Fried Potatoes and Onions

If there is anything more delicious than crispy breakfast potatoes at a weekend brunch, we’d like to know what it is! Fried potatoes and onions are easy to make at home, require very few ingredients, and are a delicious breakfast side dish for practically any savory dish. They just taste so good!

We recommend using a cast iron skillet to get the breakfast potatoes extra crispy, but first you’ll need to parboil them. Yep, it’s necessary. Trust us, your efforts will be greatly rewarded with super crispy pan fried potatoes and caramelized onions that will transport you to your favorite breakfast spot!

Ingredient Notes

• Russet potatoes: also known as Idaho potatoes; these high starch, low moisture potatoes are perfect for getting that creamy, tender center with maintaining a crispy exterior when they come in contact with the cast iron skillet!
• Extra virgin olive oil or vegetable oil: A light neutral oil, such as vegetable, canola oil, or grapeseed will let the flavor of the potatoes shine through. If you prefer EVOO, use that!
• Onion: for a little sweetness; also, we just love caramelized onions and potatoes together!
• Garlic powder: to add flavor to the potatoes
• Sweet paprika: adds both flavor and color! Feel free to substitute smoked paprika for a smoky flavor!
• Kosher salt: gotta season those ‘taters!
• Freshly ground black pepper: as much or as little as you like
• Fresh herbs, for serving: chives, parsley, or green onions work great! A great way to brighten up the dish, both in terms of flavor and appearance.
• Optional: lemon wedges — we love a squeeze of fresh lemon juice over southern fried potatoes and onions, but it’s totally personal preference!

Don’t have Russet potatoes? No need to fret! Any potato will work, but you will see the crispiest results with higher starch potatoes. We recommend Yukon gold potatoes over waxier potatoes like red bliss or new potatoes. No need to peel, the skin is highly nutritious!

Also! We think adding some roasted red peppers to these breakfast potatoes would be pretty epic, no? Totally doing that next time!

Parboil Potatoes Before Pan Frying

What does it mean to parboil potatoes? It introduces a first cooking method — boiling the potatoes — before a second cooking process. In this case, you’ll pan fry the potatoes, but you could do the same thing whether pan frying, deep frying, roasting, or steaming.

While technically, yes, you can skip this step, it’ll lead to a longer cook time without it and the potatoes are less likely to be evenly cooked. No, thank you!

There are two ways to parboil: either cook the potatoes in boiling water or add the uncooked potatoes to a saucepan with cold water, then bring to a boil. Either way, you want the potatoes to cook for 8-10 minutes once the water is boiling. Season the water with 1 teaspoon Kosher salt, add the potatoes, then cook and strain. Easy!

How To Make Crispy Breakfast Potatoes At Home

This entire recipe is made on a stove top. Here’s how to make it!

1. Parboil the potatoes. Slice potatoes into ¼” cubes, then place in a saucepan. Cover with a couple inches of water, add 1 tsp Kosher salt, stir, then bring to a rapid boil. Boil potatoes over medium heat for 8-10 minutes or until just knife tender.
2. Strain the potatoes, then wait 5 minutes. Strain the potatoes with a colander, then allow potatoes to steam dry for 5 minutes.
3. Cook the potatoes. Meanwhile, heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (or butter), then add potatoes. Season with 1 tsp Kosher salt, then cook for 5 minutes undisturbed.
4. Add onion. Add minced onion, then toss the potatoes and cook undisturbed another 5 minutes. Check the potatoes for doneness. If golden brown and crispy, go to next step. If not, let them cook another 5 minutes.
5. Finish, then serve. Season with garlic and paprika, then stir once more. Serve immediately with chopped fresh herbs and lemon wedges, if using.

Easy skillet breakfast potatoes that the whole family will love! Though I have to admit, sometimes my kids ask us to leave the herbs out lol…. kids, man!

How To Serve

• Eggs! Fried eggs, poached eggs, sunny side up eggs, soft boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, your favorite omelette! Choose whichever style eggs you love most and serve ’em up!
• Meat! Crispy bacon, breakfast sausage (pork or chicken) or sausage links, Canadian bacon — all great options! And hey, who doesn’t love a big steak and eggs breakfast every once in a while?
• Light sides: fresh fruit, yogurt + granola, thinly sliced tomatoes, marinated tomato and onion salad, sliced avocado (just a squeeze of lemon + flaky sea salt is perfection!)
• Sweets: we love to end the meal with a little something sweet like double chocolate scones, blueberry muffins, or even chocolate rapsberry rugelach — the latter is how we always end our bagel brunches at home!

FAQs

1. What’s the best type of potato to use? High starch, low moisture potatoes such as Russet or Idaho potatoes work best (here’s why). If those aren’t available, go with Yukon gold potatoes. The least successful fried potatoes will be those that are waxier, such as red potatoes.
2. Can these be roasted instead? Totally! Breakfast potatoes can be roasted, pan fried, shredded into hash browns. To roast, parboil the potatoes per the instructions, then transfer to a cast iron skillet and roast at 425F with garlic and paprika until crispy, about 30-40 minutes, tossing once halfway through (this is also when you should add the onions). Finish with fresh herbs.
3. My potatoes didn’t get crispy — what did I do wrong? Are you using waxy potatoes? If not, make sure that the skillet is hot enough and that you let them cook undisturbed for at least 5 minutes between flipping.
4. I don’t have a cast iron skillet — what other type of pan can I use? Cast iron is well loved for its ability retain even heat across the entire surface. You can absolutely use other pans — stainless steel and ceramic are good options — but something like a nonstick skillet won’t get the potatoes as crispy. You actually want the potatoes to stick to the pan a bit as they cook. When they’re nicely browned, they’ll release easily from the pan (but this won’t happen with nonstick).

Variations To Try At Home

• Finish with freshly chopped rosemary or thyme!
• Want a little spice? Try adding a teaspoon of chili powder or smoked paprika!
• Instead of Kosher salt, season the potatoes with garlic salt or onion salt.

Ugh, breakfast potatoes are the best potatoes! You can do no wrong!! We want you on repeat weekly for weekend brunch. If you make this Fried Potatoes and Onions recipe, please let us know by leaving a review and rating below! And be sure to tell us your favorite mains to serve them with!

And make sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow along on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, and Facebook for more Well Seasoned recipes! DON’T FORGET to tag us on social channels when you make a recipe at #wellseasonedstudio !! We LOVE seeing what you’re up to in the kitchen!

For more breakfast recipes, check out the following:

• Breakfast Polenta with Pesto
• Easy Chocolate Chip Monkey Bread Muffins
• Green Shakshuka With Feta
• Smashed Eggs On Toast
• Southern Fried Chicken and Waffles
• Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
• How to create an epic bagel board

Print Recipe

5 from 6 votes

Fried Potatoes And Onions Recipe

When you're craving diner-style breakfast potatoes, make these fried potatoes and onions! Parboil the potatoes, then get 'em all crispy in a cast iron skillet. Season with garlic, paprika, then serve with a couple of fried eggs for the complete diner experience. Brunch goals at home!

Prep5 mins

Cook25 mins

Total30 mins

Course: Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine: American

Keyword: breakfast potatoes, cast iron skillet, crispy potatoes

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 182kcal

Author: Ari Laing

Equipment

Saucepan

Colander

Cast iron skillet

Ingredients

• 1 large Russet potato skin-on, cut into ¼" cubes
• 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil or unsalted butter
• ½ sweet onion minced or finely chopped
• 2 tsp Kosher salt divided
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp sweet paprika use smoked paprika for a smoky flavor
• 2 tsp chopped chives, parsley, or scallions for serving
• Lemon wedges optional, for serving

Instructions

• Parboil the potatoes. Place cut potatoes in a saucepan, then cover with a couple inches of water. Add 1 tsp Kosher salt, then bring to a rapid boil. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until just knife tender.
• Strain the potatoes, then wait 5 minutes. Strain the potatoes with a colander, then allow potatoes to steam dry for 5 minutes.
• Cook the potatoes. Meanwhile, heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil (or butter), then add potatoes. Season with 1 tsp Kosher salt, then cook for 5 minutes undisturbed.
• Add onion. Add minced onion, then toss the potatoes and cook undisturbed another 5 minutes. Check the potatoes for doneness. If crispy, go to next step. If not, let them cook another 5 minutes.
• Finish, then serve. Season with garlic and paprika, then toss once more. Serve immediately with chopped fresh herbs and lemon wedges, if using.

Notes

1. What’s the best type of potato to use? High starch, low moisture potatoes such as Russet or Idaho potatoes work best.
2. Can these be roasted instead? Totally! Breakfast potatoes can be roasted, pan fried, shredded into hash browns. To roast, parboil the potatoes per the instructions, then transfer to a cast iron skillet and roast at 425F with garlic and paprika until crispy, about 30-40 minutes, tossing once halfway through (this is also when you should add the onions). Finish with fresh herbs.
3. My potatoes didn’t get crispy — what did I do wrong? Are you using waxy potatoes? If not, make sure that the skillet is hot enough and that you let them cook undisturbed for at least 5 minutes between flipping.
4. I don’t have a cast iron skillet — what other type of pan can I use? Cast iron is well loved for its ability retain even heat across the entire surface. You can absolutely use other pans — stainless steel and ceramic are good options — but something like a nonstick skillet won’t get the potatoes as crispy. You actually want the potatoes to stick to the pan a bit as they cook. When they’re nicely browned, they’ll release easily from the pan (but this won’t happen with nonstick).

Nutrition

Calories: 182kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 591mg | Potassium: 454mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 209IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 1mg

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