Hasselback Potatoes in a Cast Iron Pan

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!