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Smashed Potato Salad

September 17, 2024

With a creamy, mayo dressing and lots of fresh herbs, it’s no wonder that crispy smashed potato salad recipes are going viral right now — YUM.

Categories

  • Spring
  • Summer
  • Fall
  • Lunch
  • Salads
a bowl of smashed potato salad made with boiled eggs, cucumber, pickles, chives, parsley and a mayo based dressing
Photography by Gayle McLeod

We’ve loved Crispy Smashed Potatoes for a long time. Served with a simple steak or roast chicken, and we even break them out around the holidays as an everyone-loves-them side dish for big family gatherings. So when those crispy smashed potato salad recipes started going viral on TikTok, we knew we had to make our own version! Fresh herbs, creamy mayo dressing and a mound of crispy potatoes? Yes please. Crispy potatoes and a creamy dressing — you can’t go wrong! For more creative potato salad recipes, check out our easy Pesto Potato Salad.

gold potatoes, eggs, radishes, pickles, parsley, chives, cucumber, spices, mayo and stone ground mustard in prep bowls

Ingredients for Smashed Potato Salad

  • Baby gold potatoes: We found and adore these sweet little “baby gold” potatoes, which are — as they sound! — a miniature version of Yukon gold potatoes. But any small, round, waxy potato will work here.

  • Mayonnaise: Some folks use Kewpie mayo, which is a Japanese mayo that’s rich with umami and a bit sweeter than most American brands of mayo, but we used regular American mayonnaise, because we love its simple creamy tang.

  • Mustard: Stone ground mustard is our choice here, for both bold flavor and a hint of color and texture.

  • Herbs: Fresh herbs make this creamy dressing sing! And they lighten up this otherwise pretty rich potato salad, too. We’ve opted for classic herbs here: fresh chives and fresh Italian parsley.

  • Cucumbers: Persian cukes are our forever choice, because they’re so crisp and require no peeling. Yay.

  • Pickles: You’re going to need both the pickles themselves and (just like in our Classic Potato Salad) the pickle juice, which adds a salty tang to the creamy dressing.

  • Eggs: Hard-Boiled Eggs for a little protein (basically, with eggs in the mix, this potato salad is a whole meal).

  • Radishes: With the crisp potatoes and crunchy pickles, this potato salad has a fair amount of crispness, but we wanted just a bit more crunch, sharpness and color. Radishes make it perfect!

  • Olive oil: We like to use extra virgin olive oil to add flavor as well as crispness to the crispy smashed potatoes, but you could use regular olive oil in a pinch.

mayonnaise, olive oil, stone ground mustard, pickle juice, salt and pepper being mixed in a bowl
baby gold potatoes boiling in a pot of water

How To Make Crispy Smashed Potato Salad

  1. Make crispy smashed potatoes. You’ll boil them, smash them (literally smash them with the back of a sturdy drinking glass or mug), and then roast them until they’re crispy.

  2. Dice a lot of things! Pickles, cucumbers, radishes. Do this while the potatoes roast.

  3. Mix up the creamy potato salad dressing! Whisk together the mayonnaise, olive oil, mustard, and pickle juice. Do this while the potatoes roast, too.

  4. Mix it all together! Once the potatoes are all roasted and crispy and have had time to cool off a little, toss them with the salad dressing and the herbs and other diced goodies.

  5. Chill. If you can give this potato salad 20-30 minutes in the fridge before you serve it, it’ll be extra delightful.

  6. Serve it up!

boiled baby gold potatoes smashed on a baking sheet
roasted smashed potatoes with olive oil and salt on a baking sheet

Tips For The Best Crispy Smashed Potato Salad

  • Make sure the potatoes are roughly uniform in size, and remember that people might want them to be bite-sized.

  • There is a time and a place for jammy eggs, but potato salad is a moment for true Hard-Boiled Eggs.

  • If you have time to let the roasted crispy potatoes cool before tossing them with the dressing (even just 15 minutes or so) that’d be great.

  • The internet seems to want to know if it’s possible to make vegan smashed potato salad and we’re not opposed to that! You could try using vegan mayo and leaving out the eggs and it’d probably be delicious!

dressing being poured over smashed potatoes, boiled eggs, pickles, cucumber, radish, parsley and chives
a bowl of smashed potato salad made with boiled eggs, cucumber, pickles, chives, parsley and a mayo based dressing

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Smashed Potato Salad

  • Serves:  8
  • Prep Time:  20 min
  • Cook Time:  25 min
  • Calories:  320

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds baby gold potatoes
  • 4 ½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ⅔ cup mayonnaise
  • 1 tablespoon stone ground mustard
  • 1 ½ tablespoons pickle juice
  • Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
  • 1 cup diced Persian cucumbers, (from 2 to 3 cucumbers)
  • ¾ cup diced pickles
  • 4 Hard Boiled Eggs, roughly chopped
  • 4 radishes, thinly sliced

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 450°F with a rack in the center position. Grease a rimmed sheet pan with olive oil.

    gold potatoes, eggs, radishes, pickles, parsley, chives, cucumber, spices, mayo and stone ground mustard in prep bowls
  2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the potatoes and cook until very tender, about 20 minutes. Strain the potatoes in a colander and let cool for about 5 minutes.

    baby gold potatoes boiling in a pot of water
  3. Spread out the potatoes on the prepared sheet. Using the bottom of a drinking glass, gently smash the potatoes until each is about ¼ inch thick. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil all over the potatoes and season them with ½ teaspoon of the salt.

    boiled baby gold potatoes smashed on a baking sheet
  4. Bake the potatoes until crispy, about 25 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board, let cool for 10 minutes then roughly chop. Transfer to a large bowl.

    roasted smashed potatoes with olive oil and salt on a baking sheet
  5. Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine the mayonnaise, the remaining 2½ tablespoons olive oil, mustard, pickle juice, the remaining ½ teaspoon salt, and pepper.

    mayonnaise, olive oil, stone ground mustard, pickle juice, salt and pepper being mixed in a bowl
  6. Add the chives, parsley, cucumbers, pickles, eggs, and radishes to the bowl with the potatoes. Stir in the dressing and mix until well combined and coated.

    dressing being poured over smashed potatoes, boiled eggs, pickles, cucumber, radish, parsley and chives
  7. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

    a bowl of smashed potato salad made with boiled eggs, cucumber, pickles, chives, parsley and a mayo based dressing

Nutrition Info

  • Per Serving
  • Amount
  • Calories 320
  • Protein 6 g
  • Carbohydrates 23 g
  • Total Fat 24 g
  • Dietary Fiber 3 g
  • Cholesterol 114 mg
  • sodium 523 mg
  • Total Sugars 2 g

Smashed Potato Salad

Questions & Reviews

Join the discussion below.

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  • Patt

    are we using sweet or dill pickles?

    We use dill but you can use whichever you prefer.

  • Lea

    How do I save recipes from your site? I loved the smashed potato salad. Gonna try it real soon if I can just save it.

    You can email yourself the link or you can print them. Hope you enjoy Lea Ann!

  • Raina

    10 out of 10. Fancy potato salad? I'm a yes and it was awesome.

    Thanks Raina, so glad you loved it!