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French Onion Smashed Potatoes have smashed potato coins topped with caramelized onions, Gruyère Swiss cheese, and a sprinkle of chives.
Crispy Smashed Potatoes Topped with French Onion Soup Flavors
Today’s recipe is a fun mash-up of two favorite dishes: crispy smashed potato coins topped with caramelized onions and melted cheese with all the same luscious flavors of French onion soup.
French Onion Smashed Potatoes are very easy to make, and you can serve these tasty bites as a party appetizer or a side dish with your favorite steak, chops, or chicken.
Simply boil little potatoes until tender, then gently flatten them with the bottom of a drinking glass or jar. Lay them out on a baking sheet and bake until crispy and golden.
Then, top with caramelized onions flavored with splash of cognac or brandy. Top with some shredded Gruyère Swiss cheese and bake until the cheese is melted. Just before serving, sprinkle with some chopped chives for a fresh bite of flavor that complements the rich, deep onion flavors.
Why you’ll love French Onion Smashed Potatoes
- This dish is impressive to serve – and SO delicious!
- You can easily vary the flavors by swapping in different cheeses and herbs.
- This easy recipe is versatile and can be served as appetizers or a side dish.
Key Ingredients & Substitutions
- Onions – Choose a sweet onion such as Vidalia or other sweet, yellow onion.
- Unsalted Butter
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Fresh Garlic
- Sea Salt
- Ground Black Pepper
- Cognac or Brandy – The addition of cognac or brandy to the onions gives this a classic ‘French onion’ flavor. The alcohol will burn off as the onions caramelize.
- Potatoes – Choose little yellow potatoes that are uniform in size for even cooking.
- Gruyère Swiss cheese – Another ingredient that give this dish classic ‘French onion’ flavor. A regular deli Swiss cheese can also be used if that’s all you can find.
- Baking Soda – Used in the potato cooking water to achieve a crispy potato.
- Kosher Salt
- Chives – Chopped fresh chives are added to the top for garnish and a bite of fresh flavor.
What is Gruyère Swiss?
It’s a hard, aged Swiss cheese named after the town of Gruyères in Fribourg, Switzerland. To be called a true Gruyère, cheese producers must follow strict production and aging processes.
Gruyère Swiss cheeses have a very distinctive, nutty flavor.
It’s a bit more expensive than the regular deli Swiss cheese – but 100% worth it for the flavor it adds to recipes.
Special Tools Needed
- Large Sauté Pan – To cook the onions.
- Medium Pot – To boil the potatoes.
- Cutting Board and Sharp Knife
- Various Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Drinking Glass or Jar with Flat Bottom – To smash the potatoes.
- Wooden Spoon
- Two Sheet Trays
- Small Flexible Spatula
- Box Grater – To shred the cheese.
How do I make French Onion Smashed Potatoes?
- Caramelize the onions by slowly sautéing in butter and oil. Add garlic, seasonings, and cognac and cook for a few more minutes.
- Boil the potatoes in water with salt and baking soda until tender.
- Smash cooked potatoes on your cutting board to about ¼ to ½-inch thick by using the bottom of a drinking glass with a flat bottom.
- Oil the sheet trays and lay out the smashed potatoes.
- Bake in a hot oven for 30 minutes to crisp, rotating the pans and flipping the potatoes to crisp both sides.
- Top with hot caramelized onions and shredded Gruyere Swiss cheese.
- Bake again in the oven until the cheese is melted.
- Serve immediately.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I make French Onion Smashed Potatoes ahead of time? You can do a lot of the prep ahead of time, but you’ll want to do the final baking step just before serving. Caramelize the onions and precook and smash the potatoes. When ready to serve, place the potatoes back into the oven to heat through and microwave the onions or heat them in a saucepan. Then assemble and bake to melt the cheese.
- I don’t cook at all with alcohol. What can I use instead of cognac or brandy? You can swap in some apple juice.
- How do I store leftovers? Store leftovers refrigerated in a covered container for up to four days.
- How do I reheat leftovers? These smashed potatoes are best reheated in the oven so they get crispy and the cheese melts.
- Can I freeze? No, these would not freeze well.
You might like these other Potato Recipes:
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French Onion Smashed Potatoes
French Onion Smashed Potatoes have smashed potato coins topped with caramelized onions, Gruyère Swiss cheese, and a sprinkle of chives.
Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
2 pounds sweet onion, sliced into quarter inch thick half-moon slices
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh garlic, minced
1/3 cup of brandy or cognac
2 pounds mini yellow potatoes, about 30 potatoes (look for uniform sizes about an ounce or so each and avoid very small potatoes)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
10 ounces Gruyère Swiss cheese, shredded on large holes of a box grater
Fresh chives, chopped for garnish
Instructions
- In a large sauté pan, melt butter in two tablespoons of olive oil over low to medium low heat.
- Add the onions, stir, and cook untouched for 15 minutes. Stir again and cook untouched for ten minutes. Check to make sure the bottom is not browning too quickly and adjust burner down to low if the bottom onions are getting too dark. Cook for 15 minutes more, stir, and add the salt, pepper, and garlic and cook for five more minutes or until the onions are browned and fully caramelized.
- Remove from heat to avoid flareups and add brandy. Once it stops sizzling, place back on a medium heat burner and cook a few minutes to evaporate the brandy. Set it aside.
- While onions are cooking, place potatoes into a medium pot and cover with about two inches of water higher than the potatoes. Add salt and baking soda and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, lower to a medium to low boil and cook about 10-15 minutes until potatoes are almost tender. Drain and discard the water.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F with racks in bottom and upper thirds of oven.
- With the remaining two tablespoons of oil, brush each sheet tray with one tablespoon each.
- Use the bottom of a heavy drinking glass and slightly press each potato to about a quarter to a half inch thick. Place 15 smashed potatoes on each of the two sheet trays using a small spatula to gently lift each onto the pans.
- Bake for 30 minutes, rotating pans at the 15-minute mark, as well as gently flipping each potato over. You want crispy on both sides, so depending on your oven, this may require moving the pans around further during baking.
- Divide the heated caramelized onions between the 30 potatoes and top each with the Gruyere Swiss cheese.
- Place back in the oven for about 5-6 minutes, rotating pans halfway, to get the cheese nice and gooey and melted.
- Top with chopped fresh chives.
- Serve as a side dish with chicken, steak, or pork. Or serve as an appetizer.
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