16 Potato Side Dishes for Special Occasions
These crave-worthy potato sides dazzle every time.
Simply Recipes / Sally Vargas
A friend I worked with as a line cook introduced me to the concept of a dinner plate as a three-point landing: there's the meat, the veg, and the starch. For dinners that are classic three-point landing menus, potatoes are the side you just can't go wrong with. There's a potato dish for every cooking method and every cuisine. There are creamy potato dishes and crispy potato dishes. Some sop up sauce; others beg to be snatched up with your fingers and devoured.
Make any one of these potato side dish recipes for a special meal and see the smiles as people arrive at the table. None of the recipes below are afterthoughts. They are all stars, enough so that they just may eclipse the protein portion of your three-point landing.
Potato Confit
Simply Recipes / Sally Vargas
Slowly cooking miniature Yukon gold potatoes submerged in olive oil renders them creamy and rich inside. Flavor the oil with rosemary; you can strain it and reuse it, so there's no waste. To serve the potatoes, you can brown them in a skillet or just gently warm them in some of the oil and sprinkle with herbs.
Get Recipe: Potato Confit
Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes
Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer
Honestly, everyone in my family prefers this rich make-ahead version of mashed potatoes to the made-on-the-spot ones. Pack the cream cheese-enriched mashed potatoes in a dish and refrigerate it for up to 2 days. Or bake and freeze for up to two weeks.
Get Recipe: Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes
Potato Croquettes
Simply Recipes / Frank Tiu
Golden-brown and crispy on the outside, potato croquettes are steamy and creamy inside. Look out as you are frying batches, because they are also very snackable. Be sure to leave some for the table!
Get Recipe: Potato Croquettes
Sweet Potato and Yukon Gold Bake
Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer
Slices of Yukon golds, orange sweet potatoes, and purple-red beets make a dazzling presentation that'll quite likely upstage the main event.
Get Recipe: Sweet Potato and Yukon Gold Bake
Mashed Potato Pancakes
Simply Recipes / Nick Evans
Humble as their rep may be, mashed potato pancakes are so tasty that they're worth making extra mashed potatoes beforehand just so you can pan-fry a batch. They're especially tasty with sauerbraten.
Get Recipe: Mashed Potato Pancakes
Fondant Potatoes
Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe
Browning on the stove and then braising in the oven in stock flavored with garlic and herbs makes these russet potatoes meltingly tender.
Get Recipe: The French Method for Show-Stopping Roasted Potatoes
Twice Baked Potatoes
Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe
A baked potato is just a baked potato. A twice-baked potato has cheese, bacon, and a mashed potato filling going for it. Steaks are sad and lonely without them.
Get Recipe: For Better Baked Potatoes, Cook Them Twice
Scalloped Potatoes with Caramelized Onions and Gruyere
Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer
These elegant scalloped potatoes are flecked with thyme and rendered luxurious with Gruyere and caramelized onions. Reader Tanya raves, "This is our family’s absolute favourite potato dish. I don’t change a thing! It is perfect as is. I also love that it isn’t too rich, as we often serve it with meats and other heavy foods. Thanks for a keeper!"
Get Recipe: Scalloped Potatoes with Caramelized Onions and Gruyere
Crispy Hasselback Potatoes
The trend a few years back of making accordion-sliced potatoes rendered crispy after a roast in a hot oven perhaps got played out, but not on your dinner table. Hasselback potatoes are an evergreen favorite for a beef roast, baked fillet of salmon, or roasted chicken.
Get Recipe: Crispy Hasselback Potatoes
Batatas a Murro
Simply Recipes / Laurel Randolph
These Portuguese potatoes are boiled, lightly smashed, and then tossed in a pan with oil and a ton of garlic. Try them for a memorable change of pace.
Get Recipe: The Portuguese Trick for Out-of-This-World Roasted Potatoes
Pommes Duchesse
Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer
I learned how to make this classic French potato dish in cooking school and quickly fell in love. You mix mashed potatoes with egg yolks and pipe them into rosettes, then bake until their edges brown. What you wind up with is an adorable savory potato cake that's make-ahead friendly.
Get Recipe: Duchess Potatoes
Smashed Potatoes
Simply Recipes / Sally Vargas
The random breaking patterns of smashed potatoes on a hot sheet pan entice the cook for what's coming up. It's nearly impossible to wait for these, but the payoff is giant.
Get Recipe: Smashed Potatoes
Too Much Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Simply Recipes / Shilpa Iyer
Our recipe editor Laurel Randolph amped up the garlic in our mellow roasted garlic mashed potatoes to make it a triple garlic whammy: there's roasted, fried, and sautéed garlic in this recipe. It's guaranteed to delight garlic lovers!
Get Recipe: Too-Much-Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Funeral Potatoes
Simply Recipes / Sally Vargas
Cheesy funeral potatoes are a welcome sight at big gatherings. They're just right for meals when you're asked to bring a side dish or need a make-ahead option.
Get Recipe: Cheesy Funeral Potatoes From Scratch
Crispy Parmesan Potato Stacks
Simply Recipes / Lisa Lin
Thinly slice potatoes, layer them in a muffin tin with Parmesan and herbs, pour oil over the stacks, and then bake to make these cute little structures of potato goodness.
Get Recipe: Crispy Parmesan Potato Stacks
Pepper Jack Potatoes
Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer
These rich potatoes ooze with cheese. Serve them in ramekins to hold the creamy sauce.
Get Recipe: Pepper Jack Potatoes
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