Home Fries Recipe

Name: Home Fries
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: For home fries made with raw potatoes; 2 large raw Russet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (about 1/8-inch thick); 1/2 of one large onion, or 1 medium onion, thinly sliced; 3 tablespoons or more of extra virgin olive oil; Salt; Freshly ground black pepper; For home fries made with cooked potatoes; 2 large Russet potatoes, quartered and boiled for 12 minutes in salted water until just cooked through, drained; 1/2 of one large onion, or 1 medium onion, thinly sliced; 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil; 1 tablespoon of bacon fat (optional, omit for vegetarian version); Salt; Freshly ground black pepper

In This Recipe

Home Fries Vs. Hash Browns
The Best Potatoes for Home Fries
Storing Leftover Home Fries
What to Serve With Home Fries
Home Fries With Raw Potatoes
Home Fries With Cooked Potatoes

10 Ways to Top a Baked Potato

FEATURED IN:

We had dueling home fries here the other day, a veritable home-fry cook-off between my mother and father.

Mom makes her fried potatoes sliced, using raw potatoes, and usually serves them as a side when we have fish for dinner.

Dad makes his home fries for breakfast using leftover boiled potatoes from the night before. Both are great.

The raw potatoes tend to brown up better. The cooked potatoes can get a little mushy if you stir them too much. You can easily dress them up with bell peppers, ham, or bacon. And if you add some egg, you get German farmer's breakfast.

How do you like your home fries?

Home Fries Vs. Hash Browns

The terms home fries and hash browns are sometimes used interchangeably, but they are two different ways of preparing potatoes. Shredded or very finely chopped raw potatoes — with as much moisture removed as possible so they crisp on the outside and stay fluffy on the inside — make up hash browns. They end up in one large, sort-of-pancake-shaped piece (that may fall apart, and that's fine).

Home fries, meanwhile, are sliced potatoes griddled with onions. The potatoes stay in individual pieces. They can be made from raw or cooked potatoes. Home fries and hash browns are what you'll usually find at an old-style diner served with breakfast. Some places offer one or the other; some offer both.

The Best Potatoes for Home Fries

Russet potatoes are the best potatoes to use for home fries because of their starch content and low moisture content. They brown better than waxy potatoes like red or Yukon gold.

How to Buy and Store Potatoes

How to Store Leftover Home Fries

Refrigerate leftover home fries in a tightly covered container for 3 to 4 days. We don't recommend freezing these potatoes, as it changes their consistency after thawing.

Reheat them on the stovetop with a little extra olive oil. Or, use your toaster oven or air fryer to heat them through without the need for more oil.

What to Serve With Home Fries

More Potato Recipes You’ll Love!

Home Fries

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 35 mins

Total Time 45 mins

Servings 2 to 4 servings

For home fries made with raw potatoes

2 large raw russet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (about 1/8-inch thick)
1/2 large onion, or 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons or more extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

For home fries made with cooked potatoes

2 large russet potatoes, quartered and boiled for 12 minutes in salted water until just cooked through, drained
1/2 large onion, or 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon bacon fat (optional, omit for vegetarian version)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Home Fries Made With Raw Potatoes

Heat the olive oil and add potatoes, onions, salt and pepper:

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a medium to large skillet on medium high heat until sizzling. Place a single layer of potato slices on the bottom of the pan. Add a light layer of sliced onions. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add another layer of potatoes, another layer of onion slices, sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Keep layering until you've used up your potatoes and onions.

Elise Bauer

Elise Bauer
Lower the heat and cover the pan:

Lower the heat to medium and cover the pan. Let cook for about 10 minutes, until the potato layer at the bottom is nicely browned. You can move aside a little bit with a fork to see if the bottom edges are browned. You may need to reduce the heat a little as the potatoes cook so they brown and don't burn.
Flip the potatoes:

Gently flip the potatoes over, a section of the pan at a time, so that the layer that was on the top is now on the bottom, and the browned potatoes are now on the top. Add another tablespoon of oil. The oil will help the browning. Cover and let cook for another 5-10 minutes, until the bottom layer is now browned.

Elise Bauer

Elise Bauer
Remove the lid:

Once the bottom layer is browned, remove the lid of the pan and let continue to cook for 5 more minutes. This additional cooking will help the potatoes dry out just a little bit more.

Serve immediately. Serves 2-4.

Home Fries Made With Cooked Potatoes

Heat the oil and sauté the onions:

Cut the cooked potatoes into 1/2-inch slices. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a medium to large skillet on medium high heat until sizzling. Add sliced onions to pan and cook until softened, 3 to 4 minutes.

Elise Bauer

Elise Bauer
Add the potatoes, salt, pepper, and bacon fat:

Add the potato pieces, spread out as much as possible along the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle generously with salt and freshly ground pepper. Cook until nicely browned on the bottom, without stirring (about 7-8 minutes). You may need to reduce the heat a little as the potatoes cook so they brown and don't burn. Add 1 tablespoon bacon fat, or more oil to the pan.

Elise Bauer

Elise Bauer

Gently flip the potatoes and cook until the bottom of the flipped potatoes are nicely browned.

Serve immediately.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
242	Calories
10g	Fat
34g	Carbs
4g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 2 to 4
Amount per serving
Calories	242
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 10g	13%
Saturated Fat 1g	7%
Cholesterol 0mg	0%
Sodium 167mg	7%
Total Carbohydrate 34g	12%
Dietary Fiber 4g	13%
Total Sugars 2g
Protein 4g
Vitamin C 13mg	66%
Calcium 31mg	2%
Iron 2mg	10%
Potassium 851mg	18%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.