This smashed potato salad is crispy, creamy, and tossed with a cool tzatziki-style dressing. The baby potatoes are boiled, smashed, and roasted until golden, then folded into the dressing for crispy edges, creamy centers, and fresh herby flavor in every bite. Serve it as a fun summer side for BBQs, burgers, grilled chicken, salmon, steak, and potlucks.
Diana’s Tip for Crispy Smashed Potato Salad
This salad is best the day it’s made, while the smashed potatoes still have crispy edges. Once the potatoes are mixed with the tzatziki dressing, they will naturally soften as they sit.
For the best texture, let the roasted potatoes cool slightly before tossing them with the dressing, and save a handful of the crispiest pieces to sprinkle on top right before serving. That gives you creamy potato salad underneath with extra crunch on top.
Why You’ll Love This Smashed Potato Salad
This is not a regular creamy potato salad. The baby potatoes are boiled, smashed, and roasted first, giving them crisp edges and soft, creamy centers before they’re tossed with the dressing.
The tzatziki-style dressing keeps the salad cool and fresh. It’s made with Greek yogurt, mayo, cucumber, dill, garlic, and red onion, so it has creamy texture, bright flavor, and plenty of crunch.
It’s a great summer side for BBQs, burgers, grilled chicken, salmon, steak, and potlucks. Serve it the day it’s made for the best crispy texture.
Key Ingredients
Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
- Potatoes: It’s very important that you choose small baby potatoes for this recipe. We want them to have thin, tender skins and be creamy. I’m using white baby potatoes, but you could also use red potatoes.
- Olive Oil: To coat the potatoes before roasting, choose regular olive oil rather than extra virgin since we’re using it at fairly high heat.
- Mayonnaise and Greek Yogurt: To make an extra creamy tzatziki sauce for this potato salad, it’s best to use regular, full-fat versions of each.
- Cucumber and Red Onion: to add some fresh crunch.
- Lemon, Garlic, and Dill: for that classic Greek Tzatziki flavor!
How To Make Smashed Potato Salad
First, preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C) or 180°C for a fan oven.
Tip!
Save some of the crispy smashed potatoes to use as a garnish on top of the salad! You can also garnish with chives, green onions, and extra dill.
Recipe Tips
- Roast the potatoes until they are deeply golden and crisp around the edges. The exact time will depend on the size of the potatoes and how thinly you smash them, so add a few extra minutes if they still look pale.
- Let the potatoes cool slightly before mixing them with the dressing. If they are too hot, the tzatziki-style dressing can loosen too much.
- English cucumbers are best because they have fewer seeds and less moisture. If you use a regular cucumber, remove the seeds first so the dressing does not get watery.
Make Ahead and Storage
This salad is best served the day it’s made. The potatoes soften after they’re mixed with the tzatziki-style dressing, so toss everything together shortly before serving for the best texture.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. They won’t stay crispy, but the salad will still taste good cold.
What to Serve with Smashed Potato Salad
This smashed potato salad is perfect with grilled mains and summer dinners. Serve it with smash burgers, chicken souvlaki skewers, grilled T-bone steak, yogurt marinated grilled chicken, grilled salmon, or grilled BBQ chicken. The cool tzatziki-style dressing works especially well with smoky, charred, or lemony grilled foods.
Recipe FAQs
What else can I add to Smashed Potato Salad?
Anything that you might like in a traditional potato salad can work in this recipe! Instead of the Tzatziki, try the zesty dressing that I use in my Deviled Egg Potato Salad. You can also add tasty things like bacon bits, hard-boiled eggs, chopped dill pickles, or chopped celery to the dressing.
Can I make smashed potatoes with full-sized potatoes?
While you technically could use large potatoes cut into pieces to make smashed potatoes, I don’t recommend it. Full sized potatoes are starchy and more watery, while baby potatoes have a firmer, waxier texture that is much better for this method.
More Summer Salad Recipes
Watermelon Salad With Feta
BLT Pasta Salad With Ranch Dressing
Dill Pickle Pasta Salad
Classic Broccoli Salad
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Smashed Potato Salad with Tzatziki
Recipe Video
Equipment
- Baking Sheets
Ingredients
- 2 pounds (900 g) baby potatoes
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¾ cup (188 g) Greek yogurt or sour cream
- ¼ cup (63 g) mayonnaise
- 1 small clove garlic
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped dill
- ½ small red onion finely diced – can sub with shallot, optional
- ½ English cucumber diced small
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C), or 180°C for a fan oven.
- In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil. Add the baby potatoes and cook until they can be easily pricked with a fork, about 8 minutes.
- Drain the potatoes well, and transfer them to 2 half-size rimmed baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
- Using the bottom of a clean glass, gently smash each potato until flattened.
- Drizzle or spray olive oil over the smashed potatoes and season with kosher salt and ground black pepper.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are crispy.
- While the potatoes are baking, prepare the tzatziki sauce. In a bowl, combine Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, minced garlic, kosher salt, ground black pepper, fresh dill, red onion, and cucumber. Mix well.
- Once the potatoes are crispy, remove them from the oven and let them cool slightly.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the crispy smashed potatoes (reserve a few for garnish) and the tzatziki sauce. Gently toss to combine.
- Transfer the smashed potato salad to a serving dish. Garnish with the reserved crispy smashed potatoes and some fresh dill. Serve immediately.
Notes:
- Roast until crispy. The exact amount of time that it takes to cook the smashed potatoes will depend on the size of the potatoes and how thin you’ve smashed them. Add extra time if they don’t look ready yet when the timer goes off!
- Serve warm or at room temperature. I don’t like to chill smashed potato salad before serving it. Let the potatoes cool slightly, then mix everything up!
- Serve the day you make it. For this dish, you want the potatoes to be crispy, so it’s important that you serve the potato salad right away, or at least within a handful of hours. If stored longer, the potatoes will get soft.
- English cucumbers are best, since they have very few seeds. If you’re using a regular cucumber, remove the seeds so that the dressing doesn’t get watery.
- To Store: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
© Little Sunny Kitchen
COLLEEN BAINBRIDGE says
Haven’t made this yet (just read it), but definitely going to try it this week.
Will let you know how it comes out.
Regards.
COLLEEN
Diana says
Colleen, thank you! I hope you enjoy it when you give it a try. I’d love to hear how it turns out for you.