Apple Potato Mash (Hete bliksem)

Name: Apple Potato Mash (Hete bliksem)
Prep time: 11 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 31 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Netherlands
Ingredients: 250g Apples; 250g Potatoes; 1 Cinnamon Stick; 1 tsp Maple Syrup; Sprinkling Ground Cinnamon; 4 Bacon; 200g Cheese; Pinch Salt; 1 Egg; 50g Sesame Seed

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Side recipe with Netherlands flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 51 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 31 min total

250g Apples
250g Potatoes
1 Cinnamon Stick
1 tsp Maple Syrup
Sprinkling Ground Cinnamon
4 Bacon
200g Cheese
Pinch Salt
1 Egg
50g Sesame Seed

Step-by-step instructions

Clean and peel the potatoes and cut them into even size chunks. Boil them in salted water for about 10 min and then add the cleaned and chopped apples into the boiling water. Add the cinnamon stick as well. Leave to boil for another 10 minutes or until both apples and potatoes are to your liking. I like mine to be fairly chunky but that is a personal preference In the mean time bake the streaky bacon in a dry frying pan until crispy and set aside to drain on paper towels.
Slice a few apple pieces and melt a little butter in a fryin pan. Add the apple slices to it and add a bit of maple syrup into the pan as well as some cinnamon. Let it simmer until the apple is soft.
Prepare a plate with one whisked egg and one plate with sesame seeds. Cut your cheese into the required size. The smaller it is, the easier it is too handle.
Dip the cheese into the egg and make sure it coats all sides. Then dip the cheese into the sesame seeds and make sure it is covered everywhere.
Heat a non stick frying pan on high until nice and hot. Put the cheese slice in and bake until the sesame seeds are brown. You have to do this rather quickly or the cheese will melt completely. Turn and bake the other side.
Drain the apples and potatoes and mash them together. Taste and add cinnamon and salt where needed. Remove the cinnamon stick before mashing.

Why this works on a weeknight

Apple Potato Mash (Hete bliksem) lands at about 31 minutes total — a little longer than our 30-minute target, but most of that time is hands-off simmering, which is why it earned a spot in our Skillet & One-Pan collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Apple Potato Mash (Hete bliksem) actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🥘 Skillet & One-Pan Side Netherlands