Delicious Crispy Hash Browns
Learn how to make the best crispy hash browns at home! These delicious hash browns are lighter and healthier than greasy diner hash browns, since they're made with olive oil.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 29, 2024
I’ve always associated hash browns with classic diner fare, and left them there. However, I’ve been working on a breakfast burrito recipe on the request of several readers, and everyone has suggested including potatoes. Hash browns seemed like the easiest way to incorporate crispy potatoes.
Soggy hash browns have no business on my plate. Crispy hash browns or bust!
Hash browns are easy to make. Basically, all you have to do is grate up some potato, rinse off the starch, squeeze it dry, and cook the potato in a skillet with oil until crispy.
I found some areas of nuance, of course. To enhance the flavor, I tossed grated potato with salt, garlic powder and onion powder before cooking. The garlic and onion powder flavors are subtle, but they make these golden hash browns absolutely irresistible. I’ve used this trick with my roasted breakfast potatoes, potato wedges and mashed potatoes, too.
How to Make Crispy Hash Browns
My other trick to making these hash browns remarkably delicious is to cook them in extra-virgin olive oil. Yep! Extra-virgin olive oil actually has a pretty high smoke point (around 400 to 425 degrees Fahrenheit, contrary to what you might have heard over the years).
I cook these hash browns over medium heat just to be safe. Cooking over high heat is tricky no matter what kind of oil you’re using. Depending on your pan and your stove, it’s just too easy to burn your food over medium-high or high heat.
If you follow my recipe, you’ll stir the potatoes and press them back down against the skillet every two minutes. That’s just long enough for the potatoes to get crispy; stirring ensures that some of the potatoes don’t burn while the rest are left uncooked.
Lastly, you’ll transfer the hash browns to a plate lined with a paper towel to absorb some of the excess oil. I assume the nutrition facts offered under the recipe are a little inflated in fat content, but I can’t account for how much oil is left in the pan and on the paper towel.
Regardless, these hash browns are a more nutritious option than diner hash browns cooked in highly refined vegetable oil. They offer more complex flavor than standard hash browns, too, since they’re cooked in olive oil with garlic and onion powder until golden and crispy.
What makes these hash browns the best?
In summary:
- Rinsing the grated potatoes and drying them well removes excess starch and helps the potato cook to irresistible, crispy perfection.
- Cooking the potatoes with garlic, powder onion powder and olive oil makes them far more flavorful than diner hash browns.
- Cooking over moderate heat and stirring the potatoes every couple of minutes ensures that you don’t burn your hash browns.
Homemade hash browns go great with eggs, cooked any which way (here are all of my egg recipes). I think they would be especially great with this broccoli cheddar frittata.
Cook up these hash browns for a casual weekend breakfast or serve them to friends for brunch!
Watch How to Make Hash Browns
Please leave a comment to let me know how these turn out for you. Your star ratings with your comment is much appreciated, too (those help convince other visitors that the recipe is worth making!). Have a great weekend!
Delicious Crispy Hash Browns
Learn how to make the best crispy hash browns at home! These delicious hash browns are lighter and healthier than greasy diner hash browns, since they’re made with olive oil. Recipe yields 4 servings; you can double or triple this recipe but cook in batches as written below.
Ingredients
- 1 pound Russet potatoes (2 small-to-medium), peeled if desired
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Scrub the potatoes clean and grate them on a large-holed cheese grater (I left the skin on, but you can peel it first if you’d like). In a fine-mesh sieve, rinse the grated potato well until the water runs clear.
- Drain the potatoes, and then place them potato on a clean tea towel or several paper towels. Twist the towel to remove as much moisture from the potatoes as possible (you might need to do this in two batches).
- Transfer the grated potato to a bowl and toss it with the salt, garlic powder and onion powder.
- In a large skillet (preferably cast iron, but non-stick works, too), warm the olive oil over medium heat until shimmering and a piece of grated potato sizzles on contact. Spread the potatoes over the skillet in an even layer and press them down with a spatula. Let them cook, undisturbed, for 2 minutes.
- Stir again, press them down again, and cook for another 2 minutes. Repeat in 2-minute intervals, flipping in sections once they’re crispy enough to do so, until the potatoes are golden brown and crispy, about 4 to 8 more minutes. Meanwhile, line a plate with a couple of layers of paper towels to absorb excess oil, and set it near the stove.
- Transfer the hash browns to the lined plate and let them drain for a minute. (If you’re making multiply batches of hash browns, repeat these steps as necessary—keep in mind that your skillet will be really hot so your next batch may cook faster.)
- Season to taste with additional salt, if necessary, and serve hot.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
We enjoy hash browns on Sundays though eggs, the only thing I do differently is use avocado oil and cook on high heat. Yummy!
“with eggs”
Thanks, Jan! I’ll try avocado oil next time. I do love the olive oil flavor!
Can you make a batch and freeze (before or after you cook the potatoes)? My husband loves hash browns and even though I buy organic, I would much rather make my own.
Hi Susan, I think you could!
My potato hero!! I can’t wait to make tomorrow :-)
Hope you loved them, Dani!
Excited to try these! I too love hash browns but almost never make them at home (or even order them at restaurants), thinking they’ll just be soggy and oily. I trust that you’ve developed an excellent recipe :)
I hope you enjoyed the hash browns! They’re dangerous. :)
Yup, I made them last weekend (as part of the breakfast burrito recipe) and… you’re right. So dangerous!
So similar to potato latkes … enjoyable for breakfast.
I would like to try this for breakfast but am wondering if it’s possible to grate the potatoes the day before? If so, how far ahead should i prepare? Just grating? or rinsing and squeezing as well? Thanks in advance, i love all you work.
unfortunately, grated potatoes turn weird, unappetizing colors VERY quickly. Maybe someone knows a trick for this (ascorbic acid??) but I don’t…
Louise is right. The strange color rinses right out, at least for freshly grated potatoes. Your best bet would probably be to store the grated potatoes in a bowl of water and drain/squeeze dry in the morning. I think that would work!
Uncooked potato ‘oxidizes’….similar problem if you expose an apple’s flesh to air, it will turn brown due to this reaction to air (oxygen).
I used to work for a fast food outfit, and what they do to stop the color of the potato flesh from turning brownish; was to submerge the cut up potatoes in cold water with a measure of any type of white-ish vinegar or lemon juice available….. as long as it was slightly acidic overall. (amount of vinegar or lemon juice depends on overall quantity of potatoes and water)
This still leaves you to drain and dry before cooking. But it will work for a few hours or overnight, while stored in a cool place….
One trick to speeding up the cooking prigces that you could use the day before would be to bake the potatoes whole 1st. I grated some leftover baked potatoes, seasoned very similar to this recipe and ended up with some very crispy hashbrown since most of the moisture had already been baked out of them. Hope this small shortcut helps!!
Use lemon juice while grating. And stir the grated potatoes frequently to ensure all are coated. You only need and few teaspoons of lemon juice.
To be honest I would much rather add sauteed onion to it than onion powder. And….want to try something REALLY tasty? Add some smoked paprika in………DELICIOUS!
I find the instead of paper towels if I put the fried potatoes on a cooling rack like the ones for cakes the potatoes stay a lot crispier and all the oil drips down.
Interesting! I’ll have to give that a try. Thank you for the tip, Beatriz!
I make latkes a couple of times a year, which is plenty enough to justify picking up some cheesecloth (a couple of bucks at grocery stores) which is magic for squeezing out shredded potatoes!
Thanks, Louise! I didn’t know that cheesecloth is a regular grocery store item. I’ll keep an eye out for it!
Just made these and they turned out perfectly. I will always use this recipe from now on. Along with the onion powder, I also put minced onion in with them.
Great! Thank you for sharing, Amanda.
It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed hash browns! They’re not my favorite way to have potatoes, but they are still delicious! I love mine in a tofu scramble with ketchup and lots of vegetables!
Yummy! I love this crispy hash recipe! Thank you for the tips!
Thank you, Rylee!
Made these this morning with a runny egg. Amazing! These will be put into rotation for sure! So delicious and crispy!!! The spices really add something special to it.
Thank you so much, Lauren!
The way to crispy hash browns for me is to use extra baked potatoes that I have refrigerated overnight (or longer) grate on a box grater peel and all, easy peasy!
Interesting!!! Thank you for your comment, Kims!
This is how I make hash browns as well!
This is very interesting xD
I did it but made the potatoes burn some parts in my first time although I really cared about the fire and the time. Any advices?
Even though the flavour was not bad (I added some chilli powder)
I’m gonna make it bettern next time!!
I’m sorry to hear that, Natalie! Maybe you had hot spots in the pan, which could be due to your heat source or the pan itself. If you have a cast iron pan, that works best here.
I made these yesterday evening, and didn’t notice they were supposed to serve 4. My husband and I ate them all. He had his with a hamburger patty and salad, and I had mine with a tempeh “imitation hamburger” patty and salad. Delicious!
I’m thrilled you both enjoyed them! Thanks for the review, Margaret!
Ha – us too! Definitely closer to two servings than four. We had ours with cheesy scrambled eggs and spiced apples. A perfect hash brown recipe!
These are such a game changer! I’ve tried so many recipes and yours is by far the best. Restaurant quality hash browns in the comfort of my own home- thank you!
Oh, yay! I’m happy to hear you liked them! Thank you for the review!
I made these especially for the breakfast burritos – but they are insanely good as is! And really send the burritos over the top!
They really do make the burritos come together. Thank you so much for the comment and review, Samantha!
Mine didn’t turn out as well as the ones pictured! They were more clumps of soggy hashbrowns instead of crisp pieces. I’m not quite sure what I did wrong, I wrung out all the water I could. The amount of oil seemed like a lot for the amount of potato, though.
I’m sorry to hear that, Catherine! Are you sure that you waited to add the potatoes until the oil was shimmering and a piece of grated potato sizzles on contact? If so, it sounds like maybe your potatoes just needed more time in the skillet to get crispy.
Exact same results with mine. Grayish, oily and mushy. I think I’ll use less oil next time.
These breakfast burritos were so delicious! We actually were short some hash browns because my husband and I couldn’t stop snacking on them while we were preparing the other ingredients. This recipie is another winner!
Thank you, Sarah! I had the same problem myself. :)
I made these for my wife. She ate them all, what a pig! Thanks Kate. Now we’re divorced and I’m lonely AF.
Great comment! I needed a good laugh.
These are delicious! I too have been on a hunt for the perfect hashbrown recipe for some time. The pan method can be a bit tricky.
Wonderful, Christina!
Just a note for others out there: I tried this recipe using butter potatoes and it did NOT turn out! I’m sure with Russets this is great, though.
Thanks for sharing, Cheyenne!
These are amazing!! Made them for my Father’s Day brunch and my husband and I both loved them. Loved the flavour the garlic and onion added. Will definitely make again. Thanks for another fab recipe :)
What a great Father’s Day brunch! Thank you, Cailey for sharing.
This turned out so yummy!!! We made an impromptu brunch this morning and it was very well-received by my very picky husband! Thank you!
Wonderful! Thank you, Aleen.
Love this recipe but I would like to use chopped onions instead of onion powder should I fry the onions before or after the potatoes Thanks for all the great recipes
Unfortunately, onions will add moisture and you will not achieve the crispy hash browns.
Turned out great for and and was wrll worth it! Thankyou for posting your recipe, I used it as inspiration to my own nuance that included paprika powder.
Wonderful, Dor! You’re so welcome.
These were terrible. I’d suggest a high smoke point oil.
I’m sorry you are not satisfied with this recipe, Brad. I didn’t have any issues in my testing. Possibly you had the temp too high?
Thanks! Easy and delicious way to make hash browns with out using the processed poison from the store. (Sorry, poison is a little exaggerated ) any ways my boy loves hash browns with his eggs and rice and these are better than the frozen processed ones I’ve been giving him!
I’m really glad you like them, Steve!
Awesome dish – easy to follow, kids lived it too :) Thank you!
You’re welcome, Jesse!
My hash browns came out excellent….
Great! Thanks for your feedback, Stacy.
This recipe looks great. I don’t want to use paper towels and only have old cotton rags. The rags are clean but I used Bounce softening in the dryer. Will the Bounce scent transfer to the washed potatoes when I squeeze the water out? Not really a cooking question.
If they are clean, you can try it! I don’t use bounce so I’m not sure how strong the residue is.
My hasbrowns turned a weird grayish color as they cooked. They tasted fine, but looked weird. What happened??
Did you rinse them and make sure get enough moisture out? It could have also been your oil wasn’t hot enough and the potatoes soaked it up more instead of getting cooked and crispy.
I added lots of diced onion. Very good!
Thanks for your feedback!
Would it be possible to bake them?
That would require a different recipe and I’m not sure without testing it out myself on the specifics. Sorry!
hi Kate,
I am fairly an average cook. today when I tried to make hash brown.
They became soggy sticky lumpy and did not turn out like the pics you posted.
I used steel pan to cook and i think i used more olive oil.
Could you please let me know what went wrong.
Hi Vj! I’m sorry they didn’t turn out for you. Did you make sure the pan was hot enough? Also it’s important to remove the moisture in step 2.
Hi Kate,
thank you for replying back.
I realized I made two mistakes
1. i rinsed the grate potato just once not until all the starch is almost once.
2. I had not removed the moisture completely and yes you are right the pan was not hot enough for the potatoes to sizzle.
So will try it again in few days .
with Regards,
Hi Kate, great recipe – the pan indeed must be hot to make this work right, and russets are the way to go – gold or red potaoes are too soft. Great tip on squeezing out the liquid – a must! You pictured, but didn’t mention, an iron skillet, which really holds and returns to its base heat better than about any skillet when you add the cool ingredients to the pan – that gets the crispy skin forming faster. I am also a fan of real onion, but for kids, onion powder, as you use, adds flavor without the texture they may not like. Another good tip is that the crispier you want them, the thinner you should make your layer of potatoes in the skillet, and just fry in a couple of batches. People winding up with gray, gloppy messes are likely trying to fry too many in one batch. :-)
Hi! I love your recipies and they have helped me get through the hardness of being gluten, dairy, and meat free! Thank you! Can you include how long you can keep recipies in the fridge or freezer? That would be super helpful! Have a great day!
I’m glad they have been so helpful! Dietary restrictions are usually hard. Thanks for commenting, Caroline!
I never eat hash browns–never cared for store bought and wouldn’t think of eating those greasy things they serve at restaurants. Almost didn’t make these because I’m just not a fan and I really didn’t want all the extra work for meal prep (I hate cooking, I really do), but those breakfast burritos just didn’t seem like they’d be complete without the hash browns. In a word: AMAZING! I could have skipped everything else and just eaten the entire pan of these things. I think I might like hash browns after all.
I’m really glad you made them, Gael! I appreciate the review.
These were delicious! Making them again! Definitely worth the wait!
Hooray! Thanks, Barbara.
That was absolutely horrible. I followed these instructions to the T and it was just an oily soggy mess, not the slightest bit crispy. I was stupid to follow the ridiculous advice of frying something on “medium heat”
Hi Harrison,
when ever you want to fry something, heat your pan a short time…5 minutes, and dip your finger in water. Flick a drop of water onto your heated pan. If it ‘sizzles’, you are good to go, but remember that this is the minimum requirement. If it doesn’t sizzle, turn the heat up a little, wait a while, and repeat until the drop of water sizzles.
If you put a large amount of food into your pan, it will cool the pan, and make everything turn to a messy slush instead of frying. Either turn your temperature up a little, or fry your food in smaller batches…
All recipes are a guide only. Pot and pans are different. Temperature as measured by all the different measures can vary….so first time around, do it the old fashioned way and note the temperature according to your equipment. That way you can repeat the result another time if you like that recipe. Good Luck….
Best ever. Instead of using towel, I placed handful by handful into salad spinner and removed excess water. Then final dry and pat on paper towel.
Man…. I just could not get my potatoes dry so they would crisp….I tried to spin, but it ended up making a mess….then, I used paper towels in small batches, but no….was trying to impress my daughter and her BF for Sunday breakfast but….I blew it….
I’m sorry this didn’t work perfectly for you, Rick! Thanks for your review.
A co-worker & I *always* talk about food & yesterday he mentioned hash browns for the weekend. Well I couldn’t stop thinking about them, so, i looked up your recipe & tried them just this morning!
I love the tip for rinsing the starch out, btw, squeezed them in a dish towel instead of paper towel which worked fine (I used a cooking brush to get all the pieces off the towel). The garlic powder & salt was added before cooking & gave it great depth. Made eggs & a Bloody Mary and enjoyed my breakfast so much! Delicious! Definitely a keeper!
I’m glad you thought the tips were helpful, Pandora!
Made these for breakfast this morning and turned out great. Will not buy frozen again. These are so easy and delicious. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Cassandra!
I made this recipe this morning. Very delicious. I was using it for vegetarian breakfast burritos. The potatoes were great. However, I will change some things up when I remake the burritos. If using a gluten free tortilla, I would not wet the tortilla (makes it gummy/sticky not just pliable). I feel like I need a little crunch as well…maybe add some shredded cabbage as a finishing touch. The hashbrowns though, were perfect!
Thank you for sharing! I appreciate your feedback, Tammie.
Excellent hash brown recipe. I had always cooked them with margarine but had none today I tried your recipe and it’s a 100 times better with great flavor.
This is how I will make them form now on. Thank you!!!
Have you ever used a potato ricer? I love using it to press the moisture out of shredded potatoes. Your recipe sounds delicious, but I add sauteed diced onions. Yum!
I haven’t! Thanks for sharing, Susan.
Sorry, Kate, if I’ve missed this in the comments, but can one use sweet potatoes instead of white potato? I have a sensitivity to white potatoes.
I’m not sure as I haven’t tried it, but it would be worth a shot! Sweet potato cooking can vary though.
I’ll make it, Kate, all report back!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I did the recipe exactly as you wrote it, and let me tell you, best hash browns I ever had! My husband is gonna be very happy.
Great recipe! Swapped the g+o powders for the real thing and sauteed them for a few minutes before taters hit the pan. Also tossed in some yellow peppers, because I love peppers in my hashbrowns. Sprinkled a little clubhouse veggie seasoning as well for a little oomph and they were grand! Quite a few changes to the base recipe, but I still loved them and squeezing the water and starch out made a world of difference! Cheers!
These were perfect! My daughter and I both loved them, and they were super easy to make. Thank you!!
You’re welcome, Caryn!
Should you cook uncovered or covered?! I am currently trying the recipe
You cook stovetop uncovered. See steps 4 & 5.