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!
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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)
I may go home and make this immediately!
Hello, I made these last night and they were awesome!! Even the toddler liked them. I love when recipes are simple to make and quick to put together!
This recipe looks absolutely amazing! My only question-is there anything you can sub for vegan mayo? I don’t use it so don’t have it in the house and really would rather not buy it only for this recipe. Thank you! And thank you for your endless inspiration and down to earth writing, beautiful photography, and of course delicious dishes:)
Great comfort food for potato lovers. I used the homemade mayo that I had on hand (from Angela’s cookbook recipe). My fam is not big into potatoes (like I am) but they loved this. Beware, you are going to have the linger of yummy garlic after.
I’ve made these potatoes before, but I must try with the aioli. Looks so good!
I saw this recipe last night and thought- “YES!”
I struggled with deciding on a good main dish to serve it with, though. Ultimately, I decided that I wanted to roast some eggplant and zucchini in olive oil, then add them to a thick, garlicky marinara. I made a few brown rice noodles and served my boyfriend my take on spaghetti. The plate looked adorable with the pasta drowning in the thick, veggie-filled sauce, and the smashed red potato sitting innocently next to the whole mess.
The combination of the salty, crispy potato with the soft, flavorful vegetables and the powerful sauce was killer.
Thank you, Angela, for yet another wonderful meal.
Looks a good yummy recipe but, healthy though…eager to try out.
It’s not even 9:00 am and I’m getting up to make these now. Thank you!!!
I made these last night and thought I’d pre-boil the potatoes then, when we were ready for dinner, smash and roast them in the oven. Totally didn’t work out. I think it was because the potato wasn’t warm so they didn’t smash easily – completely fell apart actually. SO, I just wanted to comment and say don’t make the same mistake… ;)
Thank you for the warning! That sounds like something I would have totally done too.
just made with cashew cream in place of veganaise, delicious! Love them!
Hi Angela, we just tried those last night and they were absolutely amazing!
Thank you for your good work and you are an inspiration.
These were so good!
I used olive oil with a touch of dijon mustard in place of the mayo and ilime instead of lemon and it made a beautiful and tasty drizzle.
Thanks for sharing this one!
We made these tonight – they were wonderful! Our potatoes were medium-sized and could have used more boiling time (more like 25-30 min). They were really difficult to smash (I used a potato masher). We corralled them into decent looking piles, but once baked, they came out perfect! Our 14-month old inhaled 2 of these!
We are currently making them and very excited to eat them! When we went to “smash” them, they didn’t hold together. We’d love to make these again, thoughts on why that may have happened? Cooked too long? Not long enough?
Hi Maya, Yes this is normal for them to fall apart a bit – not to worry!
These look so amazing! I can’t wait to try them out this week!
This is the perfect recipe for the upcoming holidays! Thanks for sharing! I can’t wait to try it!
Made these last night and they were awesome….I didn’t change a thing. Wonderful blog and wonderful recipes! :)
These look fabulous. Any suggestions of a main dish that would pair well with them – when they are devoured straight out of the oven? ;)
Just made these for my boyfriend and myself. So freaking easy, and my taste-buds still love me even hours later!!! So so so so sooooooo yummy!!!!!
I’ve only recently made squashed potatoes and I love them, love those crispy bits. The aioli looks divine and perfectly matched!