Thanksgiving potatoes tend to be creamy, buttery, gloppy, gooey, but are they ever crispy? Rarely, if ever, because who has the time to crisp up potatoes while also whisking gravy, heating dinner rolls, and basting a turkey?

But what if I told you that you could have crispy potatoes and all you need is a sharp knife and a pair of chopsticks?

Meet Hasselback Potatoes

If you’ve never made or had Hasselback potatoes, you’re in for a treat. Imagine a potato that goes to a cosmetic surgeon to maximize its sex appeal, only instead of a surgeon it’s you. Your job: put a small oblong potato in between a pair of chopsticks and slice down with a sharp knife, making little slits an 1/8th of an inch apart, until you have a potato that looks like an accordian.

Cast Iron is Your Friend

Once you slit your potatoes, all you have to do is doctor them further (see, mom, I’m a doctor!) with olive oil, salt, pepper, some sliced garlic between the slits, and fresh thyme.

Notice I’m using a cast-iron skillet here: that retains its heat in the oven, so it’ll get your potatoes extra crispy (hence the title).

If you’re doing this for Thanksgiving, you can also do this on a cookie sheet. The key step is covering everything with foil during the first 20 to 25 minutes of cooking at 425 (hat-tip to Jesse Szewczyk’s recipe on Bon Appetit).

Bake Now, Crisp Up Later

I may be going out on a limb here, but I think it’s entirely possible that you can bake for 20 to 25 minutes with the foil on, until the potatoes are just cooked through, then let it come to room temperature, refrigerate, and the next day, when you’re ready for them to crisp up, take the foil off, pop in a 425 oven, and let it rip for 45 minutes.

The most important thing is that, early on, you get olive oil in between the slits of the potatoes. That’ll make ’em extra-crispy for sure.

What can I say about how these taste? Imagine the joy of crunching into a potato chip paired with the comfort of biting into a warm roasted potato: here you get the best of everything.

So if you’re looking for a Baywatch revival, call David Hasselback. If you’re looking for a View reunion, call Elizabeth Hasselback. And if you’re looking for the most enticing potato to serve with dinner, make ’em Hasselback. It does justice to the name.