkle on some garlic powder.
- Roast the potatoes in the oven for 25 to 33 minutes until crispy, golden, and browned on the bottom. Keep an eye on them as cook time will vary depending on the size of your potatoes. I love to roast these until the skins become a deep golden brown and crispy—they are so delicious to eat!
- Meanwhile, prepare the Avocado Garlic Aioli: Add garlic into food processor and process until minced. Now add the rest of the aioli ingredients and process until smooth, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Remove the potatoes from the oven and sprinkle each with chopped fresh parsley, more sea salt, and pepper. Serve immediately with avocado aioli (piped or dolloped on) and watch them go lightning fast!!
Tip:
- If you have any leftover potatoes, they can be reheated in an oven on a greased baking sheet at 400°F (200°C) for 6 to 12 minutes, until warmed throughout. The Avocado Garlic Aioli doesn't heat well (it tends to brown), so I don't recommend heating it, but serving fresh whenever possible.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
This looks delicious! I’ll be adding it to my Christmas menu, for sure! I really think they would satisfy my non-vegan family. And I think it’s a sign that I have all of the ingredients in my kitchen right now. My husband and I might get an appetizer before dinner tonight!
Stupendous. Marvelous. Making these like you said, as soon as humanly possible. Love yukon golds as well! But the avocado garlic aioli, so eager to try. Don’t love avocado’s so I’m trying sneaking ways to incorporate them into my diet with foods that I love (like potatoes!!) Can only imagine peoples faces lighting up like the 4th of July when I bring these to Thanksgiving Dinner!!
YES PLEASE!!!
Ooh these are so yummy and easy sounding! Perfect for holiday cooking especially since I want to expand the traditional menu :)
Happy Thanksgiving to your family!
Oh my goodness, these look delicious. They seem like they’d be fairly easy too!
These look delicious! And a perfect game day snack :-)
Wow, these look amazing Angela! I love potatoes and when I feel lazy I’ll even have just a big bowl of mashed potatoes for dinner! (I do add some carrots and/or squash to the mix to fake having diversity in my meal :p). I will definitely try these smashed potatoes, they must be so crispy and the aioli must give a great burst of flavor!
It looks like I will have to make this one time! I really like both the Ideas of the smashed potatoes and the avocado aioli. Very interesting!
Emily I was about to post the same comment!! Interesting combo, but looks delicious. Can’t wait to make this!
LOVE your potato recipes! I made your salt and vinegar potatoes the other day and they were awesome! These look great as well. The simple potato can be made into something great! :)
How delicious!! My goodness I love avocado and garlic… even though it doesn’t love me ;)
That aioli makes these go from super yummy looking to straight up amaaaaaazing! Love!
Yum, can’t wait to make these ASAP. I can’t tell, are the potatoes peeled or with skin?
Oh good question! I left the skin on. I will update this in the recipe :)
Thought that might be the case.. I’m sure the skin adds extra crisp (yes, please!) :) Thanks, I love your recipes!
Want these in my mouth RIGHT NOW.
Thoughts on substituting mayo product for Greek yogurt?
Hey Jen, if you like the taste of an unsweetened yogurt Im sure it would be just fine. I would add a bit at a time and keep tasting it rather than add the entire amount all at once. Hope this helps!
I’ve put a lot of thought into the following comment:
Thank you. Just… Thank you. ;)
Oh, YUM! Angela, this looks absolutely amazing. I just love your recipes and I cannot wait to try this one! My favourite things all *smashed* together! YES!
I’m drooling over here! I am on the search for vegan recipes to bring to a very non-vegan thanksgiving so I can have something to eat ;). These will DEFINITELY be made!
Looks Delish!
I try to stay away from any kind of mayo, including Veganase. Can I sub for a nondairy, plain yogurt?
I would imagine you could make that swap – let me know if you try it out! I would add a bit at a time and keep tasting it just to be sure.
what about soft silken tofu? I have a recipe for a “mayo” made from tofu, so I bet it would work.
I made a variation of these the other night but they were missing something…i think you’ve just introduced me to that something!
I make potatoes like this all of the time and they are so good! I usually microwave them before smashing but I wonder if boiling would be better for retaining nutritional value?
Either way, I’ve never thought to add toppings other than oil & herbs though so I love the idea of the avocado aioli. I’m not sure I could be trusted to share them!
A naturopath recently told me that microwaving a vegetable essentially changes it’s nutritional value to that of a rubber shoe, lol. She said boiling is much, much better (we were actually talking about making baby food at the time).
I know this comment is a year old now but I just had to comment on this myth. I think because the idea of radiation from a microwave seems so foreign (still) it falls victim to completely unsubstantiated rumors that it is somehow worse nutritionally for food than other means of cooking. I would rather microwave my food than boil it (strictly speaking in the nutritional sense) as boiling leeches nutrients from the food into the water. This is a very well known fact of boiling and is why steaming is recommended over boiling. Also, the longer a food is cooked, the more nutrients are lost. Lightly steaming is best (of course, not possible with this recipe) but microwaving isn’t some horrible thing, at least not that any evidence has backed. It will destroy nutrients, of course, but so does baking (I am not advocating raw eating here either as many foods eaten raw are actually healthier lightly cooked and some even have mild toxins that are destroyed upon cooking).
So, to wrap up a long-winded comment…Microwaving if the potato is in water is just as bad as boiling. I would, however, not ever say that boiling is better than microwaving. That being said, potatoes aren’t so nutrient-rich that I would be too concerned. :) This recipe sounds like it would be fabulous regardless of how the potatoes are cooked!
These sound amazing! What a perfect side dish! I am kind of carb-ed out after chicago, but as soon as I start running again I am sure I will want them back in my life. These would be SO good!! YUM! Thanks for coming up with yet another delicious recipe!