15 Ingredients To Elevate Hasselback Potatoes

One of the best ways to elevate Hasselback potatoes is to swap out the main ingredient. Sweet potatoes are an ideal candidate because of their similar shape and texture to regular potatoes. However, sweet potatoes' naturally sweet, earthy flavor makes for a completely different experience on the palate. You'll prepare Hasselback sweet potatoes in the same way as normal spuds. Make ½-inch cuts width-wise along the entire potato, placing a chopstick on either side to ensure you're not cutting all the way through. From there, it's all about how you want to season and roast them.

Sweet potatoes pair equally well with sweet and savory ingredients. Make dessert-worthy easy Hasselback sweet potatoes by loading them up with things like butter, maple syrup, honey, mascarpone cheese, chopped nuts, or even marshmallow fluff. Alternatively, dress up Hasselback yams with ingredients like spicy chorizo, garlic-infused olive oil, or a roasted pepper tapenade. Whichever route calls your name, you're bound to end up with a delicious, nutritious, and visually stunning Hasselback sweet potato.

Feta cheese is a wonderful source of calcium, B vitamins, folate, and more. The briny, tangy, mildly sour cheese, traditionally made with sheep's or goat's milk, originated in Greece. Luckily, you don't have to book a ticket to Santorini to experience feta cheese — it's available at a reasonable price in grocery stores and on menus throughout the United States. Feta may not be the most common ingredient to pair with potatoes, but, this unique cheese can upgrade a variety of potato dishes in some unexpected ways (like these baked feta mashed potatoes, for example).

Feta makes a fantastic upgrade for Hasselback potatoes too, especially when the spuds are dressed with other Greek-inspired flavors. Drizzle some olive oil, lemon juice, parsley, oregano, and salt, the same way we prepare them in our Greek sausage and Hasseback feta potatoes recipe. The sausage makes this recipe a complete meal, but the feta-stuffed potatoes are a lovely side dish all on their own. Feta's sharp taste brings a whole new level of flavor to earthy potatoes — and it would work in Hasselback sweet potatoes, zucchini, eggplant, or squash just as well.

Contrasting acidity and alkalinity in foods is crucial and leads to more nuanced, balanced, and full-flavor meals. Lemon juice has a knack for brightening up whatever it touches, and refreshing, acidic juice balanced with earthy, starchy potatoes is a match made in heaven. Although you could simply squeeze some fresh lemon juice directly onto Hasselback potatoes after baking, incorporating lemon juice beforehand allows for that sour, sunshiney flavor to fully penetrate the tubers.

For example, this Greek lemon potatoes recipe wasn't designed with Hasselback potatoes in mind, but the same process can be applied here. Instead of slicing the spuds into halves or quarters, pour the mixture of lemon juice, chicken broth, olive oil, oregano, and salt over raw potatoes that have been prepared Hasselback-style. Pouring the broth, oil, and lemon juice mixture over the potatoes leads to a softer interior, crispier exterior, and richer flavor throughout the finished product.

There's nothing like a baked potato fully loaded with sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, bacon, and chives. It's a classic steakhouse side and a great way to turn a humble potato into something resembling a complete meal. The only problem with loaded baked potatoes is that they tend to get a bit messy after the first few bites. If you want equal topping distribution in each bite without the mess, try mini Hasselback potatoes with cheesy bacon dip on the side. You can use fingerlings or other small potatoes for bite-sized, appetizer-friendly noms, but larger potatoes work just as well.

Once the Hasselback potatoes have been baked, serve them with a cheesy sour cream and onion dip loaded with bacon bits. With a base of tangy, smooth sour cream, it's easy enough to dip the Hasselback potatoes directly into the spread, but you could also take the cheesy dip and spoon it into the spuds' crispy crevices after baking. Whichever way you choose to execute, wait to introduce the Hasselback spuds and dip until after baking — the cheese and sour cream mixture won't hold up well in the oven.

What's not to love about a soft, creamy, spreadable, and delicious cheese? Boursin is an herbaceous cow's milk cheese guaranteed to lend boatloads of flavor to potatoes, omelets, soups, charcuterie boards, and more. The brand has been around since 1957 and has grown extremely popular around the world, with multiple flavors and even a dairy-free option. There are myriad ways to combine Boursin with potatoes, but incorporating the rich cheese into Hasselback potatoes just might be the best one.

Every variety of Boursin could theoretically be used to elevate Hasselback potatoes. The garlic and fine herbs flavor is sure to be a crowd-pleaser, but you could also go with the shallot and chive, basil and chive, black pepper, or onion and herbs styles (or combine a few for a real party). Experimenting with Hasselback sweet potatoes? Boursin's fig and balsamic cheese will make a great addition that perfectly balances sweet and savory flavors.

Sometimes, the best way to elevate a dish is to approach the main ingredient in a new way. Such is the case with Guy Fieri's crunchy baked potatoes. Few dishes are more basic than baked potatoes, but Fieri isn't cooking up your grandmother's recipe. His version kicks things off by soaking the potatoes in brine for six hours before seasoning them with a simple but effective combination of garlic, salt, and pepper, then popping them in the oven. The result? A baked potato that's ultra-crunchy on the outside and deliciously creamy on the inside, just the way a baked potato should be.

The "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" star applies this method to whole baked potatoes, but it stands to reason that the brining technique would work just as well with Hasselback-style tubers. Brine the taters whole, then slice them up as you normally would, season as you wish, and bake. While you're free to top your spuds however you'd like after baking, honestly, these potatoes don't need much dressing up — this texture stands on its own, even if you're just using butter, salt, and pepper.

Parmesan and potatoes are a hard pair to beat. When combined with roasted, baked, or even mashed potatoes, parmesan's slightly sharp, nutty flavor brings out a satisfying kind of funkiness in the tubers, especially with a garlic and herb situation in the background. Though parmesan potatoes are delightful enough on their own, serving them with a unique dipping sauce is a surefire way to impress your dining companions. Our suggestion is to ramp things up with this parmesan-crusted potato and tahini labneh recipe.

Labneh is made from yogurt that has been strained into a very silky cheese, with a texture falling somewhere between a soft cream cheese and a thick yogurt. Our recipe combines the labneh with nutty tahini, bright lemon juice, zippy garlic, and fresh, grassy dill for a complex dipping sauce. The above-linked recipe calls for whole potatoes, but it's worth the bit of extra time and effort to cut the potatoes Hasselback-style and poke the parmesan cheese in between the slices before baking. The finished product is a rich, cheesy tater that beautifully complements the tahini labneh.

Brown butter may sound tricky, but it's deceivingly simple to make. All you need is butter, a pan, and a little patience. Once you've mastered the (easy) art of making brown butter, the options for application are endless. Brown butter can add a complex nutty flavor to eggs, amplify cookies and other baked goods, elevate chickpeas, and so much more. It can also help take veggies to the next level, as that's how world-renowned chef Wolfgang Puck upgrades his mashed potatoes, but rich, nutty brown butter is a fantastic way to ramp up potatoes cooked in any style.

Fat is an important ingredient in Hasselback potatoes. The thinly sliced tubers need a layer of fat to get appropriately crispy and to prevent the slices from sticking together. You could use anything from sunflower seed oil to tallow or lard on these bad boys, and classic butter never disappoints, but brown butter? Even better. Whether you use brown butter to coat your potatoes before roasting or spread it over your finished spuds, this complex fat adds deep, toasty richness to Hasselback potatoes.