Fondant potatoes are creamy, whole cooked potatoes that are slightly crisp on the ends. They’re loaded with garlic butter and ready for your holiday table!
6-8medium sized Yukon gold potatoesall roughly the same size
2tablespoonsgrapeseed oil
4tablespoonsbutter
2clovesgarlicpapery skins removed and sliced in half
2sprigs fresh thyme
1 ¼cupshot vegetable stock
½teaspooncoarse kosher salt
¼teaspoonfreshly cracked black pepper
Sweet Potato Mash
1large sweet potatopeeled and cut into slices or chunks similar in size to your other potato scraps
¼cupheavy cream
3tablespoonsbutter
Coarse kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Fondant Potatoes
Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
Wash and peel the potatoes. Using a sharp chef’s knife, cut the potatoes into identical cylinders. I do this by cutting off the ends, then standing the potato on one end and cutting down all around until it resembles a cylinder. If making the sweet potato mash, set your potato scraps aside and save them for later.
Heat the grapeseed oil in a large, oven safe skillet (I used cast iron) over medium heat.
Once hot, add the potatoes, standing them up on a flat end. Allow them to cook for 5-6 minutes or until golden brown.
Using tongs, turn the potatoes over to the other flat side and cook another 5-6 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat for 2 minutes to allow it to cool slightly. Reduce the heat to medium low, then return the pan to the heat.
Add the butter, garlic, and thyme. Once the butter is melted, use a spoon to baste the potatoes with the butter until well covered.
Add the stock to the pan and season with salt and pepper.
Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 35 minutes or until the potatoes are tender all the way through when pierced with a knife or fork. If the garlic starts to get very brown, remove it while the potatoes continue cooking.
Serve fondant potatoes on top of a few spoonfuls of sweet potato mash, spooning extra butter from the pan over the top.
Sweet Potato Mash
While the fondant potatoes are cooking, add your potato scraps and sweet potato to a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook 15-20 minutes or until tender.
Drain the potatoes, then return to the pot and turn the heat to medium. Stir the potatoes until most of the water has evaporated from the pot.
Remove the potatoes from the heat and mash along with the butter, cream, salt, and pepper.
Notes
Tips for customizing this fondant potato recipe
Skip the sweet potato mash and serve the fondant potatoes by themselves
Add a head of roasted garlic to the sweet potato mash
Meat eaters can use chicken stock in place of the vegetable stock
For a dairy free version, I recommend swapping the butter for an equal amount of grapeseed oil or a high quality dairy free butter