Crispy Smashed Potatoes with Tinned Sardine Salsa

The kind of weeknight dinner that feels like a small celebration.

⌛ 40 minuntes ✧ 🍽️ 2

🐟 Sardines in olive oil

Crispy Smashed Potatoes with Tinned Sardine Salsa

Open a tin of good sardines and you're halfway there. This dish is bright, fresh, and deeply satisfying — hot crispy potatoes piled with a cool tomato and cucumber salsa, the sardines folded in at the last moment so they stay tender and rich. It comes together in under 40 minutes and tastes like something you'd eat at a sunny table somewhere coastal. Good enough for a quiet dinner, easy enough for a Tuesday.

Ingredients

500g small new potatoes
2 tins of sardines in olive oil (approx. 120g each)
2 ripe tomatoes, finely diced
½ cucumber, finely diced
½ red onion, thinly sliced
Juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp olive oil (plus extra for roasting)
1 large handful fresh cilantro
A few spring onion greens, to garnish
Flaky salt and black pepper

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 220°C. Boil the potatoes in well-salted water for 15–18 minutes until tender. Drain and let them steam dry.
Spread on a baking tray. Flatten each potato with the bottom of a glass, then drizzle with olive oil and season with flaky salt. Roast for 20–25 minutes until golden and crisp.
Meanwhile, combine the tomatoes, cucumber, and red onion. Add the lime juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss and set aside.
Open the sardines and break the fillets gently into large pieces. Fold into the salsa — keep it loose.
Pile the salsa over the hot potatoes. Scatter cilantro and spring onion on top and serve straight away.

Serving suggestion

Bring the plates to the table straight from the oven — the contrast of hot crispy potato and cool fresh salsa is the whole point. A glass of chilled Albariño or a light, cold lager makes perfect company. This one is easy to share from the center of the table, which is exactly how it should be served.