My Grandma made these simple hash browns nearly every morning when I spent time with her.  They take a little planning, but they're better than any others! Serve with your favorite style eggs and breakfast meat!

Grandma's Hash Browns

russet potatoes, peeled

butter

salt

black pepper

In a large saucepan, cover potatoes with water. Bring water to a boil and cook until tender, about 20 minutes. Let cool in refrigerator overnight.


The next morning, heat butter in a large skillet or frying pan. Shred potatoes and add to pan. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until golden brown on bottom, flip and brown on other side.


Yum! I boiled the Russet potatoes as directed, then put them in an ice water bath for 5 minutes.  I only fried them for about 5 minutes per side on medium to medium-high heat (6/10).  They were dark-golden crispy on the outside with  just the right amount of softness on the inside.

The key to this is the same to good mashed potatoes - the refridgeration.  Shirley Corriher in Cookwise explains why this works.  The glutens that make potatoes gooey and sticky, crystalize when chilled and once crystalized - they stay that way which makes for non-gooey hash browns and light fluffy mashers.

I have tried many ways of cooking hash browns. Pre-cooking (instead of rinsing, drying etc.) and letting chill overnight made a great difference. An important thing is not to overcook. You want them to be tender but not falling apart; to shred better. I don't think it is neccesary to add oil, if you brown/crisp LONG ENOUGH before turning. I start out on medium-high heat then turn heat down to med, as soon as they start to brown. Then cook for about *20* minutes on ONE side, THEN TURN. I also like to "cut" (with the spatula) into serving size pieces prior to turning. I sometimes use another buttered pan to finish the other side (more room to turn). FYI; If you "press" down the potatoes at first, and brown/crisp for a long time, cut into serving sizes, they freeze well for reheating in the toaster later. Thank you, Denyse, for sharing. I prefer feeding my family *homemade* to oily, store bought with added preservatives.

A great hash brown recipe! This is is how I cook mine "Southern style." I cook my hash browns in bacon grease, not butter. This gives extra flavor and makes them less likely to burn. And I use only cast iron cookware. That makes them cook evenly.

Very simple, delicious recipe.  I would also recommend adding a bit of oil to the butter to keep it from burning.  Also, when it came time to flip the hash browns, I placed a large plate over the frying pan, turned the pan upside down, and then slid the hash browns back into the pan.  Worked great and it came out in one, lovely, crispy, brown piece.  While it's hard not to peek, keeping the hash browns on the first side for at least 15-20 does make a huge difference in the amount of crispiness you will achieve.  Super recipe!  Thanks, Denyse!

I've never made hash browns from scratch, so when I found this recipe, I knew I just had to try it. These tasted exactly, if not better than what we enjoy at our favorite diners here in Jersey. Denyse, your grandma certainly knew what she was doing because this was genius. Who would have thought to boil and refrigerate? Because I decided on this side just hours before dinner, I speeded up the process by placing the potatoes in the freezer until they were good and chilled. I did add sauteed chopped onion to this and some garlic and onion powders. I'll never, ever go back to the frozen stuff again!! Thank you so much!!!!

Excellent traditional way to cook Hash Browns. Want to make them more than a breakfast dish? Cook them and use them for a bed for a nice cajun filet of fish or any cut of fish. These are great and there is NO REASON they should be enjoyed only for breakfast!

I like to add onions to my hash browns. Saute a handful of chopped onion in a teaspoon of oil while grating the potato. Adds a nice flavor.

This is a perfect simple recipe for hash browns.  I think these are right on par with the ones you get at restaurants.  Be careful not to overcook the potatoes, they are nearly impossible to shred if they are too tender.  I also just stuck them in the freezer for 30 min, instead of overnight and they were great!  I didn't have much luck getting them to stick together, but I plan on making these again and again.  I think next time I will try cooking these in the oven to make them extra crispy!  (will update after I try) UPDATE: Just tried baking these tonight...and HUGE success!  I greased a baking sheet, mixed about 1T flour in with the potatoes, and shaped them into round patties.  They cooked on 435 for 30 min (check for browness on bottom), then another 15 after flipping.  They were crispy and delicious!  Will bake these again and again--made our breakfast!

I had high hopes for these based on the reviews but I must have done something wrong. First of all the shredded potatoes did not stick together when we cooked them - they were very hard to flip and serve as they kinda fell apart. Secondly the taste was quite bland (which could be easily fixed by adding more seasoning).

grandma's hash browns

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hours

Total: 12 hours, 80 minutes

Servings: 8

Cost: $1.83 /serving

Author : Denyse

Ingredients

Instructions

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