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Brunch, dinner or straight from the oven these crispy crushed potatoes are one of the most moorish, can’t get enough of them potato sides we have here. The edges are crunchy, the middles are soft and I can tell you you’re going to have a queue by the cooker waiting for these little beauties to come out.
Crispy Crushed Potatoes
Seriously, who doesn’t love soft baked potatoes with crispy crunchy outsides? No one I know. I can never seem to make enough of these no matter how many I make. They’re dangerously moorish, you just can’t stop at a couple. These are best served straight from the oven although you can do a little of the prep before hand so they’re ready to pop into a hot oven.
I make these plain or with toppings (see below for suggestions). You can’t really go wrong whatever you like to out on top of them. Thanks to being crushed you get the most delicious crispy bits, kinda like those stray chip shop chip ‘bits’ you’d find in the bottom of the chip pile. They were always the best bits, it’s the crunch I think!
I oven bake these to get maximum crispiness, after boiling them beforehand to cook the potatoes through. You want the potatoes to be fully cooked through before they go in the oven for two reasons. First, you want to be able to crush them before they hit a hot oven and second, the oven is used to crisp them and not cook them. It’s a combo that works brilliantly and gives the desired crunch!
When we started eating Clean and I wasn’t up for chip shop chips anymore these were the substitute.
I actually used to chop these in ‘fry shaped’ fingers and peel the potatoes before cooking them. They were more like a crunchy roasty than a crispy crushed potato but as the kids got used to my unwillingness to buy from the chip shop and began to love these, I morphed them into these what they’ve become: Skin on crushed crispy mini potatoes and honestly, none of us can get enough of them.
What Potatoes To Use
I tend to buy a bag of new potatoes to make these although that’s simply because they’re the right size. You can use any small potatoes you have. The boiling and baking method I use means any type of potatoes will work.
Leaving the skin on means you’re leaving in quite a few health benefits too. Potato skin is rich in vitamin C and is a powerful antioxidant agent. The potato skin also has the B Complex vitamin as well as containing phytochemical which are believed to protect cells, so if your kids will go for it, leave the skins on.
If the kids are potato skin resistant like mine were, feel free to peel the potatoes and think about gradually leaving it on as the kids get used to eating these. I really can’t imagine you’ll have too many problems getting these eaten though :)
Recipe Notes
- You want the oven to be hot. Whack it up to it’s highest setting to give the potatoes the best chance of crisping up.
- Give the potatoes lots of room on the baking sheet when they’re in the oven, making sure they’re not on top of each other. This way you make sure all the potato edges get direct heat
- Oil your baking sheet. Greasing your baking sheet means these won’t stick and also that the bottoms of them will go crispy
- You can start to make these ahead of time. If you want to get ahead of yourself you can boil the potatoes and leave them in the fridge until you need them. This saves waiting for them to boil, and you can pick up the recipe from that stage to finish them off.
Crushed Potato Topping Suggestions
I generally either serve these plain and crunchy or add a little finely shredded cheese on them a minute or two before they come out of of the oven. In the photo above I’ve used cheddar cheese, not loads but enough to give a hint of cheesiness. We also like to have a few dips on hand.
Here’s some dips you can have with these potatoes:
- Garlic free basil pesto
- Bit of a kick chipotle sauce
- Homemade BBQ sauce
- Creamy avocado sauce (no chilli)
What To Serve With These Potatoes
The list of things you could serve with these is endless. Really it comes down to hot and cold dinners. In the Winter, try serving them with these:
- Tarragon chicken with a cream sauce
- Beautifully light chicken Piccata
- Easy chicken stroganoff
- Healthy baked meatballs in a tomato sauce
And for when the weathers warmer outside and you fancy making something a bit lighter, try having them with these salads:
More Clean Eating Potato Recipes
- Creamy potato bake
- Clean eating parmesan potatoes
- Bacon fried potatoes
- Loaded crispy potato balls
- Buttery mashed potatoes and leeks
How To Make Crispy Crushed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3-4 Small Potatoes Per person, skin on, scrubbed
- 2 tbsp Olive oil Plus a little extra for baking
- Salt and pepper For seasoning
- Toppings Optional
Instructions
- Heat your oven to the maximum temperature it’ll go (make sure it’s very hot before you put the potatoes in)
- Line a baking sheet with foil and use a little olive oil to grease it. Put to one side
- Boil your small potatoes in a large pan of water, whole, until cooked through and soft
- Once the potatoes have boiled, drain them and put them back in the pan
- Add the olive oil to the whole potatoes and gently swirl the pan so the potatoes are fully covered with oil. Putting the oil on hot potatoes means it’ll become runny and able to cover all the potatoes easily
- Put the whole potatoes on the baking sheet, spreading them out well and making sure they’re not touching
- Using a potato masher or the back of a fork, gently crush each potato
- Spray a tiny bit more Olive oil into the potato where it’s been crushed and bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are golden and crispy
- Serve immediately
Crispy Crushed Potatoes Recipe
Crispy Crushed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3-4 Small Potatoes Per person, skin on, scrubbed
- 2 tbsp Olive oil Plus a little extra for baking
- Salt and pepper For seasoning
- Toppings Optional
Instructions
- Heat your oven to the maximum temperature it'll go (make sure it's very hot before you put the potatoes in)
- Line a baking sheet with foil and use a little olive oil to grease it. Put to one side
- Boil your small potatoes in a large pan of water, whole, until cooked through and soft
- Once the potatoes have boiled, drain them and put them back in the pan
- Add the olive oil to the whole potatoes and gently swirl the pan so the potatoes are fully covered with oil. Putting the oil on hot potatoes means it'll become runny and able to cover all the potatoes easily
- Put the whole potatoes on the baking sheet, spreading them out well and making sure they're not touching
- Using a potato masher or the back of a fork, gently crush each potato
- Spray a tiny bit more Olive oil into the potato where it's been crushed and bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are golden and crispy
- Serve immediately