Skin-On Smashed Red Potatoes
Small whole red potatoes simmered with a bay leaf, dried, lightly smashed with a spatula and folded with a tangy binder of melted butter, cream cheese and starchy cooking water, so pink skins and chunks remain.
Smashed potatoes are the anti-purée: chunks, skins and all. America's Test Kitchen chose Red Bliss potatoes because their compact, waxy structure holds together under pressure instead of collapsing into paste, and bound the chunks with cream cheese, melted butter and some of the starchy cooking water for tang. Its headnote says the size of the potatoes matters more than the type, so baby Yukon Golds work too. Red-skinned smashed potatoes are a common side across American home cooking and restaurants.
🇺🇸 This one is American
Small whole red potatoes simmered with a bay leaf, dried, lightly smashed with a spatula and folded with a tangy binder of melted butter, cream cheese and starchy cooking water, so pink skins and chunks remain.
🇮🇪 The original
Ireland's colcannon is floury potatoes mashed with butter and milk and folded with cooked cabbage or kale, a well of melted butter in the middle. See the Irish Colcannon recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
Waxy reds hold their shape
Red Bliss potatoes have a compact structure that breaks into chunks instead of turning to paste when smashed (ATK).
Starchy water plus cream cheese
The cooking water carries potato starch that thickens the binder, and cream cheese adds tang and body without thinning it.
Step by step
- Step 1
Put the potatoes in a large saucepan, cover with 1 inch of cold water and add 1 tsp salt and the bay leaf. Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower to medium-low and simmer gently 35 to 45 minutes, until a paring knife slides in with no resistance.
- Step 2
Save 1/2 cup of the cooking water, then drain. Return the potatoes to the pot, throw out the bay leaf and let them stand uncovered about 5 minutes, until the surfaces look dry.
- Step 3
Meanwhile, whisk the melted butter and cream cheese in a bowl until smooth. Whisk in 1/4 cup of the reserved water, the pepper, the chives if using and 1/2 tsp salt.
- Step 4
Smash the potatoes lightly with a rubber spatula or the back of a wooden spoon, just enough to break the skins.
- Step 5
Fold in the butter mixture until most of the liquid is absorbed and chunks remain.
- Step 6
Add more reserved water a tablespoon at a time until the potatoes are slightly looser than you want; they thicken as they stand. Season and serve right away.
Skin-On Smashed Red Potatoes
Serves 4 · about 4 cups · 55 min total
Potatoes
- 2 lb Red Bliss potatoes, about 2 inches across, unpeeled and scrubbed
- 1 tsp table salt, for the cooking water
- 1 bay leaf
Binder
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and warm
- 4 oz (1/2 cup) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup reserved potato cooking water
- 1/2 tsp table salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 3 tbsp chopped fresh chives (optional)
Method
- Put the potatoes in a large saucepan, cover with 1 inch of cold water and add 1 tsp salt and the bay leaf. Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower to medium-low and simmer gently 35 to 45 minutes, until a paring knife slides in with no resistance.
- Save 1/2 cup of the cooking water, then drain. Return the potatoes to the pot, throw out the bay leaf and let them stand uncovered about 5 minutes, until the surfaces look dry.
- Meanwhile, whisk the melted butter and cream cheese in a bowl until smooth. Whisk in 1/4 cup of the reserved water, the pepper, the chives if using and 1/2 tsp salt.
- Smash the potatoes lightly with a rubber spatula or the back of a wooden spoon, just enough to break the skins.
- Fold in the butter mixture until most of the liquid is absorbed and chunks remain.
- Add more reserved water a tablespoon at a time until the potatoes are slightly looser than you want; they thicken as they stand. Season and serve right away.
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen, "Smashed Potatoes" (August 22, 2007), as written, with 4 servings from its "4 to 6". America's Test Kitchen. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (1)
Tips
- Choose potatoes all the same size so they finish together; test the biggest one.
- Make these just before serving; they stiffen as they sit (ATK).
- Smash gently by hand; an electric mixer would turn the waxy potatoes gummy.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Smashed is just lazy mashed. Folklore: ATK treats it as its own style, with waxy potatoes, skins and a different binder.
- You need red potatoes. Disputed: ATK's recipe calls for Red Bliss, but its own headnote says size matters more than type and white or baby Yukon potatoes work.
- Southern smashed potatoes. Folklore: often called Southern-style online; we found no reputable source tying smashed red potatoes to one region, so the site says "American".
Every other mash
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