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)
Can the avocado aioli be stored, or frozen? I have an embarrassing number of ripe avocados and I’m looking for something to do with them that will keep somehow
Hi Marjorie, I find the avocado aioli is best enjoyed fresh. Unfortunately, avocado tends to spoil quickly and it doesn’t freeze well (it discolours). Sorry I couldn’t have better news!
Hi Angela, I noticed that another food blog had practically an identical recipe (a couple of ingredients were added or removed). I thought you should know since I believe this person to be using your recipe and claiming it as her own. I could not find any credit given to you.
Who cares , just eat the food
Hi Angela —
Have you ever tried pressure-cooking the potatoes instead of boiling them? Thinking it would keep them drier and crisp them up better in the oven …
Hey Jennifer, I’m sorry I don’t use a pressure cooker so can’t really comment on that, but I can tell you that they got wonderfully crispy using the boiling + baking method. :) Enjoy!
I pressure cooked the potatoes first then followed directions exactly and the were perfect.
The spuds are in the oven. Now. But oh my goodness that aioli! I finally broke down and bought some Veganaise…I was never a mayo eater but I wanted to try this recipe and so many others, so figured why not? SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO glad! Only problem is the aioli might not last to make it onto the potatoes. Glad I bought extra avocados, because, avocados. And this aioli! I could use it as a spread on almost anything, which, I am sure you have already done.
I saw someone else thought of cilantro instead of parsley. I have both so I was going to do a side-by-side comparison. Thanks so much for this!
HOLY CATS! Angela, these are I’m-making-my-special-double-cooked-potatoes-for-the-party phenomenal! And they’re so easy to make. Whoa, so good.
The aoili sounds amazing! How long will that keep? Can i freeze it!?
Extremely late to comment on this post, but I just have to say that I loved this recipe! It was so easy to make and came out amazing. I could eat the aioli on a piece of cardboard it was so good, lol. Thanks for the great recipes and keep them coming Angela!
Thanks for the sweet comment, Courtney!! I’m so glad the recipe’s a hit. :)
“Oh She Glows does it again” These are the words out of my husbands mouth after he took his first bite. He loves it when I whip up one of your recipes. Thank you so much for making it fun to try new things in the kitchen. We have your cookbooks and when he sees it on the counter you can tell he is excited for dinner.
Aw, thanks for the kind comment! It brought a smile to my face for sure. So glad you enjoyed the potatoes. :)
I made these yesterday to receive my non-vegan family, everyone loved them and my husband asked me to do them again!! Perfect with the avocado aioli!! Miam! Will do again for sure!
This looks so good! But I am worried about transported it for Thanksgiving dinner. Any suggestions? I may just go with plain old mashed potatoes but am open for suggestions!
These are a staple in my house now! Also, a friend of mine can’t have garlic so I substituted the garlic for fresh basil leaves in the sauce and it turned out fantastic! I add basil every time now when I have it in the fridge :)
Easy and delicious! Especially accompanied with the advocating cream sauce.
I’m new to this vegetarian thing – these look amazing. What would you serve them with, if you wanted to incorporate into a meal?
I made these for lunch today. I happened to have leftover shiitake bacon and sprinkled it on top. Amazing!!
I made these today and had artichokes on the side and used the remaining avocado aioli as a dip. So good.
I made these last night! They are amazing! My husband loved them. Thank you for sharing!
Glad to hear it, Shelby!
Potato is one of my favorite veg i love the most. Btw, recipe is too good. thanks for sharing
I doubled the recipe for an outrigger club party today, having never made these before. They did go lightning fast and I’m pretty sure no one knew they were vegan. Glad I got one, anyway! I used a 5 pound bag of organic red potatoes, boiling the big ones and small ones separately since I couldn’t fit the whole bag in one pot.
I’m glad they were a hit, Maura!
This is the latest in a string of amazing recipes I’ve made from your cookbooks. I’ve been really disappointed in other vegan cookbooks, finding the recipes lacking in flavor or having weird textures, but yours are consistently fabulous, and many have become staples in my day-to-day cooking. These were a hit at my neighbor’s fireworks viewing party this past weekend. Thanks so much for your fantastic way with vegan food!
Thank YOU so much for the lovely comment, Susan! I’m grinning ear to ear. I’m so pleased to hear you’ve been enjoying my recipes so much. :) Happy cooking!
SO delicious! Why haven’t I done this before? Not sure I’ll be able to eat them any other way now…