Potato Dishes
Hash Browns
Crisp, golden diner-style hash browns: coarsely grated floury potato, squeezed very dry, briefly steamed, then fried in butter and oil. Below: British-style hash brown patties, home fries and other potato cakes on the site.
- Serves 4
- Prep 15 min
- Cook about 15 min
- Vegetarian
- American
Variations: British-style hash brown patties, Home fries, With onion ↓
Method
Grate the potatoes on the coarse side of a box grater. Do not rinse them: the surface starch helps the shreds stick together.
Pile the grated potato onto a clean tea towel, gather it up and twist hard over the sink to squeeze out as much liquid as you can. This is the secret: wet potato steams and goes grey and soft instead of crisp.
Spread the potato on a plate lined with kitchen paper and microwave on high for 2 minutes (or skip this and fry a little longer and more gently). The brief cooking sets the starch, so the hash browns hold together and are tender inside.
Heat the oil and butter in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat until the butter foams. Add the potato, season with salt and pepper and press into an even layer about 1 cm (½ in) thick, as one big cake or 4 rounds.
Cook without moving for 5–6 minutes, until deep golden underneath. Turn over (in quarters if that is easier) and cook the other side for 4–5 minutes, until golden and crisp.
Drain on kitchen paper, scatter with spring onions, if using, and serve straight away with eggs and bacon.
Tip: tap a step to tick it off as you cook.
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Variations
Ways to change the main recipe. Each uses the same method unless it says otherwise.
British-style hash brown patties
Squeeze and microwave the grated potato as above, then mix with 1 tablespoon of plain flour and a little grated onion. Press into 8 small rectangles about 1.5 cm (⅝ in) thick and chill for 30 minutes. Shallow-fry for 3–4 minutes a side, or bake on an oiled tray at 220°C (200°C fan, gas 7, 425°F) for 25 minutes, turning once.
Home fries
Cut 700 g (1 lb 9 oz) boiled, cooled potatoes into 2 cm (¾ in) cubes and fry in butter and oil with a sliced onion and a sliced green pepper for 15–20 minutes, turning now and then, until crisp. Season with paprika.
With onion
Mix a finely grated small onion, squeezed dry with the potato, into the shreds before frying.
Useful kit
- Box grater: the coarse side gives long shreds for rösti and hash browns. Amazon UK · Amazon US
- Large non-stick frying pan (30 cm): for hash browns and rösti that turn out in one piece. Amazon UK · Amazon US
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See also
Chef’s notes
- Floury potatoes (russets in the US) make the crispest hash browns.
- Grated potato turns grey if left to stand. Grate just before cooking, or keep it under water and then squeeze it very dry (you will lose a little of the binding starch).
- In Britain, “hash browns” usually means small formed patties, often bought frozen and deep-fried or baked; see the variation.
A little history
Hash browns, also spelled “hashed browns”, are an American breakfast food and a staple of North American diners, where they are cooked on a large shared griddle. The name comes from the French hacher, to chop, so “hashed brown potatoes” are simply chopped and fried potatoes. They began to appear on New York breakfast menus in the 1890s.
Sources for these notes
For the history and the food-safety advice in the notes.
How this recipe was developed
A new recipe: hash browns are the 8th most searched potato recipe in both the UK and the US (Google Trends, last 12 months), and our nearest pages were rösti and latkes.
- Do not rinse, squeeze, microwave. From Serious Eats’ shredded hash browns (4.6 from 9 ratings).
- Butter and oil. Oil for heat, butter for flavour; we fry a thicker cake a little longer than Serious Eats’ 2 minutes a side.
Sources we compared (ratings as shown on each site on 1 November 2026):
This is an original Cookeryonline recipe written in our own words. Ingredient choices and techniques are credited above; no source text has been copied.