There are two secrets to very good, very crispy diner-style hash browns. The first is squeezing the shredded potatoes as dry as possible. The second is a generous — though not gratuitous, mind you — amount of butter. Here is how it's done.
Definitely use a cast-iron skillet to cook your hash browns if you have one. This seems to most closely duplicate a high-powered diner griddle, allowing us to cook at relatively high heat without having to worry about the potatoes sticking to the pan.
If you happen to have been frying bacon just prior to making your hash browns, by all means use the bacon grease instead of the butter in this recipe. The smoky bacon grease will them extra-delicious. Olive oil and neutral canola oil can also be used.
I love everything about diner-style hashbrowns, from the extra-crispy bits that border on burnt to the softer middles that take so well to ketchup. Really, you can't go wrong.
Crispy Diner-Style Hash Browns
Makes 2 large portions, though recipe can be multipliedWhat You Need
Ingredients
1 large (8 to 10 oz) russet potato
1/4 teaspoon salt
Black pepper
1 tablespoons butter
Equipment
Cheese grater
Dish towel
Skillet, preferably cast iron
Spatula
Instructions
1. Peel and Grate the Potato - Line a bowl with a clean dishtowel. Peel the potato and grate it directly into the towel-lined bowl.
2. Squeeze the Moisture from the Potato - Gather the dishcloth and twist the neck until you form a tight package. Continue twisting the cloth and squishing the potato in your fist until you've squeezed as much liquid as you can from the potato.
3. Heat the Skillet - Heat the skillet over medium-high heat. Melt the butter and then add the potatoes. Toss the potatoes to coat them with butter and then divide them into portion sizes. Flatten each portion with the back of a spatula to maximize contact with the hot pan.
4. Cook Until Golden-Brown on Both Sides - Cook for 3 to 4 minutes on the first side, flip, and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes on the second side. Use your best judgement on when to flip — some of us like more crispy burnt bits than others. Try not too move the hash browns too much during cooking or they'll break apart. That said, don't fret about the bits that break off around the edges.
5. Serve Immediately - Hash browns wait for no one and are best served hot. Plate the hash browns and serve with ketchup and hot sauce on the side.
Additional Notes:
• Other Cooking Fats - Bacon grease, olive oil, and canola oil can also be used to cook these hash browns.
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(Images: Emma Christensen)
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Wow that looks like a dinner my sweet 5yr old daughter would love!
My dad also uses pre-baked potatoes--they're less wet as well.
A tip from Simply Recipes blog is to use a potato ricer to squeeze the excess liquid out. With cooked potatoes the ricer squishes them out of the tiny holes, but with raw potato shreds they just compress in the contraption and all the water gets squeezed out.
What if you don't have a cast iron skillet?
I like to add a little flour, milk, finely chopped onion, salt, pepper and paprika to the potatoes after squeezing the moisture out. It may seem redundant, but adds great flavor and a thicker substance. Then I'll fry in butter and stir from time to time until all is totally browned and crisp. No, not the healthiest version, but so wonderful when topped with a nice runny poached egg.
More high-maintenance but I always put my grated potatoes into a big bowl of water, strain and salvage the potato starch that collects at the bottom, then squeeze out the potatoes and add the potato starch back in along with some grated onion, salt, and pepper. Then I'm ready to make hash browns. This stops the potatoes from discoloring or getting gummy (two things that seem to happen a lot otherwise). Outsides are always light and crispy and insides are creamy.
@KatieCupcake - I'd say use a nonstick skillet if you have one. You might not get quite the browning or charred bits as a cast iron skillet, but you won't have to deal with unsticking the potatoes from skillet if you used stainless steel. That said, a little more butter in the pan would help with the sticking issue in a stainless steel. :)
@SlowLorus - You crack me up! High maintenance, maybe; but it sounds like you make a killer batch of hash browns.
I don't bother squeezing out the liquid and they still turn out great! I just grate them directly onto a cutting board along with a little onion. Then season them with salt and pepper and turn them into a generously oiled, pre-heated cast iron skillet. The trick is to have the skillet nice and hot before you put in the potatoes and then DON"T TOUCH THEM until they are brown and crispy--then you can flip. Otherwise they will stick to the pan. Enjoy!
When I lived in the midwest, the diners I frequented used the Swedish method of parboiling whole potatoes so they are cooked but still firm, letting them sit overnight, and then grating them in the morning. They are not too starchy or too mushy, and they fry up perfectly.
Most NJ diners ive been to serve a different style of hash browns. They are more like sliced or chunked potatoes fried on a griddle. My understanding is they are baked or parboiled first.
I prefer my hashbrowns made with cooked potatoes. I usually bake a batch and put them in the fridge, then the next morning I just shred them up and saute. It's also a lot less work than starting from raw if you want to eat them in the morning! I think if I don't cook the potatoes first, they end up tasting more like latkes than hashbrowns, which in my mind are soft and squishy in the middle and crispy on the outside.
This may be a non sequitur, but is there a recipe kicking around anywhere for that lovely casserole situation that is keeping the hash browns company? Yum!