The Easy Trick for the Best Breakfast Potatoes, According to a Short Order Cook

Home fries are a part of breakfast that I cannot live without. Admittedly, my homemade breakfast potatoes are pretty good, but they’re rarely great. It’s almost as if the line cooks at my favorite restaurants have super secret methods for creating the best-ever breakfast potatoes while I’m racking my brain at home trying to recreate them.

My favorite breakfast potatoes are diner-style: cut into irregular pieces, seasoned to perfection, and cooked to a golden-brown crisp with peppers and onions. I always do my best to make my chef friends proud while whipping up a fresh batch at home, and I’ve picked up a few useful tricks from them along the way, the most important being using a cast iron skillet.

The Benefits of Using Cast Iron

The cast iron skillet is the wingman to your breakfast potato exploits. No kitchen is complete without one. In the case of home fries, it allows cooks to avoid the mess of frying potatoes in a bunch of oil, which is often how restaurants make their potatoes so delicious.

For home fries made in your home kitchen, a ripping-hot cast iron skillet and a bit of neutral tasting oil are your best friends. The potatoes won’t stick to the pan and they will be extra golden and exceptionally crisp.

How To Make the Best Breakfast Potatoes

In addition to an extremely hot cast iron pan, you’ll also want to use a non-waxy potato such as a Russet or Yukon Gold. According to my close friend, who has worked in kitchens for years, the potatoes should be quartered and then chopped into smaller cubes. Use a rough chop for this step, as precision isn’t necessary.

“That’s the beauty of breakfast potatoes,” my buddy says, “they are supposed to be quick to make and have a nice play on texture.”

Next, soak the potatoes in cold water for 15 to 30 minutes to draw out some of the starch. Thoroughly drain the potatoes, then season them with just a touch of turmeric for color, along with ground cumin, salt, and black pepper. My friend says this seasoning blend yields the most crowd-pleasing results.

Get the skillet nice and hot, coat it with a neutral-tasting oil like canola or avocado oil, and toss the potatoes in, spreading them out into an even layer. Let the potatoes cook until the edges start to crisp and turn golden brown, then add chopped onions and peppers.

Continue cooking the potatoes, stirring them occasionally, until all sides are golden brown. If you try to stir the potatoes but they stick to the pan, just be patient. The potatoes will release from the pan once they’re browned.

Upgrading Your Breakfast Potatoes

To take your breakfast potatoes to the next level, top them with shredded cheese while they are still in the skillet. Transfer the skillet to a 375°F oven, and watch your potatoes enter a whole new realm of deliciousness. After 10 minutes, or when the cheese has fully melted, remove the skillet from the oven and serve.

If you’d like to experiment with seasonings, my friend recommends cayenne pepper or red chili flakes and fresh herbs such as thyme. This will add an extra kick to the home fries and a wonderful aroma from the herbs.

I prefer to add hot sauce to the mix when I’m really craving a spicy kick, but after discovering Trader Joe’s Cuban Style Seasoning Blend, I’ve been taking a much brighter, citrusy approach to seasoning my potatoes, with wonderful results.