Crispy hash brown potatoes, lightly seasoned and fried to golden-brown perfection. Perfect in a country breakfast, or wrapped in a breakfast taco. Follow my recipe to learn the secret to making hash browns crispy and delicious.
Crispy Hash Browns recipe
Crispy Hash Browns
Equipment
- coarse cheese grater
- paper towels
- medium skillet
- spatula
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 4 small red potatoes
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-low heat.1 tbsp olive oil
- Select 4 small red potatoes.4 small red potatoes
- Grate the potatoes using a coarse cheese grater.
- Place the wet grated potatoes onto a paper towel.
- Roll up the paper towel tightly, and squeeze as much liquid as you can out of the grated potatoes.
- The potatoes should be as dry as you can get them.
- Add the grated potatoes to the center of the skillet.
- Use a spatula to flatten the potatoes into a disc.
- Fry the potatoes until the edges begin to show browning.
- Toss the potatoes in the hot oil. They should not be stuck together at this point.
- Form the potatoes into a disc shape again. Allow it to fry without moving until the edges show plenty of browning.
- Use your spatula to flip the disc over. It should stay relatively intact at this point.
- Fry on the other side for a couple of minutes.
- Add seasonings.1/2 tsp kosher salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper
- Remove from the oil and drain on a paper towel.
- Serve with bacon, egg, and toast, or use for a taco filling.
PRIVATE NOTES
Nutrition
More Information
The Secret
The secret to making crispy hash browns is to thoroughly dry them before cooking. The grated potatoes are fried in a disc shape, which does not leave any room for steam to escape while cooking. Because of this, wet potatoes will steam-cook. They will not develop the crispy browning that tastes so good.
Use paper towels
Paper towels do a good job of wicking away moisture from the grated potatoes. Wrap them up, and wring them out to squeeze out as much moisture as possible. For extra crispy potatoes, after drying them put them in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. The refrigerator will further dry them out.
Frying
Fry hash browns in olive oil over medium-low to low heat. This will give the potatoes enough time to cook through, and develop a nice crispy browning. If the oil is too hot, the potatoes will get very brown, but they will be undercooked on the inside.
After the potatoes start to brown, but before they begin to stick together, toss them around in the hot oil for a minute. This will allow for some of the crispy bits to get into the middle. If you don’t do this, they will be crispy on the outside, but mushy in the middle.
Timing
When making country breakfast, I will usually start cooking the hash browns first. Then I will start the bacon, make the toast, and finally I will cook the eggs. Everything is done at the same time, so it can be served hot and delicious.
Variations
For a Tex-Mex flare, instead of salt and pepper, add a pinch of my Tex-Mex Spice Blend. This is perfect when serving as a taco filling.
Ways to Serve
In a full-spread country breakfast
Hash browns are an almost essential part of a full-spread country breakfast. I love the way they pick up the yolk from sunny-side-up fried eggs. Use a piece of buttered toast, or a warm flour tortilla to push some through the yolk onto your fork. Delicious!
In a breakfast taco
Crispy hash browns are amazing in breakfast tacos. They add a potatoey crunch that will kick your taco up to a whole new level of yum.
In a Sandwich
Add hash browned potatoes to my Rise and Shine Breakfast Sandwich. Talk about good!
Related Recipes
Quesadilla-style Breakfast Tacos
Rise and Shine Breakfast Sandwich
Huevos Rancheros
Perfect Scrambled Eggs
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