Hasselback Potatoes Are Easier to Make Than You Might Think. Here’s How.

Want a show-stealing side that looks like it took all day to make but only takes a few minutes to prepare? Then make Hasselback potatoes your go-to. The dish, which presents potatoes with a dramatic series of vertical slits, was created in the 1950s at the Hotel Hasselbacken in Stockholm, Sweden. It’s a show-stopping side dish that looks (and tastes!) hearty and filling. The potatoes only take a few minutes to prepare, but you’ll have guests asking you for years to divulge your secret recipe. Let us at Williams-Sonoma show you how to create this delicious dish (with a fun hack that’ll help you out!).

 

 If you’re a big fan of Hasselback-style potatoes, then you’ll also love our recipes for Hasselback Sweet Potatoes with Thyme, Pecans and Parmesan and  Crispy Roasted Potatoes with Thyme.

 

In our video, the Williams-Sonoma Test Kitchen shows you exactly how it’s done—and throws in a Hasselback hack for good measure. For more, including step-by-step instructions, keep reading.

Pick Your Potato

You can make the Hasselback dish with sweet potatoes, red potatoes, russet potatoes or any potato you like. But you’ll love them so much you might just want to experiment with them all. You can also use this technique on fingerling or tiny new potatoes, which might become a kid favorite in your household. Whichever potato you choose, remember to wash and scrub them with a veggie brush, then dry the skin before you cut into them.

Line It Up

Get a pair of new, warp-free wooden chopsticks that will act as slicing guiderails for your raw potatoes. By the end, your chopsticks will probably be ready to toss. If you don’t have chopsticks handy, use a pair of wooden spoon handles to achieve the same hack.

The chopsticks will stop the potatoes from rocking and rolling around, and they’ll prevent you from cutting all the way through the spuds. It may take a potato or two to get the hang of it, but with your sharpest knife in hand and a feel for how far down you’ll go before hitting the chopsticks, it’ll become second nature.

Choose Your Slice

Experiment with the size of slices you’d like to make. Each thickness creates a different design when done. Whatever width you prefer, use a chef’s knife make parallel cuts right down to the chopstick.

 

This optional step may help you achieve a more fanned shape to each potato. After you slice each potato, gently rinse it under cold water. While rinsing, gently flex the potato to open up and spread the slices. The cold water washes away some starch that might keep the potato from fanning out into that elegant shape this recipe calls for. Dry the potatoes well before seasoning and baking by gently shaking the water out of the sliced areas and wiping down the outer skin.

Season It Well

Preheat your oven to 400ºF. Before baking, drizzle some olive oil across the tops of the potatoes so that it drips down into the slices. Then, season the potatoes generously with salt and freshly ground pepper. As the potatoes begin to fan out as they relax, you can get more seasoning between the slices. If you baste the potatoes as they’re baking, you’ll see them fanning out more. This is a great time to add more seasoning.

 

If you prefer to cover all the sliced areas, simply mix olive oil or melted butter, salt and pepper in a bowl and brush the mixture over the tops of the potatoes.

 

Pop the potatoes into the oven for about an hour and a half so they get crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Once they’re out of the oven, they’ll be a beautiful golden brown. Garnish each potato with chives for some color and an extra dash of flavor.

Try Making Them a Main Dish

To take things one step further, make your Hasselback potatoes the main event with a baked potato bar, using a variety of condiment bowls. Follow the technique above and offer toppings such as sour cream, bacon and chives; minced broccoli, cheddar cheese and crumbled bacon; or chopped tomatoes, black beans, salsa and cheese. Whatever you love on your baked potatoes is great on loaded Hasselback potatoes, too.