Hasselback Potatoes

What a show-stopping side dish, hot and crisp like French fries, oven-roasted like baked potatoes. The big surprise? Hasselback Potatoes are visually distinctive but also surprisingly easy to make. Just cut slits in the potatoes with a sharp knife (don't worry, I'll show you how), brush the tops with olive oil, season a bit and roast in the oven for 45 minutes. That's it, you can definitely do this!

Memorable Homestyle Whole Food, Easy to Execute, Dramatic Results. Just Four Ingredients, Potatoes + Pantry Ingredients. Hearty & Filling, Especially Good with Steaks, Chops, Roast Chicken. Budget Friendly. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special. Easy DIY. Perfect When Cooking for One or Two. Not just vegan, Vegan Done Real. Naturally Gluten Free. Whole30 Friendly. What're you waiting for?! So Good!!

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Building a Repertoire of Potato Recipes.

Don't we all have the usual assembly of potato recipes?

• Baked, in my case baked baked sloooowly for not one, not two but some times even 3 hours.
• Mashed, in my case using three "secrets" from Cook's Illustrated to achieve extra Rich & Creamy Mashed Potatoes
• Mashed but with carrots! These are the family favorite, Mashed Potatoes & Carrots.
• Scalloped, either with elegant simplicity or turned an attention-grabbing pink thanks to alternate layers of thin-sliced beets
• Fried, in my case soaked in beer first to turn out extra-crispy without deep-frying
• Roasted, in my case to a perfection I believe my English grandfather would approve of.
• Want more? Check out the super-organized potato recipes here on Kitchen Parade but especially the many, many potato recipes at A Veggie Venture.

But now, give a big ol' welcome to Hasselback [hassle back or hossle bock] Potatoes which took my kitchen by storm a year back. They're half baked potato (with those soft, moist interiors) and half French fry (with those hot, crispy outside edges) and 100% drop-dead pretty and outright delicious.

And it's about time! Because it's been more than ten years (ten?!) since my last new recipe for a potato side dish. Hasselbacks? They are worth the wait.

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Recipe Overview: Hasselback Potatoes

• Hasselback [pronounced hassle-back or some times hossle-bock] Potatoes are a roasted potato with a dramatic appearance achieved by cutting by thin, evenly spaced slits into the potato without going all the way through so they retain their potato shape. They're brushed with oil so that once in the oven, the slits open up like a fan, allowing even cooking all the way into the center. In fact, while Hasselbacks are indeed impressive in appearance, what I love most are the crisp edges and bottoms and the tender interiors.

• Origin & Other Names = These golden rounds of fanned roasted potatoes are thought to have originated in Sweden in the 1930s but took on their name in the 1950s when served at the restaurant Hasselbacken in Sweden's capital city of Stockholm. In Swedish, the potatoes are called hasselbackspotatis. And let me tell you, Nordic people are 100% serious about their love for potatoes, especially new potatoes fresh from the ground in early summer. I wrote about them here, with Finnish Summer Potato Salad.)
• When to Serve = To me, Hasselback Potatoes are somehow "lighter" than baked potatoes perhaps because they're already crisp, they need no toppings. I especially appreciate their appearance on a plate when the main course is a single piece of meat, steaks or chops or even a chicken quarter (that's the leg and thigh together). I also like to tuck them into the roasting pan as I did for Fast Roast Chicken with Hasselback Potatoes.
• With my recipe, Hasselback Potatoes are naturally gluten free and either vegan (oil only for the fat) or vegetarian (oil and butter for the fat).
• Distinctive Ingredients = Yukon gold Potatoes + olive oil + salt & pepper, that's it! the entire ingredient list!
• For Garnish = The potatoes are so distinctive in appearance, no garnish is needed although as usual, a sprinkling of fresh herbs is rarely unwelcome.
• Kitchen Tools = A sharp knife + a baking sheet such as these workhorses in my kitchen, half sheet pans (affiliate link) + parchment such as convenient sheets of pre-cut parchment (affiliate link)
• For two, it takes about 5 minutes to prep a couple of potatoes, for four, about double that. After that, the potatoes spend 45 minutes in the oven; you'll pull them out after 15 and 30 minutes to brush with oil.
• Hasselback Potatoes are allllll about appearance and texture! Their architectural shape, their fanned slits, the creamy interior all add up to something quite special.
• This is a pantry-friendly and budget-friendly recipe, just inexpensive potatoes, olive oil, salt and pepper.
• The recipe easily expands from one or two potatoes to a whole trayful, should that sound fun.
• This recipe works especially well for those Cooking for One or Two.
• So good! I hope you love these!


• Another remarkable potato is baked for up to three hours (2-1/2 hours is my personal sweet spot), it's another revelation, see (Sloooow) Baked Potatoes (How Long to Bake a Baked Potato). Trust me, one hour is just not enough!
• Not quite what you're looking for? Check out my other potato recipes.

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Hungry Yet?
A Feast of a Menu

Frozen Steaks

Hasselback Potatoes
(recipe below)

Festive Kale Salad with Apple & Pomegranate

Gingerbread Pudding Cake

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Or Just Tuck The Potatoes Into a Roasting Pan with a Chicken ...

Why I Love This Recipe & You Might Too

Why would anyone go to the trouble of making thin cuts into a potato? Here are a few reasons. Why do you make them? Let me know in the comments!

• ... some times I want a potato side dish but a baked potato seems too big or too heavy
• ... some times I want a potato side dish but the meat already has a sauce so mashed potatoes with gravy just isn't right
• ... I love how a hasselback potato dresses up a plate when serving a plain cut of meat such as a steak, a pork chop, a lamb chop or even a piece of fish
• ... just because they're yummy
• ... just because they're fun!

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How do you save and share favorite recipes? recipes that fit your personal cooking style? a particular recipe your mom or daughter or best friend would just love? If this recipe inspires you, please do save and share! I'd be honored ...

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HASSELBACK POTATOES

Hands-on time: 5 - 10 minutes
Time-to-table: 1 hour
Makes as many half or whole potatoes as desired

• Yukon gold potatoes, skins on, small, medium or large
• Olive oil (or a mix of olive oil and melted butter)
• Salt & pepper to taste

Heat the oven to 425F/220C. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

Select as many potatoes as desired, it's okay to mix sizes on the same baking sheet. Keep small potatoes whole but cut large potatoes in half lengthwise; medium potatoes can go either way.

For whole potatoes, cut a small, thin slice off the bottom to create a flat, steady cutting surface. Place the potato slice-side down on a cutting board. From the potato's top, carefully make thin cuts straight down but without cutting through the bottom. Move to the baking sheet, slice-side down.

For half potatoes, place the flat-side down on a cutting board. Cut a small wedge from each end of the potato half and discard. (The wedge step is optional but it helps the potatoes to fan open in the oven.) From the potato's top, carefully make thin cuts straight down but without cutting through the bottom. Move to the baking sheet, cut-side down.

Brush the potato tops with olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt and freshly ground pepper.

Roast the potatoes in the oven for 45 minutes, bringing out after 15 and 30 minutes to re-brush with olive oil, either with the oil that's collected on the parchment or with fresh oil. The potatoes are done when the bottoms and tops are crisp and caramelized and the centers are hot and tender.

POSSIBLE CUTTING TIP If you have trouble accidentally cutting through the potatoes' bottoms, grab two thin cutting boards of equal height and put them a potato's width apart on a counter. Place a potato cut-side down right between the two, then make the cuts; the cutting boards will stop you from cutting too deep. I've tried this technique and it works but it really does require two equal-height, quite thin cutting boards, otherwise the cuts don't go in far enough. Would something else work? Maybe chopsticks? Or maybe a short stack of Post-Its? If you think of something creative, let me know!

HASSELBACK SWEET POTATOES Choose the garnet sweet potatoes which are elongated. Cut off the ends, which will burn, cut off that thin slice on the bottom to create a steady cutting surface, then cut through the sweet potato in described above. I've only made these a couple of times but they're great, just not as crispy as the Yukon gold potatoes.

ALANNA's TIPS I adore these potatoes! I think they're especially welcome on a plate beside a single piece of meat such as a steak, pork chop, chicken quarter, even a piece of baked fish. They're also extra good (and pretty!) when tucked into a cast iron skillet beside a roast chicken, just see my Fast Roast Chicken with Hasselback Potatoes! Other recipes include garlic and or cheese but to my taste, those additions distract from the elegant simplicity of the potatoes themselves.

FOR MORE INFO If you "skipped straight to the recipe," please scroll back to the top of this page for ingredient information, ingredient substitutions, tips and more. If you print this recipe, you'll want to check the recipe online for even more tips and extra information about ingredient substitutions, best results and more. See https://www.kitchenparade.com/2024/11/hasselback-potatoes.html .

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If you like Kitchen Parade's recipes, you'll love A Veggie Venture, my food blog about vegetables with more from-scratch recipes using whole, healthful ingredients, home to the famous Alphabet of Vegetables and vegetables in every course, seasonal to staples, savory to sweet, salads to sides, soups to supper, simple to special.

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More Fun Ways to Upgrade Your Potato Game

more
~ potato recipes ~

• THE RECIPE Three Secrets for Rich & Creamy Mashed Potatoes Easy to remember, easy to execute in this recipe or your own favorite.
• ANOTHER TAKE Mashed Potatoes with Vegetarian Apple Cider Gravy Easy enough for a weeknight suppers, special enough for a vegetarian Thanksgiving.

• THE RECIPE Perfect Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes (Party Potatoes) Make-ahead mashed potatoes for a crowd, traditional or slow cooker. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Slow Cooker Garlic Smashed Potatoes New potatoes cooked skins on especially for a kitchen short on oven space or stovetop burners.

• THE RECIPE Mashed Potatoes & Carrots Why haven't we done this forever? (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Mashed Cauliflower (Low-Carb Lighter Mashed "Potatoes") So close to mashed potatoes, your mouth will do a double-take. (PIN This)

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail, you'll find my current address in the FAQs. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, for more scratch cooking recipes using whole, healthful ingredients, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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