Before I leave for work today, I wanted to share something that I’ve been meaning to post for a long time.
Out of all the components of a good Southern breakfast, home fries have always held a special place in my heart. The crispy outside, creamy inside, and delicious salty seasoning make it an amazing morning food. And they are beautifully vegetarian!
It took me a LONG time to learn how to make good home fries. I tried cooking them raw, which always gave me the problem of potatoes that were burnt on the outside before they cooked on the inside. I tried boiling them beforehand, which added way too much time to the process and resulted in mushy potatoes. Recently I remembered a trick that I learned back in high school. I went through a phase one summer where I woke up every day at 6am to do yoga and eat curry potatoes. No I’m not kidding. Anyways, I used the microwave to make those potatoes, and they always came out so well. The microwave is the key, I’m telling you! Usually I’m against using the microwave for anything other than reheating, but this is a rare exception for me. Using this method, it only takes 20 minutes to make incredible home fries.
Country Home Fries
by
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Keywords: breakfast vegetarian
Ingredients (serves 4)
- 2 T olive oil
- 2 T butter
- 6 small to medium yukon gold potatoes
- seasoning salt
- pepper
- 1 medium onion
- chives (optional)
Instructions
Rinse and scrub the potatoes well.
Pierce each potato with a fork several times and place them on a microwavable plate.
Microwave them on the ‘potato’ setting just until they are tender (you don’t want them 100% cooked) and you can easily poke them with a fork.
Set the plate aside to let the potatoes cool.
In the meantime, heat a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. When the pan is very hot, add in the olive oil and 1 T. of the butter.
Cut the potatoes into large chunks and place them in the hot pan.
Cook the potatoes over medium high heat until they are golden brown on all sides. Don’t disturb them too frequently! They need time to brown and stirring them constantly will prevent them from browning. Use a spatula to gently toss them every couple minutes. Season generously with salt and pepper as they cook.
When the potatoes are brown on almost all sides, dice the onion and add it to the pan with the remaining butter.
Continue to cook and toss occasionally until the onions are also browned.
Remove from the heat, toss with chopped chives if desired, and serve.
Something about potatoes just makes me feel all warm and comforted, especially on a rainy, cold day like today.
This recipe can be tweaked to your tastes. I’ve added bell peppers and other types of herbs with delicious results. You could even add bacon, if you’re into that sort of thing. 😉 I enjoy them most in their simplest form, with just the onions for extra flavor. This morning we ate them with cheese grits and a veggie frittata. Perfect way to start a long Sunday.
I hope that you try them! There’s no way not to love them.
Thanks for reading!
-Lauren
3 Responses
Nala S
Yummy! Those home fries look delicious, will try them out some time =)
Lauren
This is fabulous! My mom is always looking for (and trying to get me to look for) a good home fries recipe. It’s a favorite of hers at a restaurant we often grab breakfast at but at-home versions never have that crunchy outside. Thanks for this!
Matt @ Runner Savvy
Looks great! Homefries are my favorite diner food.