Hot honey butter smashed spuds are potato perfection
I could probably make smashed potatoes several times a week and never get bored of them.
After boiling the potatoes, you toss them in a mixture of melted butter, honey, hot sauce and red pepper flakes; then smash them, roast them and brush them with more spicy butter before serving. They taste like a warm, fiery hug, and I guarantee you’ll eat them all straight off the sheet pan.
A classic hot honey butter is typically made with softened, room-temperature butter, making it the perfect spreadable consistency for cornbread or biscuits. But here, we’re melting the butter to make a dreamy sauce for the smashed potatoes. Once melted, you’ll stir the honey and hot sauce directly into the saucepan.
When it comes to hot sauce, I prefer Frank’s RedHot. To me, it has the perfect balance of heat, acidity and saltiness. If you don’t have Frank’s or there’s a different hot sauce you prefer, that will certainly work too.
Here are a few things to keep in mind for smashed potato success.
Start the potatoes in cold, heavily salted water. This promotes even cooking.
Don’t drain the potatoes until they’re extremely knife tender. If they’re not super soft, it’s going to be pretty hard to smash them.
Don’t crowd the sheet pan. If the potatoes are on top of each other, they’ll never get golden brown and crispy. If you need to split them between two pans, go ahead and do so.
Remember that they’re supposed to be rustic. If you have some loose potato shards or your potatoes don’t smash to absolute perfection, don’t sweat it. The uneven edges and crispy bits are what make them so tasty.