16 Potato Side Dishes for Special Occasions

These crave-worthy potato sides dazzle every time.

By
Sara Bir
Sara Bir
Sara Bir
Sara is a chef, culinary educator, and author of three cookbooks, The Pocket Pawpaw Cookbook, Tasting Ohio and The Fruit Forager's Companion. The latter won a 2019 IACP Cookbook Award.
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Published December 23, 2023
Sara Bir
Close-up of three hasselback potatoes in a roasting pan

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

    Potato confit in white casserole dish.

    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.

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  • Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes

    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.

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  • Potato Croquettes

    Potato Croquettes on a Plate with One Croquette Broken in Half, and Next to the Plate, a Small Saucer with Sauce

    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!

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  • Sweet Potato and Yukon Gold Bake

    Sweet Potato 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.

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    Continue to 5 of 16 below.

  • Mashed Potato Pancakes

    Leftover mashed potato pancakes stacked on a plate and topped with sour cream and chives.

    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.

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  • Fondant Potatoes

    Garlic rosemary sauce spooned onto fondant potatoes (both are in the same skillet)

    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.

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  • Twice Baked Potatoes

    Twice baked potatoes on a piece of parchment paper

    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.

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  • Scalloped Potatoes with Caramelized Onions and Gruyere

    Scalloped Potatoes Gruyere Caramelized Onions

    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!"

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    Continue to 9 of 16 below.

  • Crispy Hasselback Potatoes

    Crispy Hasselback Potatoes
    Sally Vargas, Elise Bauer, Trent Lanz, Lisa Lin, and Megan Keno

    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.

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  • Batatas a Murro

    Plate of 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.

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  • Pommes Duchesse

    Duchess Potatoes

    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.

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  • Smashed Potatoes

    Smashed Potatoes and Two Small Bowls (One with Cracked Pepper and Another with Flaky Salt) on a Baking Pan

    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.

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    Continue to 13 of 16 below.

  • Too Much Garlic Mashed Potatoes

    Too Much Garlic Mashed Potatoes in a brown bowl with a spoon on the side

    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!

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  • Funeral Potatoes

    Funeral Potatoes with Real 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.

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  • Crispy Parmesan Potato Stacks

    A close-up of three 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.

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  • Pepper Jack Potatoes

    A fork pulling a cheesy bite from a ramekin of Pepper Jack Potatoes

    Simply Recipes / Elise Bauer

    These rich potatoes ooze with cheese. Serve them in ramekins to hold the creamy sauce.

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