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Why It Works
- Cooking the potatoes until creamy in plenty of salted water with thyme produces flavorful spuds that only grow more delicious once smashed and pan-fried.
- Two easy sauces—one creamy and savory and one bright and herbal—help build a more complex and interesting dish.
I’d like to introduce you to the Columbo of potato dishes—(yes, I know this reference seriously dates me)—disheveled and sloppy at a glance, but that mess belies a calculated strategy. I’ll jump right into what you’re seeing: smashed, fried potatoes splunged in a haphazard assortment of tonnato sauce, parsley oil, olives, pickled onion, and Calabrian chiles in oil. It’s creamy, crispy, oily, spicy, savory, fresh, and just plain dripping with sauce.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
I know all those toppings and condiments sound like a pain in the butt (and the recipe below sure looks long!), but it’s actually pretty easy, and you get a ton of bang for your buck that lasts beyond the recipe itself. The most time-consuming part of the process is boiling, smashing, and pan-frying the potatoes. While that happens, you can easily whip up the tonnato sauce (really just a simple tuna mayo) and parsley oil. The pickled onion is as simple as glugging some vinegar over sliced red onion and letting it sit for a bit. And the olives and chiles are just store-bought ingredients.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
It may not look precise on the plate, but it’s exacting in intention, layering flavor and texture so every bite pops. It’s also incredibly versatile: It’s a great side dish that would be perfect to serve to dinner-party guests alongside a roast, and it’s also hearty enough to be a filling main course, such as for a family dinner. It’s a bit of a Swiss Army knife—loaded with features that make it helpful in all kinds of situations.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
This is the kind of layered, casual-but-composed cooking you see in restaurants—but it deserves a place in home kitchens too. It brings together a wide range of components, none of them difficult, to create unfussy food that feels intentional. As a bonus, this recipe makes enough of some of the components that you’ll have leftovers, including the tonnato sauce, the parsley oil, and the pickled onion. That’s a feature, not a bug—your fridge will be stocked with powerful ingredients you can spin off into new uses. In a way this isn’t just one great dish, but a fridge full of flavor to build on all week.
These Crispy Smashed Potatoes Are a Hot Mess—and That’s the Point
Cook Mode
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For the Potatoes:
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2 pounds (900 g) small yellow or gold potatoes (see notes)
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Kosher salt
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3 or 4 sprigs fresh thyme
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Extra-virgin olive oil, for pan-frying
For the Tonnato Sauce:
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1 large egg
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1/4 cup (60 ml) fresh lemon juice (from 2 whole lemons), divided
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2 anchovy fillets (about 1/4 ounce; 7 g)
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1 teaspoon (5 ml) Dijon mustard
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1 teaspoon (5 g) drained capers
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1/2 cup (120 ml) vegetable oil
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1/2 cup (120 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
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4 ounces (113 g) oil-packed tuna, drained
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Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the Parsley Sauce:
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1 ounce (30 g) flat-leaf parsley leaves and tender stems
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1/2 cup (120 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
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Kosher salt
For Serving:
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1/4 cup pitted olives, such as Taggiasca or Gaeta (see notes)
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About 2 tablespoons drained and minced Quick-Pickled Red Onion
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About 2 tablespoons chopped Calabrian chiles in oil or other jarred chiles in oil (see notes)
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For the Potatoes: In a large pot, cover potatoes with cold water, season heavily with salt, and add thyme. Bring to a boil over high heat , then reduce heat to a gentle simmer and cook until potatoes are completely tender, about 10 minutes after a boil is achieved (poke a potato with a sharp knife or cake tester to test for doneness). Drain in a colander set in the sink and let rest for 10 minutes to dry and cool slightly.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
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Working with one potato at a time, place potato on cutting board and smash firmly with the bottom of a heavy skillet to a thickness of about 1/2 inch. Transfer to a large plate or tray as you work.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
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In a large nonstick or cast iron skillet, heat about 1/4 inch of olive oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add as many potatoes as will fit in a single layer. Cook, shaking pan occasionally, until bottom side is deep golden brown, about 6 minutes. Carefully flip with a thin metal spatula and cook until second side is golden brown and crisp, about 5 minutes longer. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and allow to drain.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
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Continue cooking potatoes in batches, adding more oil as necessary, until all potatoes are cooked. Potatoes can then be left aside until ready to serve.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
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While the potatoes are boiling, make the Tonnato Sauce: Place egg, 2 tablespoons (30ml) lemon juice, anchovies, mustard, and capers in a blender or food processor and, with the processor or blender running, slowly drizzle in vegetable oil followed by the olive oil until oil is fully emulsified and a mayonnaise has formed.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
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Turn off processor or blender and scrape down sides of cup using a rubber spatula, then add tuna and remaining 2 tablespoons (30ml) lemon juice. Process or blend just until tuna is thoroughly incorporated into a smooth sauce, 15 to 30 seconds. Avoid over-blending, as this can cause the sauce to become grainy. Transfer tonnato sauce to a medium bowl and season with salt and pepper. Rinse out processor or blender jar.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
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For the Parsley Sauce: In the rinsed processor or blender, combine parsley with oil and blend until a fairly smooth sauce forms. Season with salt.
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To Serve: On a large platter, spread a generous layer of tonnato sauce all over. Arrange potatoes on top (if they’ve cooled and you want to serve them warm, you can reheat them in a 400°F oven for about 6 minutes). Spoon some generous spoonfuls of parsley sauce on top along with a scattering of the olives, minced pickled onions, and chiles in oil. Serve. (Note, you will have leftovers of the sauces.)
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
Notes
Any small, creamy potato can work here, including Yukon Golds, yellow potatoes, red potatoes, and more.
Feel free to substitute any chile-oil-type product or oily chile paste in place of the Calabrian chiles called for here; this recipe is flexible and can handle many substitutions.
You will have extra of the sauces. Save them for whatever you want—spoon them onto other vegetable dishes, roast chicken, fish, pork, or other meats, use them in sandwiches and salads, and more.
Make-Ahead and Storage
The potatoes can be boiled and then cooled and refrigerated up to 2 days in advance. Once smashed and pan-fried, they can be held for a couple hours before reheating in a hot oven and serving.
The tonnato sauce and parsley oil can be refrigerated in airtight containers for up to 3 days.
