The Best Potato Recipes
Best Potato Recipes
Potatoes are the most dependable side dish in any kitchen — filling, affordable, and endlessly adaptable. Whether you need a five-ingredient weeknight side or a showstopping casserole for Thanksgiving, there is a potato recipe for that. On Salty Side Dish, we have spent years testing and perfecting easy potato recipes in every form: crispy oven-roasted potatoes, creamy mashed potatoes, smashed baby reds, slow cooker casseroles, air fryer baked potatoes, and everything in between. This is your one-stop collection for potato side dishes that actually get made — and get requested again and again.
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Roasted Potato Recipes
Oven-roasted potatoes are the workhorse of the potato world, and for good reason. High heat turns even a plain potato into something with crispy, golden skin and a soft, creamy center that no one can resist. From mini creamer potatoes smothered in garlic butter and Parmesan to large Russet halves roasted until they melt in your mouth, the recipes in this section cover every size, style, and seasoning combination. Whether you want a 20-minute weeknight side or the viral Parmesan-crusted potatoes that blew up on social media, you will find it here.
Smashed Potato Recipes
If you have never made smashed potatoes, prepare to be converted. The technique is simple: boil small potatoes until fork-tender, flatten them on a baking sheet, then roast at high heat until the edges turn shatteringly crisp while the centers stay fluffy and buttery. It is the best of both worlds — the crispy edges of roasted potatoes with the soft, creamy texture of boiled ones.
Mashed Potato Recipes
Mashed potatoes might be the most universally loved potato dish on the planet, but there is a world of difference between plain boiled-and-mashed potatoes and the ultra-creamy, deeply flavorful versions that make people go quiet at the dinner table.
The secret is always in the add-ins — and Salty Side Dish has tested them all. From the steakhouse-style cream cheese mashed potatoes that rival your favorite restaurant to a loaded mashed potato casserole that feeds a crowd without any last-minute stress, these recipes take the classic comfort food to its best possible version. Most are make-ahead friendly, which makes them essential for holiday meal planning.
Boiled Potato Recipes
Boiling is one of the fastest and most foolproof ways to cook potatoes — and these recipes prove that simple can still be spectacular. Baby red potatoes cooked in salted water until fork-tender, then tossed in garlic butter and Parmesan, are done in under 30 minutes and are one of the most requested sides at the table. If you want to cut that time in half, the pressure cooker version delivers the same results in just 10 minutes. For a completely hands-off option, slow cooker potatoes and onions basically cook themselves.
everyones favorites!
Cheesy Potato Casserole Recipes
When the occasion calls for a potato dish that does the heavy lifting, cheesy casseroles are the answer. These are the recipes that come out for Thanksgiving and Christmas, get requested at every potluck, and are scraped clean before any other dish on the table. What makes them so reliable is that every single one can be made ahead — assemble the casserole the night before, refrigerate it, and pop it in the oven when you’re ready. From the chunky bacon and cheddar casserole that tastes like a loaded baked potato in a pan, to the impossibly creamy slow cooker gouda potatoes that require almost zero effort, this collection has a cheesy potato recipe for every occasion and crowd size.
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Good to Know!
A few quick answers to the most common potato cooking questions so your side dish turns out perfect every time.
Baby red, creamer, and Yukon Gold potatoes are the best choice for roasting. Their thin skins crisp up beautifully at high heat and their waxy texture holds its shape, giving you a crispy exterior with a creamy center. Russet potatoes also roast well, especially cut into large halves for melting-style potatoes.
Russets (high-starch, fluffy, absorbs butter/cream). Yukon Golds are second — naturally buttery. Avoid waxy red potatoes — they go gluey.
High heat (400-450°F), completely dry surfaces, single layer with space on pan. Don’t overcrowd. Preheated pan or wire rack helps.
Yes — assemble it fully, cover tightly with foil, and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Let it sit at room temperature for 20-30 minutes before baking for even heating. Add any bread crumb or cheese topping right before it goes in the oven.
Potato Salad Recipes
Potato salad is a category all its own — the cold, creamy, crowd-pleasing counterpart to all the hot potato side dishes on this page. Whether you are heading to a summer BBQ, a Fourth of July cookout, or a potluck where you need to feed twenty people without breaking a sweat, a great potato salad recipe is non-negotiable.
The Southern potato salad here is the classic: Yukon Gold potatoes, a creamy mayo-and-mustard dressing, and simple seasonings that let the potatoes shine. It is best made ahead so the flavors can develop overnight — which also makes it the most stress-free side dish on your whole menu.
What to serve Potatoes with
Potatoes are the ultimate team player — they go with virtually everything. For weeknight dinners, crispy roasted potatoes and skillet potatoes pair beautifully with chicken recipes like Alice Springs Chicken, Ritz Cracker Chicken, or juicy oven-baked chicken breasts.
The Best Side!
If you are making salmon or pan-searing steak, smashed potatoes or fondant potatoes are the elevated side that belongs on the plate. Holiday dinners call for the big guns: mashed potato casserole, loaded twice-baked casserole, or slow cooker gouda potatoes that free up your oven for the main event. And for BBQ, summer parties, and potlucks, cold Southern potato salad is always the right call. No matter what you are serving, there is a potato recipe here to complete the meal.
Fancy Showstopper Potato Recipes
Not every potato side dish needs to be fast — sometimes you want one that earns a gasp when it hits the table. These showstopper potato recipes are for the dinners that deserve something special. Fondant potatoes, the French classic made famous by Gordon Ramsay, have a gorgeous golden crust and a center so tender and creamy it barely holds its shape. Bacon-stuffed hasselback potatoes look intricate but are surprisingly straightforward once you get the knife technique down. And bacon-wrapped baby potatoes are the kind of appetizer-slash-side-dish that disappears within minutes at any gathering. These recipes take a bit more time, but the payoff — in flavor and presentation — is absolutely worth it.
