Greek Smashed Potatoes with Feta (Air Fryer or Oven)
, Updated Dec 06, 2023
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Make these Smashed Greek potatoes with feta and rosemary whenever you need a delicious side dish in a hurry… or add some protein and turn it into a main. Cook them in your oven or your air fryer with a little assistance from your microwave!
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Taking a break from the never ending parade of festive recipes to offer this quick dish that will delight year-round and give your taste buds a real treat.
Smashed potatoes are one of life’s great joys – so crispy on the outside, so deliciously fluffy and soft within. Basically they are an upgrade on the humble jacket potato and, using this method, a much faster one too.
Smashed Potatoes PDQ!
My trick with smashed potatoes is to blast them in the microwave until softened enough to smash. This can take between 7-12 minutes depending on your microwave’s wattage and the size of the potatoes. I’ve suggested King Edward in the recipe card ingredient list below, but Yukon Gold potatoes or other small potatoes will work just as well, even baby potatoes.
Don’t forget to rinse the potatoes in cold water and pierce the skin all over with a sharp knife.Place the potatoes in a microwaveable bowl and then cover with moistened paper towel so that they don’t dry out. Cook for 6-7 minutes on full power and then check.
If a knife pierces them easily, you can probably proceed to the next step which is crisping them up in the oven until they are golden brown. I usually find they need another few minutes before you can smash them easily.
Once the potatoes are soft enough, smash them with a potato masher or the bottom of a glass to expose some of the soft flesh. Give them a drizzle of olive oil and season generously, including the lemon wedges and loads of garlic goodness, before transferring to the oven (or an air fryer – see below!) to give them those irresistible crispy edges.
A skillet is a great way to cook them but a tray will work as well. The feta, onions and capers go in at the very end so that the cheese has a chance to soften slightly.
These quick smashed Greek potatoes with feta and rosemary are basically a winter version of my mum’s famous and popular recipe for Greek potato salad and I know you will LOVE them. But you can also add any ingredients, fresh herbs and spices that take your fancy – the flavorful potatoes can carry most of them with ease, from a dollop of sour cream or greek yogurt to Kalamata olives!
HELPFUL CHEATS
By the way this method of microwaving the potatoes before smashing, which I also employ on roast potatoes as well, caused my husband to call this recipe ‘cheating’ which I naturally took great offense at!
If you really want to save time, why not try cooking this delicious Greek potato recipe in your air fryer instead of the oven? Check out my video explainer and the recipe card below for more info!
If technology makes your life a little bit easier, I am all for it and this means I can serve the kids jacket potatoes for their dinner without having to cook them for hours first.
RECIPE NOTES
If you want to make baked potatoes in the microwave, rinse them, pierce them several times with a knife and then wrap them in slightly damp paper towels before microwaving them for about 6 minutes on each side.
Large potatoes might need a little longer and remember to put them on a plate otherwise hot spots can cause the skin to dry out in places. Check out my Air Fryer Baked Potatoes for more info!
Serving Suggestions
This Greek smashed potato recipe is the perfect side dish, but can become a main meal if you add some lentils or some tinned tuna.
These crispy smashed potatoes even taste great reheated the next day or you can turn the leftovers into a salad. They are really an all-round winner. Here are some great dishes you can pair them with:
- Air Fryer Greek Chicken
- Herb Marinated Lamb Chops
- Slow Cooker Leg Of Lamb
- Pot Roast Chicken Rotisserie Style!
- Easy Roasted Turkey Legs
- Reverse Sear Steak
Alternatively, you might be interested in some of my other potato serving suggestions:
HAVE YOU MADE GREEK SMASHED POTATOES RECIPE? Please leave a rating, post a photo on my Facebook page, share it on Instagram, or save it to Pinterest with the tag #supergoldenbakes and make my day 🙂
Quick smashed Greek potatoes with feta and rosemary
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8-12 medium potatoes roasting potatoes
- 200 g (7oz) feta cheese crumbled
- 3 tbsp small capers or sliced black olives
- 2 large whole cloves of garlic, sliced
- 1 red onion sliced into very thin rounds
- small rosemary sprig torn
- 1 lemon cut into quarters
- olive oil to drizzle
- salt and pepper to season
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C (400F). Drizzle a large skillet or roasting tray with a little olive oil.
- Rinse the potatoes and then pierce them all over with the tip of a sharp knife.
- Place in a microwaveable bowl, cover with two sheets of damp paper towel and microwave on full power for 7-12 minutes. You may need to do this in batches depending on your microwave’s capacity.
- Check the potatoes after 7 minutes. If you can easily pierce them with a knife, take them out now otherwise continue to cook.
- Place the potatoes in the skillet or tray and smash them using a potato masher. You want to expose some of the flesh but for the potatoes to keep their shape.
- Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Scatter the garlic and rosemary over the potatoes and nestle the lemon wedges among them.
- Cook for 10 minutes until the skin starts to colour.
- Add the crumbled feta, onion and capers and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes.
- Squeeze some of the fresh lemon juice from the roasted lemons over them and serve immediately.
Air fryer instructions
- As above, but instead of placing the potatoes in a skillet or tray, place them directly in your air fryer basket and then follow the rest of the instructions.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is always approximate, and will depend on quality of ingredients and serving sizes.
I love the simplicity of it and shall try it. Will use Manouri feta which is so delicious! Do you know it?
Hi Corinna, I do but we don’t get it in London. Sounds delicious
I would like to know How many persons the recipe is for. I’m having 7 dinner guests on Saturday, so need to know how much I need of the different ingredients! Thank you in advance for your quick answer on quick greek potatoes. Best regards Pia
I would double the recipe for serving as a side. Allow 2-3 potatoes per guest.
Yummy! I too boiled the potatoes first, but did the rest of the recipe as written. The recipe is spot on! We’ll definitely be having these again. Plus, we have enough leftover to add to a Salade Nicoise later this week. Thank you!
I boiled baby potatoes in a pan then followed the rest of your recipe. It was lovely. We had it as part of a main dinner with a large tomato and cucumber and basil salad. Lovely x
What a super idea! I’ve got all those ingredients and shall copy you!
Dee-lectable💜. Vibrant flavors with minimal work for a side dish. Definately a keeper
hi the link to the greek potato salad above takes you to lamb chops. I just wanted you to know. both potato dishes sound yummy. I will try to track down the greek potato salad recipe.
Apologies here it is https://www.supergoldenbakes.com/wordpress/greek-potato-salad/
Great recipe, thank you. It just came up in Pinterest for me. I sincerely hope that your husband has the message about microwaving potatoes by now. In Ye Olden Days, (before microwaves) cooks would parboil potatoes before roasting. Same principle.
In fact, I microwave all roast vegetables just to the point that they are hot before roasting. Cuts down cooking time and they taste better
Indeed! He has seen the error of his ways 😉
It’s not cheating, it’s being smart!
Agreed 😉
Agreed- anything that makes cooking quicker and easier isn’t cheating! It takes forever to cook a potato in the oven. You have a microwave, use it! 🙂
This sounds amazing, i need them in my life!