How To Make Killer Hashbrowns at Home

The food isn't mindblowing at this place. It's a small, family owned, decor-hasn't-changed-since-they-opened kind of place. The coffee is awful compared to the $4 I shell out for pour-over at a downtown coffee shop. It's a dingy, cheap, busy-as-all-heck diner, and damn are the hashbrowns amazing. Crisp and golden on the outside, soft but never mushy on the inside. The hint of butter and salt.

I thought it would be easy to create at home. Then we could stay home on Sunday mornings, save ourselves the 20 minute drive to get to the diner (a long commute in ND - it's literally on the other side of town), save ourselves the 30 minute minimum wait, and get to enjoy a great cup of coffee with our diner-style breakfast.

Side note: I seriously think a diner with classic, greasy diner food that serves quality coffee would be a diamond in the rough.

So I tried making homemade hashbrowns in my trusty cast iron skillet. Crispy, but the flavor wasn't right. Try again. Crispy, but too crispy - no softness in the middle. Try again. Burnt. Try again - mushy and gross.

I looked up every damn tutorial from trusted sources on the internet, but couldn't find anything that seemed to really work. I tried adding starch, squeezing the excess liquid out, par-cooking the potato shreds with hot water, using oil, using lard, using butter, cooking long, cooking hotter, turning the burner down, using a dry skillet... I mean, I thought I'd tried everything.

The man spouse was getting sick of my attempts. He didn't think it was worth it. So one day I made breakfast potatoes instead, and he asked me to stop with the hashbrowns. I gave up. Our breakfast ideas became limited to breakfast potatoes.

Luckily, my gym is an amazing resource. While complaining about my year-long struggle with hashbrowns, a fellow member who used to cook at a diner told me their secret.

Put the hashbrowns on the griddle, use a spatula to form them into a rectangle, drizzle a line of oil down the middle, and cover.

Still, I was skeptical. After all, I felt like I'd tried everything.

So I shredded my potatoes, squeezed the excess liquid out, added them to the pan, formed them to a uniform height, drizzled with a little extra oil, and covered.

And by golly, it worked. My hashbrowns stayed together. They were crispy on the outside. The insides were soft. Oh. My. Gosh. It worked!

I can't wait for you to try these. Good hashbrowns at home are possible, everyone! That's definitely worth celebrating.

A couple things before we get to the recipe. I use a food processor to shred my potatoes-I highly suggest getting one, since shredding by hand can be a giant pain. I squeeze out the excess liquid with a nut milk bag (I use this thing allllll the time). You can use a linen dishtowel  or even paper towels if you'd like. The potato shreds don't need to be dry. Just squeeze out the excess liquid for a couple seconds.

Most importantly, when you cover the potatoes in the skillet, you aren't putting the lid on the skillet. You need a lid that's smaller than your pan. Set the lid directly on the surface of the skillet. Note that I only have stainless steel skillet lids, so that's all I've used. I have no idea how a glass lid would fare.

But seriously, covering the hashbrowns this way is what works. Seriously!

Your homemade breakfast just got a lot more epic.

Did you try this homemade hashbrowns recipe? I'd love to hear what you think! Please leave a comment and rating or tag me on Instagram - I appreciate your feedback.

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