This unconventional salad isn’t shy. Smashed baby potatoes soak up the spicy juices from Mexican chorizo as they roast together harmoniously on a sheet pan. The two become a dinner salad once they’re tossed with shredded lettuce and scallions, drizzled with a puckering lime vinaigrette, and finished with plenty of salty cheese crumbles.
Queso fresco is a semisoft Mexican cheese that’s similar to feta in milky-tangy flavor and crumbly texture. It can be found in rounds in the cheese section of most grocery stores; if you can’t find it, a mild feta can be substituted.
Smashed Potato and Chorizo Sheet Pan Salad
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds baby red or Yukon Gold potatoes
- Kosher salt
- 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil divided
- 1 pound fresh Mexican chorizo casings removed if using links
- 4 medium scallions white and pale green parts cut into 1-inch pieces; dark green parts thinly sliced, divided
- Zest of 1 medium lime
- Juice of 1 medium lime about 2 tablespoons
- 1 small clove garlic grated or minced
- 1/2 medium romaine lettuce heart sliced into thin ribbons
- 1 cup queso fresco cheese crumbled
Instructions
- Place potatoes and 1 tablespoon salt in a large saucepan. Cover with cool water by 1 inch, then bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until potatoes are easily pierced with a knife, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water to cool slightly. Set aside in colander to let skins dry.
- Arrange 2 racks to divide oven into thirds and heat to 450°F. Drizzle a rimmed baking sheet with 2 tablespoons olive oil.
- Once potatoes are cool enough to handle, transfer to prepared baking sheet and shake baking sheet to coat potatoes in oil. Press down on each potato with bottom of a measuring cup or drinking glass until it splits and flattens to about 1⁄4-inch thick.
- Pull chorizo into bite-sized clumps with your hands and scatter in spaces between potatoes. Scatter white and pale green parts of scallions on top. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with 1⁄2 teaspoon salt and several grinds of pepper.
- Roast on bottom rack until bottoms of potatoes are golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to top rack and broil until tops of potatoes are golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes more. Remove from oven.
- Whisk together lime zest, lime juice, garlic, the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, a generous pinch of salt, and several grinds of pepper in a small bowl.
- Scatter lettuce and dark green parts of the scallions over potatoes and chorizo. Drizzle with vinaigrette and toss gently on baking sheet to lightly wilt lettuce and coat everything in vinaigrette. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper as needed. Sprinkle crumbled queso fresco on top and serve.
Sheela Prakash
Sheela Prakash is a food and wine writer, recipe developer, and the author of two cookbooks and is the Senior Contributing Editor at Kitchn.
