Crispy Home Fries are a potato-must for Sunday brunch or a dinner side dish. This home fries recipe helps make the perfect crispy potatoes and pairs them with onion, garlic and mild seasoning. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, these are the best potatoes.
What You’ll Need
The ingredient list is short and sweet, but make sure to read the section about choosing your potatoes for a crispy home fries hack and time-saver! A full list of ingredients with measurements for this recipe is available in the printable recipe card below.
- Russet Potatoes- This recipe requires you to parboil the potatoes in order to get the perfect crunch, but if you want to skip this step, time your baked potato night the night before (or even several) before you want to make home fries. Leftover baked potatoes are perfect for this purpose and save time in the morning since you don’t have to parboil.
- Baking Soda– Makes the water more alkaline- optional but highly recommended!
- Vegetable Oil- Or any other neutral oil with a high smoke point.
- Unsalted butter- The seasoned salt carries a good amount of salty goodness so using a salted butter runs the risk of oversalting.
- Onion & Garlic– Most home fries use only onion, but the Italian in me wants garlic too! It’s onion best friend- so I add it. Feel free to omit this, or both use. Use a sweet onion for less pungent flavor.
- Seasoned salt- Seasoned salt is a blend of salt, white pepper, smoked paprika, onion powder and garlic powder. Of course you can make your own, use store bought or just add a sprinkle of each of these from your spice cabinet.
Let’s Make Them
Making crispy home fries is a three step process: parboiling potatoes, making the onions and garlic and frying, but well worth it for satisfying potatoes. Skip the parboil process by using leftover baked potatoes.
- Prepare potatoes. Prepare the potatoes by scrubbing them well and then cutting into half inch cubes. Peeling them is not necessary, but you if don’t like skins, take them off. Aim for uniformly sized potato cubes so they all cook at the same rate.
- Boil potatoes. Place the potatoes into a large pot and cover with cold water, adding baking soda. Cover and bring the pot to a boil. When it boils, remove the lid, give it a quick stir and cook until potatoes are tender.
- Sauté onions and garlic. While the potatoes are cooking, heat some of the oil and butter in a large skillet. Add the onions, sauteing until just soft and fragrant, then add the garlic, sauteing for another minute. Remove the potatoes from the skillet using a slotted spoon and put them on a plate, set aside.
- Cook potatoes in batches. Add the remaining oil and butter to the same large skillet or pan. Add the potatoes in a single layer. This might require working in batches and additional oil. Allow the potatoes to brown evenly. Remove cooked potatoes to a plate while you finished the other batch(es).
- Combine all ingredients. Add the potatoes, cooked onions and garlic and seasoned salt back to the skillet and toss to combine and reheat. Serve hot with your favorite breakfast foods or as a side dish.
5S Philosophy 👩🏻
- Salt – I like to use seasoned salt which has a blend of salt, white pepper, smoked paprika, onion powder and garlic powder. It adds so much more flavor to these crispy home fries.
- Seasoning – Feel free to use any blend of spices or add more to your liking. Taco or fajita seasoning are fun, as is blackened seasoning. And you ranch lovers can use dry ranch mix. Leftover fresh herbs? Mince and toss those in with the onions and garlic too. Rosemary, thyme, sage, parsley, dill and even tarragon are great options.
- Sauces – Some folks like ketchup, but don’t limit yourself. Spicy aioli, tossed with compound butter or maitre d butter for a steak frites style potato (heck, you can even serve your steak over these!), yum yum sauce or a drizzle of nashville hot sauce will do them good.
- Swaps – Instead of just plain home fries, dd chopped jalapenos or other hot pepper to the onions and garlic. Crushed red pepper flakes or hot sauce can be served on the side if only some eaters want to sweat. Adding bell peppers to the blend makes them more of a potatoes o’brien, but is the same concept.
- Senses – Crispy home fries sizzle and pop as they cook, filling the air with the mouthwatering scent of buttery potatoes and a hint of spice. Each golden cube is perfectly crisp on the outside, giving way to a soft, fluffy center. Every bite delivers a satisfying crunch, a warm, savory burst, and a comforting, hearty flavor.
Make it A Meal
This potato recipe is vestile that they can literally be served with just about anything.
For breakfast: Savory breakfast ideas include chile relleno casserole, sausage hashbrown casserole, breakfast burgers, spinach tomato frittata and quiche florentine egg muffins. You can use these as the base for literally any hash you want. One of my favorites is pulled pork hash, but this sausage hash is my husbands favorite. They can also be used to make garbage plates.
For lunch and dinner: Any recipe that is typically served with French fries is a winner! Try gourmet burgers, fried steak or buttermilk fried chicken.
Storage and Freezing
How to Store
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. Reheat in the microwave (although they won’t get crispy again) or in a small amount of oil in a skillet on the stove. They can also be reheated in a 400°F oven in a single layer for about 8 minutes.
Can I Freeze Crispy Home Fries?
Home fries can be frozen in an airtight freezer bag. Reheat while still frozen in hot oil in a large skillet until thawed and browned.
Questions You May Have
The terms are commonly used interchangeably, so when at a restaurant I ask how they are prepared. To a chef, home fries are a skillet fried potato while fried potatoes are deep fried.
They are really the same thing.
Good question! No one is really sure, but many think it was to differentiate them from French fries and fried potatoes.
Baking soda makes the water more alkaline, which aids in the surface area being roughed up and broken down. This starchy paste will help them brown better. The baking soda can be omitted if you want to skip it or are using leftover potatoes.
More Easy Potato Recipes
If I could use one ingredient for the rest of time, it would be potatoes. Here are some of my favorite recipes that use potatoes.
Crispy Home Fries
Ingredients
- 2-3 large Russet potatoes
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil , divided
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter , divided
- 1/2 cup white onion , chopped
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Scrub the potatoes well, peel if desired, and then cut into half-inch cubes.
- Place the potatoes into a large pot and cover with cold water, adding 1 teaspoon of baking soda. Cover and bring the pot to a boil.
- When boiling, uncover and cook for 1-2 minutes or until cubes are easily pierced with a fork. Drain well in a colander.
- While the potatoes are cooking, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil and 1/2 tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet. Add the onions, sauteing until just soft and fragrant, then add the garlic, sauteing for another minute. Remove from the skillet to a plate, set aside.
- Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and 1/2 tablespoon of butter to the same large skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes in a single layer. This might require working in batches and additional oil and butter. Allow the potatoes to brown evenly on each side, crisping up. Remove cooked potatoes to a plate while you finished the other batch(es).
- Add the potatoes, cooked onions and garlic, seasoned salt and pepper back to the skillet and toss to combine and reheat.
- Serve hot.
- If you’ve tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was in the comments and star ratings.
Video
Nutrition
I’m not sure how to use baked potatoes. Won’t they fall apart when I try to cut them into cubes before frying?
Not if they are cold and starchy!
I added sausage and chopped sweet red peppers. This was the best home fried potatoes. My wife, who’s a picky eater, had seconds and complimented the chef. Thanks for the recipe!
Excellent, well-explained! Tasty. Easily modified as well. We used a baking sheet for the skillet portion.
When do I add the butter?
You use it with the oil, we just updated the recipe. Using both together makes it less likely for them to burn while adding both flavors.
Delicious! Parboiling the potatoes makes for perfectly cooked and crispy home fries. I used yellow potatoes and added a leftover baked sweet potato when crisping – awesome!
I used 400 grams of wonky potatoes from Aldi for this recipe, and it still tastes great!
I just literally laughed out loud – “wonky potatoes from Aldi” and anyone who shops at Aldi knows exactly what you mean!
So where do the onions come in?0
Hi Dick, In step #2, it states to add cooking wine through black pepper, which includes the onions. Hope you like it!
Cooking wine?? I didn’t see that at all. Lol.
Ah! We changed the recipe- thanks for catching that, we will go change it 🙂
I could just eat these for a meal and be perfectly happy, The extra crispy edges are my favorite part!
These home fries are amazing and are the perfect addition to Sunday brunch!