Garlic-Herb Hasselback Potatoes
Perfectly baked Hasselback potatoes with garlic slices in between are brushed with infused butter and topped with cheddar, parmesan, and three freshly chopped herbs.
Hasselback potatoes?! I had never heard of them until I typed “sliced baked potatoes” in the Google search box. Those baked potatoes sliced thinly with the bottoms interacting have a fancy name. According to Wikipedia, “Hasselback” refers to the fancy Hasselbacken hotel and restaurant in Stockholm that originated this dish. Hmmm…I feel a little smarter now that I know this. 😛
The recipes are all over the web. The potatoes require a bit of effort to prepare and at least an hour to bake. They are, like the name, fancy!
Are they worth making? After a few tries, my answer is firmly,
“YES! YES! YEEEESSSSS!”
The taste and presentation of Hasselback potatoes are nothing like average baked potatoes. They require concentration during cutting and a little bit of attention and care during baking, but they are not hard to make. If I can do it, you certainly can.
My version of Hasselback potatoes has garlic slices between each slit to keep the potato slices separate. Brushed with garlic herb-infused butter and topped with cheddar, parmesan, paprika, and three freshly chopped herbs, they are baked to perfection with extra crispy skin.
They are uber tender, garlicky, cheesy, and tasty! Imagine having one on your serving plate to pair with your main—what a treat!
Here are some key points to note to make your fancy potato dish irresistible and manageable.
Scrub Potatoes Clean & Leave The Skin On
The crispy skin is one of the fancy elements of Hasselback potatoes, so I highly recommend leaving it on. Remember to scrub and rinse your potatoes clean. However, if you prefer to peel the skin off, it’s not a deal-breaker.
Create Flat Bottoms for Your Potatoes
Slice off a small part of each potato and put the cut side down against your cutting board, creating a flat bottom that makes the potato very stable to work with. Now, you can slice the potato safely.
Infuse Your Butter
Brushing melted butter all over the potatoes twice is an essential step to making the skin crisp. You can add more flavor by adding garlic and herbs to the melted butter and heating on low for a few minutes. This will give the potatoes a fantastic taste. Some alternatives are bacon dripping, animal fat, olive oil, or coconut oil.
Keep The Slits Separated
If the layers of your potatoes still stick together after baking for 30 minutes, nudge them apart. So the second time you brush butter on them, some will drip down into the spaces between each slice.
I find the easiest way to do so is to insert a piece of garlic between each slit. It never hurts to add crispy garlic to any food, right? ????
Get Creative For The Topping And Stuffing
I combined cheddar cheese, grated parmesan cheese, paprika, and three different fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, and sage) to top the potatoes in this recipe. Bacon bits are definitely going to work well with Hasselback potatoes. In terms of herbs, use whatever you have on hand, like parsley or basil. In a nutshell, get creative. Just make sure to add stuffing and topping 5-10 minutes before the end of baking; otherwise, the extras will burn, especially the fresh herbs.
Garlic-Herb Hasselback Potatoes
The gluten-free recipe can be easily made vegan without losing any fanciness. Substitute butter with coconut oil or olive oil and omit the cheese. Alternatively, you can make a spice mix with fresh herbs as the topping. So many other ingredients will help boost the flavor, such as lemon zest, ground mustard, and onion powder. 🙂
Here you have it—garlic herb hasselback potatoes. I hope you enjoy them. If you can make them, I would love to learn your version. Leave a comment and let me know.
PrintGarlic Herb Hasselback Potatoes
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Sides
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Swedish
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Perfectly baked Hasselback potatoes with garlic slices in between, brushed with infused butter, topped with cheddar, parmesan, and three freshly chopped herbs.
Ingredients
- 4 medium baking potatoes (or Russet potatoes), scrubbed clean
- 3 tablespoons butter (or 3 tablespoons olive oil/coconut oil if vegan)
- 4 medium-sized cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons freshly chopped herbs (thyme, sage, and rosemary), divided
- sea salt and black ground pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup finely shredded cheddar cheese (omit if vegan)
- 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese (omit if vegan)
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
Instructions
- Scrub and rinse the potatoes clean. Pat them dry. (If you’d like, you could peel off the skin, but leaving it on makes a crispy outside after baking.)
- Cut off a very small part of a potato from one side to form a flat bottom. Put the flat side against your cutting board and slit into the potato, spacing the slices 1/8 inch apart. Don’t cut all the way through. Stop when you just about to reach the bottom, leaving the slices stay connected at the bottom. Do the same with the other 3 potatoes.
- Once the potatoes are cut, place them on a baking sheet lined with foil.
- Now, preheat oven to 425°F with a rack in the lower-middle position.
- In the meanwhile, peel garlic cloves and thinly slice them; prepare herbs (1 tablespoon thyme, 1 tablespoon rosemary, and 1 tablespoon chopped sage).
- Melt the butter in a small pan over medium heat; add garlic slices and 1 tablespoon mixed herbs into the butter. Stir and cook for 2-3 more minutes over medium-low heat, or until you can easily smell the fragrance.
- Brush the infused butter all over the potatoes including the bottoms. Sprinkle the potatoes generously with salt and pepper. (I used freshly grated salt and pepper.) Place the baking sheet on the lower-middle rack in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes.
- Carefully remove from oven. Use a small spoon to nudge the potato layers. Insert one slice garlic between each layer, leaving the layers separated. Brush the rest of the butter onto the potatoes. Since the layers stay opened by the garlic, butter will easily drip down into the space between each potato slices.
- Return to the oven. Bake for another 30 minutes.
- In a small bowl, combine cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, 2 tablespoons herb mix, and paprika. Mix well and set aside.
- Once the potatoes are done, sprinkle the cheese mixture onto each potato. Gently push it down into the slits by using a spoon. Return to the oven and bake for additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melt. Serve immediately.
About the Author
Sharon Chen is an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach and author of the Complete Sous Vide Cookbook. She believes food not only brings healing but also connection. As the creator of StreetSmart Kitchen, she aims to make meal prep easier than ever and help you find balance, ease, joy, and simplicity in the kitchen as you improve your well-being.
Potatoes are my absolute favorite! There are many ways to cook it– and this is one of the best ways I’ve learned. Very delicious!
This is right up my alley!
Jeezzzz…I can’t believe I never thought of it myself – such a great way to make a humble potato a star of the plate + the garlic = happy ending 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
Glad that you liked the idea! Thanks for stopping by, Justyna.