It’s not entirely healthy or sane, but I can fiddle with a recipe for years before finally getting it out the door. What is done? What is ready? Aren’t we all works in progress, forging paths to even more greatness? Sometimes it’s obvious when a recipe is ready to laminate and tuck in our forever files; I love those days. Sometimes, the longer I leave it, the more it metamorphosizes. What I’m trying to say is that in 2020, this was a tater tot recipe. In 2021, it became a giant tot, i.e. a thick hash brown patty, and also gluten-free. In 2022, because I’m so attached to the Trader Joe’s version stashed in my freezer and wanted these more like that, it became thinner.
The year is now 2023. Books have been published. Regimes have changed. Children have entered and nearly completed middle school, gray hairs have sprung, betraying, and I believe — I mean, I’m absolutely utterly certain — that this is the final iteration of what I consider to be the perfect homemade hash brown patty: crisp, as fuss-free as possible, and my absolutely favorite raft for an egg, or the base of a salad-y lunchtime avocado toast. The only thing I forgot to do is test it in an air-fryer but I’m going to send this off regardless, before we blink and it’s 2024, and trust that someone will report back in the comments below about how it went. Deal?
Fun stuff!
* Signed cookbook: Want to buy a signed cookbook as a Mother’s Day gift for yourself or someone else? While the shipping deadlines have passed, both Strand Bookstore and Books Are Magic have copies of Smitten Kitchen Keepers signed by me this week.
* Cookbook giveaway! My publishers are giving away five sets of my three cookbooks in celebration of Mother’s Day — winners can send the gift to anyone you’d like. This sweepstakes is available to U.S. residents only (these are FTC rules; we do not mean to exclude!). The deadline to enter 11:59pm (ET) on May 1, so hurry!
* Event: While book tour events have otherwise slowed down, I will be in New Jersey at the Montclair Literary Festival on Saturday, May 6th.
* Newsletter: Do you subscribe to the Smitten Kitchen Digest, the free weekly newsletter full of fun links, updates, and seasonal menu-planning ideas? I think you’d love it!
Previously
6 months ago: Green Angel Hair with Garlic Butter
1 year ago: Snacky Asparagus
2 year agos: Spring Asparagus Galette
3 years ago: Roast Chicken with Schmaltzy Cabbage
4 years ago: Cannelli Aglio e Olio
5 year ago: Fig Newtons and Cripsy Tofu Pad Thai
6 years ago: Granola Bark
7 years ago: Caramelized Brown Sugar Oranges with Yogurt and Potato Pizza, Even Better
8 years ago: Why You Should Always Toast Your Nuts (Please!) and Obsessively Good Avocado-Cucumber Salad
9 years ago: Dark Chocolate Coconut Macaroons and Baked Eggs with Spinach and Mushrooms
10 years ago: Spinach and Smashed Egg Toast and Bee Sting Cake
11 years ago: Over-the-Top Mushroom Quiche and Banana Bread Crepe Cake with Butterscotch
12 years ago: Blackberry and Coconut Macaroon Tart
13 years ago: Baked Kale Chips and Almond Macaroon Torte with Chocolate Frosting
14 years ago: Artichoke-Olive Crostini and Chocolate Caramel Crackers
15 years ago: Spring Panzanella and Lemon Yogurt Anything Cake
16 years ago: Arborio Rice Pudding and Gnocchi with a Grater
Hash Brown Patties
- 1 pound russet potato(es), peeled, and cut into 1-inch chunks
- Salt
- 1 tablespoon potato starch
- Neutral, high-heat oil for frying
Form the hash brown mixture: Chop the potatoes into small bits, about the size of peas. In a bowl, combine with starch and season to taste — I call for salt but you can add pepper or any other seasonings you like in your hash browns at this point.
Shape the patties: Transfer back to the counter and knead in on the cutting board a few times until you can shape it into a big, thick round. Divide it into 4 wedges for the generously-sized patties you see here, or 6 for smaller ones. Use your hands to form each wedge into a round, and then flatten it about 1/2-inch-thick and form shape you want against the board — either a round patty or you can nudge it into more of a rounded rectangle, as I do here. Repeat with remaining wedges.
Fry the patties: Heat a medium-sized, heavy frying pan over high heat with enough oil to go most of the way up the sides of the patties. [In my photo, I’ve fully submerged them in oil, i.e. deep-frying them, but shallow-frying will work too.] When the oil reaches 350°F to 360°F, or a crumble of potato immediately sizzles and begins to darkens in the pan, use a thin spatula to transfer the first patty from the board, lowering it slowly in the oil. Fry until medium brown underneath, 1 to 2 minutes, spooning oil over the top of the patty for even color. Carefully turn it over and fry until the second side of the patty is also nicely browned, another 1 to 2 minutes. Lift out of the oil, shaking excess droplets back into the pan, and transfer to paper towels to drain. Sprinkle immediately with salt.
Repeat with remaining patties. If your pan is big enough, go ahead and fry two at a time. [I use a smaller one so I need less oil.]
To finish: Eat right away, as is, or topped with a fried egg or salad-y avocado toast and a soft-cooked egg, as shown above. Leftover patties can be frozen. From the freezer, reheat on a tray in a 400-degree oven for 20 minutes, flipping once. From the fridge, 10 to 15 minutes should be sufficient.
A few questions, pre-answered:
- The Russet is the best potato choice here; we need its floury lightness to give us that fluffy tot texture and great binding.
- I buy a bag of potato starch approximately once every four years from Bob’s Red Mill. It will not go bad. I use it for latkes, too. It’s also phenomenal on Japanese fried chicken (karaage) but that post for another time. If you do not or do not wish to buy have potato starch, 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour will work, too.
- Frying oil: My favorite for savory shallow- and deep-frying is peanut oil, but of course this will not work for everyone, given how common peanut allergies are. Any neutral, high heat vegetable or canola oil will work here. The bottle you buy will make it clear it works at higher heats for frying [or have a picture of fried chicken on it]; if not, choose a different one.
- Yes, you can reuse your frying oil. I prefer to do this when what I’ve fried has no additional (garlic, onion, or spice) flavors, such as here because it smells neutral later. I made the Easiest French Fries two months ago and strained the leftover oil, removing any crumbs, and poured it back into the bottles it came from once cool. It’s been in the fridge since and I used some here; it was as perfect as the first day. You can also freeze leftover oil.
- No, I haven’t tried this in an air fryer yet but I suspect someone will soon and I’ll point you to these comments as they emerge.
They look beautiful, brown and in one piece. (Mine would undoubtedly break in the middle!).Can you please tell me what brand of tongs or kitchen tweezers you are using?
Here you go! Nice quality and length; I’m using them a lot!
These are probably glorious, but they fried mashed potatoes – not hash browns.
For some reason, I don’t get the full recipe when you send it as an email. No pictures, and some parts of the recipe are missing. (like the part where you boil the potatoes!)
I can always click thru to the website, but thought you’d like to know that there may be many of us out here who get it like that. :-(
p.s. this recipe is great!
The email does not send the full recipe. It sends what is called the RSS feed, which is partial — just a preview.
These look delicious! Your story made me wonder how you keep track of recipes and their alterations/iterations. Do you have a giant excel spreadsheet?
No, I have a Google doc for most of the (gazillion) recipes I consider in progress. If I’m trying a few approaches, they’ll all be there. Lots of notes. Plus you can see document history if you’re losing your mind trying to remember what you’ve changed.
Wow – that’s a fascinating look at the SK process! Would you ever consider a post where you shared the Google doc and some of the iterations? I would LOVE to see that!
Oh that could be fun.
I would love to see that, too!
Recipe testing
Lots of tweaks, only the best
Delivered to you
Nice haiku!
I’d love to see that behind the scenes
This is the reason why your recipes are always perfect. I would love to learn a bit more about your process and look forward to seeing it all in action. I love order and organization. I am sure to pick some great points from your creative process.
Do you have instructions for freezing if I wanted to make these ahead and freeze them for single-serving use?
It’s pretty much the same process for freezing anything:
• A single layer of the item on a sheet pan, freeze until solid, and package appropriately in a thick freezer bags.
• Items that are prone to stick together like pancakes, crèpes, latkes, or hash browns, can be separated by waxed, or parchment paper.
• Include reheating/cooking instructions in the bag, plus date the items were frozen.
Enjoy!
I reuse oil too until it’s icky. And then I sprinkle in some of this stuff and scoop it into my compost bin! https://fryaway.co/
I can’t believe I’ve never heard of Fryaway, I need this in my life, thank you for the tip!
Thanks Deb! I love potatoes in any form, and especially hash brown patties with an egg on top. Will this recipe work with rice flour? That has been my gluten free go-to lately.
I haven’t tried it but I’m concerned it might be too binding — the starch barely does, which is what we want. And this is, of course, gluten-free regardless.
Do you suppose corn starch would work in place of the potato starch?
I think so!
When you say leftover patties can be frozen or refrigerated, do you mean leftover ALREADY FRIED patties or uncooked ones? TIA.
Fried
Hi Deb,
Do you think these could be baked in the oven instead of frying in oil?
Lovely seeing you at Indigo in Toronto a few months ago. Come back soon!
Thank you, I’d love to. I think they could be baked, but I don’t think they’ll get the cracky crisp brown edges at all. They’ll just taste like mixed texture baked potato patties.
Have you tested freezing these and reheating?
I am super excited to try this recipe!
Yes! Instructions in the recipe.
How could you fix it up night before and fry the next morning?
I think you could, just wrapped in the fridge.
Can you tell us more about this salad-y avocado toast? What makes it salad-y? Thanks!
An actual salad on the side, as pictured, makes “salad-y.”
Hey Deb … can these be frozen prior to cooking than fried from a frozen state?
I think frying first is probably better — I’ve never frozen and defrosted what is essentially a disc of mashed potatoes before, but once it’s fried, it will hold together. Plus, they reheat well. And you’d be front-loading the work.
I saw the comment about air fryers but I am not a gadget girl. I don’t really fry, hate the mess and smell. Thoughts on coating with oil and baking?
I commented above that while I think they could be baked, I don’t think they’ll get the cracky crisp brown edges at all. They’ll just taste like mixed texture baked potato patties. An air-fryer is a little better at getting things crisp because it’s a fan/convection oven, but my gut feeling here is that if you want a hash brown that tastes like hash browns you’ve liked, they need to be fried.
Hi Deb, made these yesterday, got 6 patties. The first batch of three came out fantastic, the second batch of three fell apart as they cooked in the oil. Any idea what happened?
Did they feel together as they went in? Did they taste cooked through?
The first batch were perfect. The second, yes, they felt together when we put them in the pan but then as they cooked they didn’t stay together. They were more just little bits of extra crispy potato.
The opposite happened to me. The first batch looked fine at first but then started falling apart. Soon it was mostly small chunks of potato. Tasty but not right, not patties. The last two I mashed up with more potato starch and they cooked better. Took a long time to brown with each batch.
I’ll try again.
I had the same thing happen, and I’m pretty certain the oil just hadn’t come back up to temperature when I added the second batch. They disintegrated in the oil, soaked up a lot and didn’t brown nicely. The first batch had been perfect. I need to buy a thermometer.
That is exactly what happened! Thank you for this, I definitely need to buy a thermometer too. The first batch were too fantastic to not try again!
+1 on the Google doc post idea! And can’t wait to try this.
I would love to see the google doc, that sounds really cool!!
This looks amazing! I am always looking for new recipes for Sunday brunch & SK is a lifesaver. 😊
Love this! I live somewhere with no Russet potatoes (it’s very sad). Could I use Yukon gold or red potatoes?
Do you have another variety of a floury potato you can use?
Now I know what to do with all the potato starch left over from Passover.
Have you tried freezing and reheating? Does anyone know if it would be better to freeze fried or raw(ish)?
Hey PLONIALMONI, freeze them fried and then reheat!
There are freezing and reheating instructions in the recipe. I think it’s best to fry first.
Would leaving the skins on still work? I have to admit that if a recipe says to peel I either skip the recipe or the step :-) Just wondering . . .
Thanks –
I have done it but you have skin bits everywhere — it’s not enjoyable, the way it can be on fries.
Wait they aren’t breaded? My mind is blown!!!!
I had these today with a fried egg and it was the perfect rainy day WFH breakfast. I had one 10 oz red potato so I scaled down the flour (used AP) to 2 tsp and got three patties out of it. The red potato needed maybe an extra 3 minutes of boiling. And I don’t know if it was because of the potato substitution, the flour substitution, the avocado oil I used, or my ineptitude at frying, but I couldn’t get mine anywhere near as evenly cooked or golden as yours. The edges got dark brown immediately and the inner area stubbornly stayed white. I’m planning to reheat the leftovers in the toaster oven which I’m hoping will help them crisp up and get some color.
First, mine are definitely white inside. But I do think it’s probably the potato. A waxier potato such as a red potato might not have that roughed-up edge that russets get, which catches color well. Was the avocado oil labeled for high heat?
I meant the outside that wasn’t the edge was white. And yes, it’s high heat avocado oil that I always use for deep frying.
“In 2020, this was a tater tot recipe.” For this did you form the cooked potato bits into a rope and cut into smaller segments, similar to gnocchi?
Yes
i CANNOT wait to try what appears to be a dream come true recipe. Opinion on frying in lard? Thanks for this!
I’m sure lard would be amazing here.
Book Larder in Seattle also has a bunch of signed copies and they’re on sale today!
These worked great in the airfryer for me! Sprayed top and bottom with a bit of avocado oil and kept them in for about 20 minutes. I started the temperature at 350 but moved it up to 400 by minute ten because they weren’t browning. I think the times/temps would be a bit different in an airfryer nicer than my beat up one but it resulted in a yummy crispy hashbrown regardless!
I know I’m lazy, I fully admit it. But lately, instead of boiling potatoes and having them get a bit soggy, I’ve been cooking them in the IP.
Would that work here? If not, no bfd, it’s just 1lb, so not a huge deal. Just thought I’d ask.
Re: Air Fryer. I can report they work GREAT in the AF. I will never cook them in a pot of oil given these results. (Preheat at 390 or 400).
Greg
Hi Greg,
Thanks for the report! This is what I was hoping someone would say. How long did you put them in the air fryer?
Thanks!
Anita
I have kidney issues & follow low potassium diet, potatoes are loaded, but cauliflower’s allowed. I’m going to try the recipe, but might smush some of the pieces so they bind together. Deb I made your latke recipe with shredded daikon and rice flower, and they were amazing, thank you. Of course they tased different, but excellent. My adult son who thinks he doesn’t like daikon ate it without knowing, and loved it.
Can you use corn starch instead of potato starch?
Can’t wait to try this! Info from my allergist : allergens are “stored” in the protein, therefore, peanut oil is not dangerous even for allergic people (like me!), since oil does not contain protein.
It might depend. My son likely had an allergic reaction to peanut oil when we were at a restaurant (he had chicken strips and fries but got hives right after, even though the server thought there was not peanut oil). His allergist said to still avoid peanut oil because sometimes the proteins get into it if it isn’t processed properly.
As I commented somewhere above, I need to buy a thermometer, as my first batch came out perfectly but second and third disintegrated in the oil and didn’t brown nicely. My 5- and 3-year-olds were helping in the kitchen, and I’m pretty sure we’d do well to chop the bits smaller next time, too.
That aside, since the first patties were successful, I can report that using cold leftover baked potatoes (my go-to for hash browns) works fine!
I finally bought a thermometer, tried this again and nailed it!! It does take a few minutes for that oil to get back up to temp.
These look delicious, but will still in the category of buy in a diner.
I tried these, and my first attempt failed. I think it’s VERY important to cut the potatoes to 1″, no smaller, and to not overcook your potatoes (check them at 12 minutes)
My potatoes got too wet, and therefore cooled down the fry oil too much,and were an oil bomb.
I added more potato starch to the rest of the dough and made smaller patties for the second round.
I recommend a shallow fry, not deep fry,
Don’t cut your potatoes too small.
Pull them BEFORE the edges are softening- that’s too mushy.
Delicious in the end!
I just reheated these hash browns and they were so good. In fact, maybe I should freeze more the next time I make them.
I will admit I had some difficulty to get these puppies to form a cohesive mass. I almost think maybe my potatoes got too dry before mixing. Still I persevered and they tasted fantastic and really didn’t break up too much when they hit the oil. I learned you have to be gentle in the introduction to the hot oil.
They froze (is that the past tense of freeze?) well. I just gently wrapped them in the paper toweling I used to drain…
Hope that makes sense
Thanks for another great recipe!
These are amazing! I love the texture that the potato starch gives the final patty. I made extra to freeze and I am sooo glad I did, I honestly think these are leagues above the Trader Joe’s ones 😉
I’ve made these a few times. Each time I thought that I was making extras to freeze but they all were eaten. My tips: cooking time on the potatoes is important. They need to be soft enough to form some mush to help them stick together. After I formed the patty’s I placed them on a sheet pan and refrigerated them, uncovered, until I was ready to cook. They held together much better. I added salt, pepper and Burlap & Barrel toasted onion powder to the potato mixture. I deep fried them and they came out looking just like Deb’s picture. They were perfect for Mother’s Day Brunch.
great tips! thanks!
I formed the patties individually, then air-fried on oil slicked pan with oil brushed on top of each at 425 for 20 minutes. Delicious with your Bodega-Style Egg on top! Loved seeing you in Irvine, CA last winter and have made all the dinner and dessert items we had there from your new book. My daughter-in-law was with me and is a Smitten Kitchen convert. Thanks for all your great work!
OMG, this is the recipe I have been longing for; thank you, thank you, thank you!!
I added what looked like enough salt, but it wasn’t enough. How much salt do you add?
Easy to make (and I am clumsy) and delicious. For even golden color I think you need to really flatten and even out the patties with a spatula before frying them and for the chunks to not be too large.
I’ve played with these a couple of times, and I think the best combo is cooking potatoes to closer to mush (creates a better bind IMO), cooking in the air fryer for 20+ minutes, and then pan frying them in just a bit of EVOO until golden! I use corn starch as the binder because I always have some on hand.
These are totally addictive. I made a bunch and froze them, and they have been a lifesaver for breakfast and lunch. They’re extra good with a fried egg, but I even used them for make-shift avo toast when I ran out of bread. Thanks for sharing!