• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Nicky's Kitchen Sanctuary logo

  • > Start Here
  • The Recipes
    • Browse all categories
    • Asian
    • Dinner
    • Pasta
    • Roast Dinner
    • Curries
    • Sides
    • Soups
    • Big Batch
    • Quick Dinner Recipes
    • Skinny Recipes
    • Street Food
    • Lunch
    • Gluten Free
    • Vegetarian
    • Cakes & Treats
    • BBQ
    • Breakfast & Brunch
    • Drinks
    • Appetizers
    • Sauces and Dips
  • My New Book
  • Blogger Resources
    • Living The Blog
    • How to start a food blog
    • Income Reports
  • About
    • About
    • Contact
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
  • Sign-Up
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
go to homepage
Homepage link
  • > Start Here
  • All Recipes
  • Never miss a recipe!
  • 20 Minute Meals
  • Appetizers & Party Food
  • Asian
  • Curries
  • Dinner
  • One Pot
  • Pasta
  • Roast Dinner
  • Sides
  • Slow Cooked
  • Soups
  • Street Food
  • Terms and Conditions
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home > Appetizers, Starters & Party Food

    Smashed Roast Potatoes with Garlic, Bacon and Cheddar

    Published: May 5, 2016 · Modified: Mar 12, 2018 by Nicky Corbishley

    Go to Recipe Print Recipe

    I didn't think proper roasties could get any better, until now!! These Smashed Roast Potatoes with Garlic, Bacon and Cheddar are AMAZING!

    Perfectly Crunchy Roast Potatoes with Garlic, Bacon and Cheddar!

    This post is sponsored by AHDB Potatoes - a division of the Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board, committed to supporting the British potato industry

    Are roast potatoes mostly an English thing? I'm not sure.
    One thing I am sure about though, is that a perfectly cooked roast potato should be darkly golden and crunchy on the outside, and fluffy on the inside.
    You should almost be able to 'crack' them open, and that gorgeous crisp coating should come away from the potato in the middle in order to soak up the gravy from that amazing roast dinner.

    Sorry, I went off in a bit of a daydream there - roast potatoes can do that to me.

    Generally speaking, I do save the roasties until I'm making a roast dinner, however AHDB potatoes challenged me to come up with a different roastie recipe.
    I was making a baked potato with bacon and cheese, when I hit upon the idea of doing it with roasties! Crispy potatoes, crispy bacon and melty cheese? Sounded like a match made in heaven!

     

    Perfectly Crunchy Roast Potatoes with Garlic, Bacon and Cheddar!

    Here are a few of my tips for making the perfect roast potato:

    • Use floury potatoes such as King Edward, Maris Piper or Rooster (as opposed to waxy potatoes)
    • Par boil your peeled and chopped potatoes for 10-12 minutes. The usual advice is to boil for 6-8 minutes, but I find if you cook them for longer, the outside of the potato breaks down more. Meaning that you can drain the water, shake the pan, and get potatoes that are really fluffy on the outside. It's this fluff that will give you amazing crunch. They should look like this when you've shaken them:

    Perfectly Crunchy Roast Potatoes with Garlic, Bacon and Cheddar!

     

    • Use plenty of goose fat, lard or beef dripping and heat it in a metal tray in a very hot oven (220c/425f). Although you can make roasties with other high smoke point oils such as sunflower oil, you won't get quite as much crunch.
    • Don't overcrowd the tray! If you put too many potatoes in, the oil will cool too much, and you'll get greasy potatoes that won't brown very well.
    • Once they're cooked serve them straight away. Don't let them sit in the oil once the oven is off, or they'll go greasy.
    • If you want to prep ahead, you can cook the roasties until lightly browned, then remove from the oil, cool, cover and refrigerate. When it's time to reheat them, heat the oil up in the oven first, and place the potatoes in the hot oil for 10-15 minutes, turning once or twice. These twice-cooked roasties will still be as lovely and crunchy as cookings them just once.

     

    Perfectly Crunchy Roast Potatoes with Garlic, Bacon and Cheddar!

    These Smashed Roast Potatoes with Garlic, Bacon and Cheddar are perfect with any roast dinner, or why not try serving with salad and coleslaw like I did (they went down a storm!!).

    Perfectly Crunchy Roast Potatoes with Garlic, Bacon and Cheddar!

     The Smashed Roast Potatoes with Garlic, Bacon and Cheddar Recipe:

    Smashed Roast Potatoes with Garlic, Bacon and Cheddar

    By: Nicky Corbishley
    Smashed Roast Potatoes with Garlic, Bacon and Cheddar - plus instructions on making perfect crispy roast potatoes!!
    5 from 2 votes
    Rate this Recipe Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 10 minutes mins
    Cook Time 50 minutes mins
    Total Time 1 hour hr
    Course Lunch
    Cuisine British
    Servings 3 servings
    Calories 579 kcal

    Ingredients
     

    • 125 g goose fat or lard
    • 500 g floury potatoes, peeled and chopped into large chunks
    • 5 rashers streaky bacon
    • 1 garlic clove - peeled and minced
    • 50 g grated mature cheddar cheese
    • 3 tbsp chopped fresh chives
    • ¼ tsp salt
    • ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

    INSTRUCTIONS
     

    • Preheat the oven to 220C/425F. Place the goose fat or lard in a large metal roasting tin and place in the oven to heat.
    • Meanwhile, place the chunks of potato in a large pan. Cover with cold water. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 10-12 minutes until tender.
    • Drain the potatoes well, place back in the pan, place a lid on and give the pan a good shake. This should fluff the potatoes up. A few may break apart too, but that's fine.
    • By now the oil should be very hot. Open the oven door and working quickly but carefully, spoon the potatoes into the pan. Turn them over, so they're coated in hot oil then close the oven door.
    • Cook for 25-30 minutes, turning once or twice, until golden brown.
    • Place the bacon on a large baking tray and place in the oven to cook with the potatoes for the last 5-6 minutes.
    • Take out the bacon, place on a chopping board and slice into small pieces.
    • Take the potatoes out of the oven and transfer, using a slotted spoon, to the tray you cooked the bacon on. Using a fork, squash the potatoes down to crush them slightly.
    • Place a tablespoon of the oil from the potato pan into a small bowl. Add the minced garlic and stir, then brush this garlic oil over the potatoes.
    • Sprinkle the cheese and bacon on top and place back in the oven for 2 minutes to melt.
    • Remove from the oven and sprinkle on the chives, salt and pepper before serving.

    ✎ Notes

    Nutritional information is per serving. Please note, I subtracted one-third of the lard (fat) from the nutritional information, as not all of the fat is absorbed into the potatoes.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 579kcalCarbohydrates: 27gProtein: 12gFat: 46gSaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 68mgSodium: 570mgPotassium: 847mgFiber: 2gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 300IUVitamin C: 16.4mgCalcium: 137mgIron: 1.5mg
    Keywords Any Time Of the year, appetizer
    Tried this recipe?Mention @KitchenSanctuary or tag #KitchenSanctuary on Instagram!

     

    Perfectly Crunchy Roast Potatoes with Garlic, Bacon and Cheddar!

    Hi I’m Nicky

    I love to cook and I want to share with you my favourite, delicious family friendly recipes. I want to inspire you to create fantastic food for your family every day.

    Read More

    More Appetizers, Starters & Party Food

    • Square close up image of Cheesy Mushroom Stuffed Garlic Breads topped with parsley.
      Creamy Garlic & Mushroom Stuffed Bread Rolls
    • A square overhead shot of Air Fryer Crispy Chicken Wings piled up on a black speckled plate, their is also a large black bowl filled with buffalo sauce, sprinkled with seasoning on the plate, the plate is on a mottled dark grey background and there is some dark blue napkins to the side of the plate.
      Air Fryer Crispy Chicken Wings
    • Cranberry Brie Bites
    • Italian Amaretti cookies in a pile on a wooden board with a cup in the background.
      Chewy Amaretti Cookies

    Other Recipes You Might Like:

    Cheesy Pasta with Bacon and Kale - ready in 15 minutes!
    Cheesy Pasta with Bacon and Kale
    Square image of Chicken skewers with peanut satay sauce on a dark background
    Easy Chicken Satay with Peanut Chilli Sauce
    Bacon and cheese potato skins on a plate with sour cream and spring onions
    Stuffed Potato Skins
    Squash and Potato Gratin with Bacon (and lots of cheese!) makes a great side dish, or even a main with a salad. Gluten free too!
    Squash and Potato Gratin with Bacon

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      Leave a Reply Cancel reply

      Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

      Rate the recipe




      This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    1. Mojoblogs says

      January 02, 2021 at 10:16 am

      5 stars
      This looks really good. Will definitely try this. Thanks for this!

      Reply
    2. Kath says

      April 04, 2018 at 6:28 pm

      5 stars
      I could eat a whole bowl of these, they are soo tasty.

      Reply
    3. MizzyH says

      December 18, 2017 at 5:05 pm

      Oh what a shame - I thought this was going to be a recipe for using left-over roasties (we always seem to do rather too many!)

      Reply
    4. anniesnomsblog says

      May 07, 2016 at 4:30 pm

      Oh my goodness these look AMAZING! Roast potatoes are by far my favourite type of potato; I always pile my plate high with roasties and have less of everything else! Love the flavours you've added to these!

      Reply
      • Nicky Corbishley says

        May 19, 2016 at 4:48 pm

        ooh me too. Roasties and gravy!! so good 🙂

        Reply

    Primary Sidebar

    Hi I’m Nicky

    I love to cook and I want to share with you my favourite, delicious family friendly recipes. I want to inspire you to create fantastic food for your family every day.

    Read More

    Recipes by category:

    • Popular Recipes
    • Asian
    • Curries
    • Quick Dinner Recipes
    • British Classic Recipes
    • BBQ
    • Roast Dinner
    • Street Food
    • Pasta
    Search For a Recipe

    Our Top Trending Recipes:

    • Crispy Sesame Chicken on a bed of rice in a stone bowl
      Crispy Sesame Chicken with a Sticky Asian Sauce
    • honey garlic chicken in a bowl on top of boiled rice
      Honey Garlic Chicken
    • Roast potatoes with salt and fresh thyme leaves
      The Best Crispy Roast Potatoes
    • Cheesy Pasta Bake With Chicken And Bacon - a family favourite (and it makes great leftovers too!).
      Cheesy Pasta Bake With Chicken And Bacon
    • Chicken curry in a white bowl with rice.
      Easy Chicken Curry
    • Satay sauce in a small copper pan topped with peanuts and coriander
      Easy Satay Sauce Recipe
    • Bowl of Korean fried chicken topped with sesame seeds and strips of spring onion.
      Korean Fried Chicken
    • Overhead image of tuna pasta bake in a white dish topped with finely chopped parsley.
      Creamy Tuna Pasta Bake

    FREE recipes direct to your inbox!

    Never miss a recipe and sign up for our completely FREE emails.

      Featured Recipes:

      • Hands holding bowl of Bowl of chilli con carne with rice
        Chilli Con Carne
      • Lancashire hotpot on wooden background
        Traditional Lancashire Hotpot
      • A dish of creamy chicken pie with puff pastry sat on a blue and white striped cloth.
        Creamy Chicken Pot Pie
      • Egg fried rice on a dark bowl on a white background.
        Egg Fried Rice
      • Bowl of Korean fried chicken topped with sesame seeds and strips of spring onion.
        Korean Fried Chicken
      • Firecracker Chicken on a blue plate against a dark background
        Copycat Firecracker Chicken
      • Square image of buffalo chicken pasta in a silver pan on a light grey background.
        Buffalo Chicken Pasta
      • A simple made-from-scratch curry, slow cooked to intensify the heat and flavour.
        Slow Cooker Spicy Chicken Curry
      As Featured On
      brit and co logo
      buzzfeed logo
      cheshire life logo
      country living logo
      beautiful home and life logo
      my fitness pal logo
      Neff logo
      The telegraph logo
      The Kitchn logo
      Vegetarian society logo

      Footer

      Nicky Corbishley is the recipe creator and photographer for Kitchen Sanctuary. Wife to Chris (chief techie and videographer) and mum to Lewis and Gracey. Read More…

      DMCA.com Protection Status

      Most Recent Recipes

      • Spaghetti aglio e olio
      • One Pot Chicken and Broccoli Pasta
      • Easy Chicken Lo Mein
      • Pork Carnitas
      • Sticky Pineapple Chicken

      Copyright © 2023 LoveFoodCreative Ltd - Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy - Terms & Conditions