Vegan Hasselback Potatoes take very little time to make, and they make an excellent –and pretty! – side dish.
I’ve been making Hasselback Potatoes since before I knew they were called Hasselback Potatoes. Sometime in the early 90s I received a big envelope in the mail trying to get me to sign up for one of those recipe card subscription service that were popular at the time. For the low, low price of $9.99 a month, I could get a bunch of recipe cards for foods I would never make along with a dull pairing knife and a printed cardboard box to keep everything in. Kind of like a mail-order version of modern-day Pinterest.
I was vegetarian, not yet vegan, and although I did like the idea of recipe cards, I knew most of them would be meaty, so I didn’t sign up. I did keep the accidentally vegetarian cards that came in envelope though, and I made the potato recipe often. I no longer have the recipe card, and I can’t remember what they were calling them, but I know wasn’t Hasselback Potatoes. (Maybe it was Accordion Potatoes?) I used to jam as much cheese and butter into every space possible, and single, large, greasy potato would be my dinner. When I went vegan several years later, I stopped using cheese and butter, and switched to olive oil and nooch.
I was kind of surprised to find my favorite potatoes popping up on Pinterest, Instagram, and the Blogosphere several months ago. Since these potatoes make a great holiday side dish, I’m finally sharing my recipe.
Since they look so nice, vegan Hasselback Potatoes are a perfect side dish for holiday meals. They’re easy enough to make that they could be part of an everyday dinner, as well.
Vegan Hasselback Potatoes
Ingredients
- 4 large potatoes, such as Yukon gold or russet, scrubbed clean
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
- 1 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt
- A few grinds of fresh black pepper
- Pinch red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Heat oven to 425° and lightly oil a baking dish.
- Cut vertical slits in the potatoes, stopping about 1/2” from the bottom, so that everything stays intact. The slits should be about 1/4” apart of each other. To make things a little easier, you can place the potato between the handles of two wooden spoons and stop cutting once you get to the spoon handles.
- Place the potatoes in the baking dish, and brush with half the oil. Sprinkle on a pinch of salt.
- Cook the potatoes for half an hour, then remove from the oven. Brush on the rest of the olive oil, and sprinkle each potato with the minced garlic, nutritional yeast, rosemary, black pepper, red pepper flakes and the rest of the salt. The potatoes slices should have started to peel away from each other, so try to get into the spaces with the oil and seasonings. You have to pry them apart gently to get into the spaces.
- Bake for another 30 minutes, until the potatoes have browned nicely, and the edges are crispy.
- Serve immediately.
I love Hasseback potatoes! I got on a kick after seeing the Vegan Mos write about ’em. I love your use of nutritional yeast (why didn’t I think of that? nooch is the answer for everything!) and you’re right, such a simple vegan addition to any holiday table! I just might have to do this when visiting family for Christmas!
Thank you, JL! (Nooch makes everything better!)
These sound incredible!! I love the rosemary in there…one of my favorite herbs. And the garlic! Yum!!
Thank you, Jenn!
I had totally forgotten about those recipe cards in the mail! I remember saving a few too and keeping them with the generic cookbooks that I never used that came from the sale area of Borders. Oh, how things have changed!
I don’t think I’ve ever made hasselback potatoes, but they sound really tasty!
Thank you, Cadry!
I still have a box of recipe cards from Vegetarian Times from the 90s!
oh, oh, oh, I’ve never had nutritional yeast on hasselback potatoes! Sounds divine! I’ll have to try it next time 🙂
Thank you, Bianca! I hope you enjoy it!
These look just incredible! I seriously want to eat through my computer screen! I can imagine the amazing aromas of them! Love that you used fresh rosemary too, one of my favorite herbs.
Thank you!
Oh wow, they look like my idea of dream potatoes! Yummy 🙂
Thank you, Trinity!
They look so delicious, Dianne! What a great idea! 🙂
Thank you, Sina!
I didn’t know these were called Hassleback Potatoes either–I’ve also been making them for years. (Probably also from those recipe cards! I wasn’t yet vegetarian, and collected a ton of them.) Thanks for sharing your recipe. I can’t wait to try it out.
Thanks! I hope you enjoy them!
Hasselbacking is one of my favorite ways to make potatoes! 😉 I have done it to heirloom tomatoes, too… with a melty ‘cheese’ sauce.
I love the flavors in your recipe – and they look nice and crispy!
Thank you, Kristina! Those tomatoes sound AMAZING!