Hasselback Potatoes are a great way to use a large quantity of potatoes and feed a large crowd. It’s also a visually stunning dish that will look great, served in the cast iron pan, directly to the table if you’re serving up family style.
In this case of when I first made this dish, I had a mix of about 10 medium sized red and yellow potatoes and wanted to do something besides making them into a pink mash. For even more flair, use large purple potatoes as well and alternate the groups of colors. You’ll want potatoes that are at least the diameter of a racketball to ensure they stand up tall enough and fill your cast iron pan.
Prep for making Hasselback Potatoes
For this recipe, you’ll find that using a mandoline will save you a significant amount of time. The right width will be just a little thicker than the thinnest setting. If you go too thin, you’ll spend the entire night standing them up.
You’ll need anywhere from 6 to 10 potatoes, depending on their size. I started by slicing up 4 of my medium potatoes and started layering them, slicing more potatoes as I needed them.
Apparently, what makes a potato “hasselbacked” is when it has been sliced vertically and cooked. This is different than an “au gratin” which is slices that are horizontal and cooked in a creamy or cheesy sauce. And as most Americans elect not to take any high school French (I sure didn’t), this dish is typically pronounced as “aw grottin” versus “oh gruh-tan” and comes boxed up by the good people at Betty Crocker.
This dish is a hybrid somewhere in the middle. We’ll cook them in a cast iron pan in the oven, though at a 45-degree angle. And rather than drowning them in a high-fat, high-calorie bath, we’ll use the same garlicky butter & olive oil mixture that I use for making a super garlicky garlic bread.
In the end, it’s a very simple recipe that’s super delicious. We made these over the holidays along with a standing rib roast. Since the beef was going to be served family style, this was the perfect side dish placed on the table with a large spoon to scoop them out. Enjoy!
- 6 to 10 Sliced Medium Potatoes
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 2 Tablespoons Butter
- 3 Tablespoons Crushed Garlic
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Preheat your oven to 400 degrees
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In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the butter until the foam subsides. Add the olive oil and crushed garlic and simmer over low
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Brush a light amount onto the bottom and the walls of your cast iron pan
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Arrange the potatoes in the pan, season liberally with salt and pepper, brush the garlic butter sauce on top and wrap tightly with aluminum foil. (Reserve some butter to finish them at the end)
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Bake for 45 minutes. Test to see if they are cooked in the middle
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Remove the pan, set your oven to broil and brush more garlic butter on top. Place them under the broiler to crisp off the tops
How pretty are these, lovely idea.
Cheers, Caroline, thanks for checking them out!