Air fryer smashed potatoes: crisp golden baby potatoes with olive oil, garlic and hints of rosemary. The perfect easy side for your chicken, fish, or vegetarian entree. Also works as a healthy snack for hungry times!
Wash the baby potatoes to get rid of the soil and dirt.
Preheat your air fryer to 400 F and add the potatoes to the basket in a single layer. Air fry for 10 minutes. Insert a fork or toothpick in some of them to see if they are cooked through. Baby potatoes are tender and soften in 10 minutes, but if you feel they are still hard, put them back in the air fryer for a couple minutes extra.
Take out the potatoes and spread them on a sheet pan. With the back of a spoon or fork, press down on each one until it breaks and flattens down.
Drizzle the olive oil on the smashed potatoes and sprinkle the sea salt, paprika, garlic powder, and black pepper evenly. You can also mix the dry seasoning in the olive oil and drizzle the seasoned oil on the potatoes.
Preheat the air fryer to 400 F again and set the timer to 8 minutes this time. Put the potatoes back in the basket and air fry. There’s no need to flip them. Once this second cycle is finished, take them out and garnish with rosemary. Alternatively, you can add the rosemary 2-3 minutes before the 8 minutes are up too so the potatoes get infused with the aroma of the herb. Serve hot.
Notes
I used baby potatoes for this recipe, but if you have slightly bigger ones, cut them in half to keep them bite-sized. This will also help keep the cooking times same.
Do serve them immediately or else they will lose some of their crunch. If you want to make them ahead of time, pop them back into the air fryer when you are ready to serve. Two to three minutes at 400 F, and they will be good as new.