This is hands down one of my favorite ways to prepare red potatoes. The creamy potato, garlicky herb butter and salty parmesan marry together to create a beautiful bite. It’s truly sinful. I promise you, they are worth it!
I can remember my parents making these potatoes growing up. They would par boil them first and then put them in a pan to smash them and finish them off. Which is a great way to do it…but I think roasting them in the oven for a quick few minutes gives the edges that crunchiness I’m looking for. Once you place these potatoes in the oven, that’s when the magic happens. The salty parmesan cheese starts to melt and the bits of garlic begin to cook and release flavor throughout. The potatoes are basically swimming in an herb butter garlic bath. Like I said, they are sinful!
You can pair these potatoes with just about anything. They are great along-side a juicy red steak or even my balsamic dijon pork tenderloin. You could eat these potatoes along-side some pan seared white fish or even with grilled chicken. The possibilities are endless. I’ve linked below some options of main dishes to pair it with.
BALSAMIC DIJON GRILLED PORK TENDERLOIN
BEER CAN ROASTED CHICKEN + BROWN GRAVY
SMASHED RED POTATOES WITH GARLIC HERB BUTTER AND PARMESAN
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
1 lb small red potatoes
8 tbsp salted butter, room temperature
5 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
In a small pot on medium heat combine butter, garlic, parsley and thyme. Cook until the butter is melted completely (about 3 minutes). Turn off heat and set aside.
Bring a pot of water to a boil and add in red potatoes. Boil potatoes till they are tender (use a fork to stab the potato. If the fork easily pushes through the potato, they are ready. Note that the potatoes should be almost cooked). Should only take about 10-12 minutes. (depending on the size of the potatoes..mine were about 1.5 inches thick).
Drain potatoes and transfer to a baking sheet. Line the potatoes up into rows. One by one, use a potato masher or the bottom of a cup to smash down the potatoes. They should smash very easily. Mash down very lightly till the potatoes are about 1 inch thick. Repeat till all the potatoes are done.
Sprinkle an even amount of the 1/2 tsp of salt and pepper on top of the smashed potatoes.
Next, pour on a large spoonful of the butter garlic mixture on each individual potato. Make sure to get chunks of the minced garlic on each potato as well.
Take about half a tbsp of the parmesan and place it on top of each potato. Repeat till every potato is covered. At this point, each potato should have an even layer of garlic herb butter and parmesan cheese.
Place in the oven for about 8-10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and slightly golden and crispy on top.
Remove from the oven and serve hot.