When you think of mashed potatoes, you might imagine a smooth, creamy mound of comfort food but these Crispy Topped Mashed Potatoes take it a step further. They take that familiar dish and elevate it into something extraordinary! This recipe transforms your classic mashed potatoes with a crispy, pancetta and sage crumb topping that adds texture and flavour, making it the star of the meal. The addition of fresh herbs, and a crunchy topping turns the dish into a memorable side that will leave your guests asking for seconds.
Table of Contents
- Ingredient Breakdown
- The Key to a Creamy Mash
- The Crispy Topping
- Double-Baking for Crispiness
- Serving Suggestions and Pairings
- More Potato Recipes
Ingredient Breakdown
- Maris Piper or King Edward potatoes: These potatoes are ideal for mashing due to their fluffy texture when cooked.
- Whole milk: Helps achieve a smooth, creamy consistency in the mash.
- Unsalted butter: Adds richness while bringing creaminess to the potatoes.
- Fresh rosemary and thyme: Infuse the milk with aromatic, earthy flavours, enhancing the mash.
- Olive oil: Used to cook the pancetta and create the crispy breadcrumb topping.
- Unsmoked pancetta: Adds a salty, savoury depth to the breadcrumb topping.
- Sourdough or country-style bread: Blitzed into crumbs, it provides the perfect base for the topping, soaking up the pancetta fat for extra flavour.
- Fresh sage leaves: These bring a herby, fragrant note to the topping, complementing the richness of the potatoes.
Roasted Potatoes for Extra Flavour
To achieve the most flavourful potatoes, roasting the potatoes is a crucial step. This method helps concentrate the flavour of the Maris Piper or King Edward potatoes. Roasting makes them richer and more complex than boiling would.
After roasting, the skin of the potato becomes easy to peel off. This leaves you with soft, fluffy flesh that is perfect for mashing. The roasted potatoes not only enhance the overall taste of the dish but also ensure that your mash has a depth of flavour that elevates it above the typical side. As the potatoes roast, they absorb a slightly smoky flavour from the oven. This contrasts beautifully with the richness of the butter and the creaminess of the milk. This step is essential to make your Crispy Topped Mashed Potatoes something special.
The Key to a Creamy Mash
The creaminess of the mashed potatoes is achieved by simmering the milk, butter, and fresh herbs together. This step infuses the milk with the fragrant rosemary and thyme, adding subtle herbal notes that blend perfectly with the potatoes. It’s important to season generously with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper at this stage. Proper seasoning is key to ensuring your mashed potatoes are flavourful and not bland.
Once the milk mixture has simmered, you then strain it to remove the solids, ensuring that only the infused liquid makes it into the mashed potatoes. This results in a smooth, silky mash with a delightful depth of flavour that is far from the standard, plain mashed potatoes you might be used to.
The Crispy Topping
What truly sets these mashed potatoes apart is the pancetta and sage crumb topping. This addition introduces a beautiful texture contrast with the creamy mash beneath. Start by cooking the pancetta in olive oil until it becomes crispy and releases its rich, savoury fat. This fat is then used to toast the breadcrumbs. They soak the fat up, creating a crispy, flavour-packed crumb that adds a perfect crunch to each bite.
The addition of fresh sage brings an aromatic, herby element to the topping. It helps cut through the richness of the butter while providing balance. The result is a topping that’s both crispy and full of flavour. This perfectly complements the soft mashed potatoes, making each forkful a complete experience of taste and texture.
Double-Baking for Crispiness
To ensure the crispy topping stays as crunchy as possible, the breadcrumbs are baked a second time in the oven. After the pancetta and breadcrumbs have been sautéed together in the pan transfer them to a baking tray. Then bake at a high temperature for 20 to 25 minutes.
This step is crucial to achieving the deep golden colour and crisp texture you’re after. The oven’s heat helps the breadcrumbs crisp up, turning them into a crunchy topping that holds its texture when placed over the creamy mashed potatoes. It’s this step that transforms your mashed potatoes from a simple, comforting side dish into a truly elevated and indulgent meal.
Serving Suggestions and Pairings
The Crispy Topped Mashed Potatoes are an excellent accompaniment to a variety of main dishes. Whether you’re serving roast chicken, lamb, or a vegetarian main, these mashed potatoes will complement a wide range of flavours. Their richness makes them perfect for pairing with a roasted meat, while the crunchy topping adds an exciting texture contrast.
If you’re serving this dish as part of a Sunday roast, it pairs beautifully with gravy. The creamy potatoes absorb the sauce while maintaining their crisp topping. The herby notes in the potatoes and the sage in the crumb also make them an ideal side for dishes that feature fresh herbs and citrus, such as lemon-roast chicken or herb-crusted lamb. No matter what you pair them with, these mashed potatoes will add an extra touch of luxury to any meal.
More Potato Recipes
If you’ve enjoyed making theseCrispy Topped Mashed Potatoes, here are some more potato-based recipes for you to try:
- Crispy Parmesan Potatoes with Nduja Tomato Sauce: Roasted with a golden, deeply savoury parmesan crust, these potatoes are crispy on the outside and fluffy in the middle. Perfectly seasoned atop a bed of rich, spicy nduja tomato sauce.
- Masala Roast Potatoes: With a richly spiced masala sauce, tangy quick-pickled onions, and a cooling drizzle of yoghurt, this dish is vibrant, flavour-packed, and perfect for sharing.
- Kimchi Potato Rosti: Golden, crispy and loaded with flavour, this Rosti takes a classic dish and gives it a vibrant twist. The addition of kimchi introduces a tangy and spicy kick. Topped with poached eggs and avocado, it makes for the perfect brunch dish.
- Lemon Roast Potatoes: Golden, crispy, and infused with the bright zest of citrus, Lemon Roast Potatoes are a game-changer for your dinner table. Whether paired with succulent meats, tender poultry, or fresh seafood, these flavourful spuds will steal the spotlight.
See how I make all these recipes and more over on my Instagram!
Crispy Topped Mashed Potatoes
Anyone up for a Sunday dinner switch-up? Swap your traditional roast potatoes for these creamy, buttery mashed potatoes topped with a delicious, crunchy pancetta and sage crumb. Anyone that knows me knows that I’m not normally a fan of mashed potatoes – a highly unpopular opinion, I know. It’s a texture thing: eating a pile of mush doesn’t quite do it for me! Adding a crispy topping transforms mashed potatoes into something so delicious! I hope you’ll give it a try. This dish is inspired by Bon Appetit’s Mashed Potatoes with Crispety Cruncheties.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Sides
Ingredients
- 700 g Maris Piper or King Edward potatoes
- 300 ml whole milk, or more
- 85 g unsalted butter
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 100 g unsmoked pancetta, diced into small cubes (or bacon lardons)
- 100 g sourdough or country-style bread, blitzed into crumbs
- 1 tbsp fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
Instructions
To make the mashed potatoes:
- Heat your oven to 200℃. Place the potatoes in a roasting tin. Cover tightly with foil. Roast until very tender. This should take anywhere between 1 hour to 1 hr 30 mins depending on the size of your potatoes. Roasting rather than boiling the potatoes helps concentrate their flavour.
- Meanwhile, add the milk, butter, rosemary and thyme to a saucepan. Season very generously (and I do mean very) with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper.
- Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Immediately remove the saucepan from the heat, cover and let sit at least 30 mins.
- Once the potatoes are nice and soft, use a small knife to remove the skins. It’s best to do this when they’re hot, as it’s much easier. My hands aren’t very sensitive to heat, but if yours are I recommend using gloves and holding the potatoes with a tea towel.
- Pass the potatoes through a ricer or food mill into a large pot. Alternatively, you can mash the potatoes by hand.
- Return the milk mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat then strain it into the pot with the potatoes—that is, pass it through a sieve, leaving the solids behind.
- Mix until well combined. If you like your mash looser, you can add more hot milk. Taste and season with more salt and pepper, if needed. Cover and keep warm until the crumb is ready.
To make the crumb:
- Turn the oven up to 220℃. Add the olive and pancetta oil to a cold, large frying pan. Heat the pan over medium heat. Cook the pancetta, stirring occasionally, until the fat has rendered out and the pancetta is beginning to brown and crisp, 5 to 7 minutes.
- Add the breadcrumbs, sage and some freshly-ground black pepper and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. You want the bread to absorb all of the pancetta-infused oil.
- Transfer the crumb to a baking tray and bake, tossing frequently, for 20 to 25 minutes, or until deeply golden and crisp.
- To serve, transfer the mash to a large bowl or platter and top with the crumb. Serve and enjoy!
