Crispy oven baked Mixed Smashed Potato Salad made with sweet potatoes, russet and baby potatoes all tossed together with crispy bacon, cheddar cheese, fresh chives, and fresh dill with a smoky creamy dressing. The smoky dressing is made up of mayonnaise, maple Dijon, liquid smoke, slow roasted garlic, and fresh rosemary. Serve this salad at room temperature or chill and enjoy alongside your favourite dish. 

This potato salad is an all around hit! It’s great any time of year, and it’s a touch sweet, tangy, smoky, and has some richness to it. It’s almost like a mix of french fries, poutine, and a traditional potato salad mashed together into 1. I love using the different types of potatoes to give the salad some variety and different flavours and textures. There’s sweetness from the sweet potatoes and caramelization from oven roasting but because they don’t hold up the best on their own as they are still soft in the centres and can break easily when mixing, they make a great addition when paired with the other two types of potatoes.

SMOKY DRESSING

Each bite you get little bits of the sweet potatoes and thicker crispy bites from the smashed baby potatoes and french fry chunks from the regular potatoes. I personally really enjoyed this change up version of a more traditional potato salad. The dressing is definitely on the richer side because of the maple Dijon, the liquid smoke and bacon fat which is why it’s great this time of year since it’s a little heartier and heavier. For the maple mustard I love using this one but I would have also liked to use a smoky mustard instead. Since I couldn’t find one I simply substituted for liquid smoke to give it a smoky taste. There’s also this one which would be great otherwise I recommend using regular Dijon, a bit of maple syrup, and the liquid smoke to get all those same flavours. 

POTATOES 

To make the potatoes, start by boiling them to get them all tender. The double bake process will help them get crispier. Add all the potatoes if you can to a large pot of boiling water and strain them once you can easily insert a fork through. For the size, I left the baby potatoes whole, and peeled and chopped the sweet potatoes and russet potatoes into different sized chunks. This was really for aesthetics. Because of the amount of potatoes you will probably need two large baking trays. Just like french fries, there needs to be some room around each potato so they have a chance to get crispy. Once the potatoes finishing cooling down after boiling, I divided them between two trays and smashed 3/4 of the potatoes. Again this is just to give the salad some variation and different texture that plays into the look and taste.  Smash the potatoes using the back of a drinking glass and by gently pressing down just enough until the potatoes break open. Not too hard otherwise they will be too smashed and flat. Coat the potatoes with a good amount of vegetable oil- either olive or canola are both great options and season with salt and pepper. From there it’s slow and steady and a waiting game basically until the potatoes get nice and crispy. I find it’s best to just leave them and not flip halfway otherwise the bottom side might not be crispy and they can still be too soft to turn. 

That was a lot to take in, but I hope I’ve shared enough to guide you and help you make the best version of my smashed potato salad!

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Mixed Smashed Potato Salad

Crispy oven baked mixed smashed potatoes tossed with crispy bacon, cheddar cheese, fresh chives, and fresh dill tossed in a smoky and tangy creamy dressing.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Additional Time10 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Servings: 6

Author: the communal feast

Ingredients

• 2 large sweet potatoes peeled and cubed
• 2 large russet potatoes peeled and cubed
• 2 cups mixed baby potatoes
• Olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 head garlic cloves
• 5 slices thick cut bacon
• 1 1/2 cup cheddar cheese shredded
• 2 TBS fresh chives chopped
• 2 TBS fresh dill chopped
• Dressing:
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 TBS maple dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp liquid smoke
• 1 TBS brown sugar
• 1/2 lemon juiced
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp rosemary chopped

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. When the water is boiling, drop the potatoes and cook until fork tender. About 10 minutes. Strain and let cool.
• Line the boiled potatoes on 2 large baking sheets. Coat the potatoes with a good amount of olive oil. Gently smash 3/4 of the potatoes using the back of a water glass. Press down gently over the potatoes to do this. Season with salt and pepper and ensure that the potatoes don't overlap. Add the head of garlic to the pan making sure to cut the top off and coat with oil. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove the trays from the oven, gently flip the potatoes to allow the other side to crisp up. Return to the oven 10-15 minutes until all the potatoes are crispy and golden. Let cool slightly before tossing with dressing.
• While the potatoes are baking, thinly slice the bacon and cook until crispy. Shred the cheese and set aside.
• To make the dressing: Combine all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir to combine. Add 1-2 TBS of bacon fat if desired. Once the head of garlic has finished roasting, squeeze out all the cloves, mash them up and throw them into the dressing to incorporate. If you can't find maple Dijon or even a smoked Dijon, use regular Dijon and add a touch of maple syrup and liquid smoke.
• To make the salad: combine the cooled crispy potatoes with the cooked bacon, shredded cheese, chives and dill. Mix well with the dressing and transfer to a serving bowl. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper to your liking. Enjoy at room temperature or chill for 1 hour. Enjoy!