The breakfast side dish of champions, Crispy Hash Browns are the perfect accompaniment for your breakfast eggs. I like to make them at the weekends, for a deliciously crunchy and lazy start to the day. They only require a few ingredients and they’re super simple to make. And I’ve got a couple of tricks for you to maximize the chance of extreme crispiness!
What are Hash Browns?
Hash browns are a classic American breakfast side dish, originating in New York in the late nineteenth century. The name is usually attributed to Maria Parloa in a cookbook from that era, as a contraction of her “Hashed Brown Potatoes”, but the roots of the dish are thought to originate in Switzerland, with their national dish of potato Rösti.
Rösti are also made with grated potatoes, pressed together and fried in a pan, although they do not usually contain any eggs, relying entirely on the starch from the potatoes to bind them together.
How to Make Crispy Hash Browns
Hash browns are super simple to make, and even better, they have very few ingredients. In fact, it’s rare that I don’t have all the required ingredients in the house. If you prefer not to eat onions, you can leave those out as well, making it simpler still. Likewise, I use some butter in the pan for extra flavor, but you could use olive oil alone. Crispy hash browns can be made with only three ingredients – potatoes, eggs, and oil – plus salt and pepper.
If you can, try and get hold of floury potatoes for this recipe. They usually crisp up much better than waxy ones. Russets are the most widely available floury potato in the US.
The potatoes need to be grated or shredded, rather than cut with a knife. Because they don’t get pre-cooked or fried for a long time, they won’t cook through if the pieces are too thick. Additionally, grating them means they are more flexible and bendy, which leads us to the primary secret of making crispy hash browns (as opposed to regular ones).
The Crispy Secret
Water is the enemy of crunch. So, to make your hash browns crispy and delicious, you want to squeeze out as much water as possible. Here’s how to do it.
Place the grated potatoes and sliced onion on a clean kitchen towel. Gather it up around the edges and twist the top. Hold it over the kitchen sink and squeeze hard, twisting tighter all the time, to press out as much water as possible.
Once squeezed dry, mix with the eggs and season generously. I think the recipe needs quite a lot of salt and even more freshly ground black pepper. Mix together well, so the potatoes are coated in the egg. The mixture won’t feel like it will hold together in the pan, but don’t worry, that’s what the eggs are for. They will bind the potatoes together as they cook, combining with the starch.
Frying Hash Browns
Melt the butter in the oil over medium-high heat. Once the butter is sizzling, you can get started. Add dollops of the potato mixture to the pan, then use the back of a spatula to press down into patties. After a few minutes, they should be crisp and golden brown on the underside. Flip them over carefully and cook on the reverse side until crunchy on that side too.
What to Serve with Crispy Hash Browns?
I know some people eat hash browns at dinner time (no judgment!) but for me, these are and will forever be a breakfast dish. I like to serve them with fried eggs and bacon, plus a little fresh avocado and tomato to get my early vitamins in as well. Sausage would also be good here, and vegetarians can leave the meat out altogether if preferred, the dish is still very nice without it.
And More…
Looking for more savory breakfast dishes? Try one of these…
- Breakfast Frittata Muffins
- Scrambled Eggs with Sour Cream
- Eggplant Breakfast Frittata
- Asparagus Omelet with Ricotta
Conclusion
Now you know the secret to Crispy Hash Browns, get a batch frying up for your next lazy weekend brunch! They’re so easy to make and the crunch really does turn them into something special. With eggs, bacon, sausage, or whatever your favorite savory breakfast items are, I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.
Ingredients
- 4 floury potatoes medium
- 1 onion small
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper
To serve
- fried eggs
- bacon
- avocados
- tomatoes
Instructions
- Peel the potatoes and the onion and grate coarsely with a box grater.
- Place both in a clean kitchen towel, gather up the edges and twist the cloth to squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
- Transfer to a bowl, add the egg and season generously with salt and pepper.
- Melt the butter in the olive oil in a a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat.
- Add spoonfuls of the potato mix and press down lightly with a spatula to flatten into 1/2 inch thick patties. You should get about 8 hash browns from this recipe; I usually fry them 4 at a time.
- Fry for about 2-3 minutes until golden brown and crisp, then flip over and fry for another 2-3 minutes on the reverse side.
- Serve hot, with eggs and bacon for brunch.
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