4-Ingredient Taco Spiced Crispy Smashed Potatoes,Vegan, Gluten Free
This recipe is for the nibblers at the edges of of pie crusts, the ones who search for dark edged French fries amongst the pale, those who scavenge for those golden brown shards redolent with spice that lie at the bottom of potato chip bags. You are my people. When you smash a boiled potato you have infinitesimally increased the surface area for spices to adhere and for crunch-ability. That my friend is science. Pure sciencey science with a little math thrown in to boot. What we have here is the perfect storm of flavor and texture.
If a thing is worth doing it is worth doing slowly…very slowly
-Gypsy Rose Lee
The active time on this recipe is short. Throw potatoes whole into salted water. Remove them. Mix spice mix and oil together. Smash potatoes. Brush with spices. Bake. Sometimes I feel painted into a corner by all those 4 ingredients, 4-minute, no oil, sugar free, gluten free recipes out there. Yes they exist and some are even delicious. In this case the four ingredients are taco spice mix, brown sugar, potatoes and olive oil but we all know how I cheated. I wrote taco spice mix as if it were a single ingredient when it really contains chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Spice mixes are a great way to “cheat”and to create a Wrinkle in the Time of your cooking.
I am currently using this Mexican spice blend.
A straight line is not the shortest distance between two points.
– Madeleine L’Engle, A Wrinkle in Time
“He who controls the spice controls the universe.”
-Frank Herbert, Dune
Check out my Aquafaba page! For tips, tricks and to see all of my Aquafabulous recipes.
- 1 pound thin skinned small potatoes
- 1/4 cup taco seasoning
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp olive oil
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Bring potatoes to a boil in a large pot of salted water. Cook until just tender. Do not over cook. Drain. Leave in colander 10 minutes to cool and dry off a bit. If you are making the day before you want to serve then then you can stop right here and place the potatoes in the fridge until you are ready to continue.
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Heat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Oil a cookie metal sheet pan. In a small bowl stir together taco seasoning, brown sugar and 2 tbsp olive oil.
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. Place each potato on the greased cookie sheet and give it a quick mash with the heel of your hand until it is about 1/2 inch thick. Alternately you can use a can of beans for the smashing if you are all fancy like. Now brush the potatoes with the spice/oil mixture.
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Bake for 30 minutes or until a deep golden brown and remove from oven.
Oh, how I love all things potato.
Taters. Remember tater tots?