Crispy Fried Potatoes

So this crispy fried potatoes thing happened because I needed something fast last Tuesday and I had like five potatoes sitting there. The trick is you melt the butter with olive oil first and then just let everything cook slower than you think it should.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Takes an hour but most of it you’re just waiting around
• The Season-All salt does something regular salt just can’t
• You get actual crispy bits without deep frying anything
• Onions cook down into this sweet base that makes the whole thing taste richer
• It’s basically three ingredients if you don’t count the seasonings
• Works as a side or honestly I ate it as dinner with hot sauce

The Story Behind This Recipe

I got home around 6:30 and didn’t want to order food again. My mom used to make fried potatoes but she’d crank the heat too high and they’d burn on the outside before cooking through. I figured out that covering them first steams everything tender, then you take the lid off and let them get color. The parsley was just because I had some dying in the fridge and it actually made a difference. Now it’s my go-to when I want something that feels like effort but really isn’t.

What You Need

You’re going to melt butter with olive oil in equal parts. I don’t have exact measurements because I just eyeball it but you want enough to coat the bottom of a 12-inch skillet generously. The butter brings that nutty richness and the olive oil keeps it from burning too fast.

Then you need diced onions, maybe a whole medium one or half a large one. They cook down into almost nothing so don’t be shy. The minced garlic comes next but just a couple cloves because it can take over if you’re not careful.

For the crispy potatoes themselves I used five medium russets, chopped into like half-inch chunks. Russets get fluffier inside than red potatoes do and that contrast with the crust is what you’re after here.

The seasoning is where it gets specific. Garlic powder and onion powder, maybe half a teaspoon each. Then Season-All salt which is the thing that makes this taste different from every other fried potato recipe. If you skip it and just use regular salt it’s fine but it won’t have that depth. Regular salt and pepper go in too, however much feels right.

Chopped parsley at the end, fresh not dried. I used maybe a quarter cup but honestly I just grabbed a handful from that dying bunch in my fridge.

How to Make Crispy Fried Potatoes

Get your 12-inch skillet on the stove over medium heat and melt the butter with the olive oil together first. You’ll see them combine into this glossy pool that smells immediately better than either one alone. Don’t let it smoke.

Throw in your diced onions once the fat’s hot enough to sizzle when you drop a piece in. Stir them around every minute or so. After about 5 to 7 minutes they’ll go from opaque white to translucent and that sharp raw smell disappears completely.

Now add your minced garlic and stir it in. Cook it for 2 minutes, just until you can smell it from across the room. Any longer and it starts turning brown and bitter which ruins everything.

The chopped potatoes go in next. Spread them out so they’re touching the pan as much as possible instead of piling up. They need to soak up all that butter and oil.

Mix your garlic powder, onion powder and Season-All salt in a small bowl or just sprinkle them directly over the potatoes. Add however much salt and pepper you want on top of that. Stir everything together really well so every piece gets coated, then turn your heat down to a simmer.

Here’s the part that feels wrong but isn’t. Cover the skillet with a lid. You’re steaming them now, not frying them yet. You’ll hear this quiet hissing sound under the lid as moisture builds up. Let them cook like this for 35 minutes and only stir maybe twice because you’re not trying to crisp anything yet.

About ten minutes before they’re done, take the lid off and crank the heat back up to medium-high. This is when they start getting color. The moisture evaporates and the bottoms start sticking slightly then releasing in these dark golden patches. Don’t stir much here or you’ll just mash them into each other. Let them sit and crackle.

I noticed the potatoes on the edges brown faster than the ones in the middle so I’d rotate the outside pieces toward the center once. That’s it.

Sprinkle your chopped parsley over everything right before you take it off the heat. The fresh green smell cuts through all that butter and starch in a way that makes you want to eat the whole skillet.

What I Did Wrong the First Time

First time I made this easy potato skillet I didn’t wait long enough before taking the lid off. I got impatient around 20 minutes and uncovered them to check. They weren’t cooked through yet so when I tried crisping them up they just stayed hard in the middle with burnt edges. Had to cover them again and start over basically. Now I set a timer for the full 35 minutes and don’t peek.

Crispy Fried Potatoes

By Emma

Prep:

15 min

Cook:

45 min

Total:

60 min

Servings:

4 servings

Ingredients

• Butter, melted
• Olive oil
• Diced onions
• Minced garlic
• Chopped potatoes
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Season-All salt
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Chopped parsley

Method

1. 1 Melt the butter and olive oil together in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. You want the fat hot enough to sizzle but not smoke, so watch carefully.
2. 2 Add the diced onions. Stir occasionally as they cook until translucent and soft. You’ll hear a gentle sizzle and notice the raw onion sharpness fading away after about 5 to 7 minutes.
3. 3 Toss in the minced garlic. Stir and cook it for about 2 minutes until it releases its aroma but before it even starts to brown, or it’ll turn bitter.
4. 4 Add the chopped potatoes into the skillet. Spread them out so they touch the pan surface evenly, letting them soak up the fats and begin softening.
5. 5 Mix the garlic powder, onion powder, and Season-All salt together. Sprinkle this seasoning blend liberally over the potatoes. Add additional salt and pepper to your taste. Stir to combine everything well and reduce the heat to a simmer.
6. 6 Cover the skillet. The trapped steam will help the potatoes cook through tender without drying. You’ll hear a gentle hiss under the lid as they soften—cook for about 35 minutes this way, stirring very little.
7. 7 About ten minutes before the potatoes finish, remove the lid and increase the heat to medium-high. This is when the skillet starts to darken the potatoes, creating spots of golden crust. Resist stirring much here or you’ll mash them. Let them color and crisp slowly, hearing the satisfying crackle.
8. 8 Finally, sprinkle chopped parsley across the potatoes. The fresh green herb contrast brightens the earthy flavors. Serve immediately while the potatoes still have that crisp outside and tender inside texture.

Nutritional information

Calories

379kcal

Protein

6g

Carbs

45g

Fat

21g

Print Recipe Save to Pinterest

Tips for the Best Crispy Fried Potatoes

Don’t rinse your chopped potatoes before cooking them. I know every other recipe tells you to wash off the starch but that starch is what helps create the crust when you uncover the pan later. Just chop and throw them straight in.

Your skillet size actually matters here. A 12-inch gives the potatoes room to spread out in a single layer mostly. If you use something smaller they pile up and steam instead of crisping, and if you go bigger the butter and oil spread too thin and everything dries out before it browns.

The potatoes will stick to the pan when you’re browning them and that’s what you want. When you try to stir and they resist a little, let them sit another minute. They’ll release on their own once that crust forms and if you force it early you just scrape off all the crispy bits you’ve been waiting for.

I noticed the Season-All salt clumps if you sprinkle it directly on wet potatoes, so I started mixing all my dry seasonings in a small bowl first. Takes five extra seconds and distributes way better.

If your butter starts browning too fast while you’re cooking the onions, pull the pan off the heat for 30 seconds. The residual heat keeps cooking everything but the milk solids won’t burn and turn bitter on you.

Serving Ideas

I eat this easy potato skillet straight from the pan with a fried egg on top and hot sauce. The runny yolk mixes with all that butter and it’s basically breakfast for dinner except I’ve had it for actual breakfast too.

It’s really good alongside pork chops or chicken thighs, anything with a little fat that drips onto the plate. The potatoes soak up pan juices if you serve them together.

Cold leftovers go into a breakfast burrito with scrambled eggs and cheese. They’re already seasoned so you don’t need to add much else and they hold their texture better than hash browns do.

Sometimes I’ll throw a handful of shredded cheddar on top right before serving and let it melt from the residual heat.

Variations

You can swap in sweet potatoes but they cook faster so check them at 25 minutes instead of 35. They also get softer and won’t crisp up quite as much, more of a caramelized edge than a crunchy one. Still works though.

Adding diced bell peppers with the onions turns this into more of a complete side dish. Red or green both work and they add a slight sweetness that balances the garlic.

If you don’t have Season-All salt just use regular salt and add a pinch of celery salt and paprika. It’s not exactly the same but it fills in some of that complexity you’re missing. I’ve done it when I ran out and nobody complained.

Toss in some crumbled cooked bacon right at the end with the parsley. The smoky fat coats everything and you can actually use less butter at the beginning if you’re going this route.

FAQ

Can I use red potatoes instead of russets for this fried potato recipe? Yeah but they stay firmer and waxier inside. You won’t get that fluffy interior contrast with the crispy outside. They also take a few minutes longer to cook through so add 5 minutes to the covered time.

Do I really need both butter and olive oil? You could use just one but butter alone burns too easily at the temperatures you need for browning, and olive oil alone doesn’t give you that rich flavor. The combination is what makes it work without babysitting the heat constantly.

What if I don’t have a lid that fits my skillet? Use aluminum foil pressed down around the edges. It traps steam almost as well and I’ve done it plenty of times when my lid’s dirty and I don’t want to wash it first.

Can I prep the potatoes ahead of time? Chop them and keep them in a bowl uncovered in the fridge for a few hours. Don’t soak them in water or you’ll wash off the starch you need. They’ll turn slightly pink on the cut edges but it doesn’t affect anything.

How do I know when the onions are actually translucent? They go from bright white and opaque to kind of see-through and limp. The texture changes from crunchy to soft and they lose that sharp raw onion smell. If you’re not sure, cook them another 2 minutes.

Why do my potatoes get mushy instead of crispy? You either didn’t let them steam long enough before uncovering or you stirred them too much during the browning phase. They need to sit undisturbed to develop a crust, and if they’re not cooked through first they’ll just fall apart when you try to crisp them.

Can I double this recipe? Not in the same pan. You’d need two 12-inch skillets going at once because cramming twice the potatoes into one pan means they pile up and steam instead of browning. I’ve tried it and it doesn’t work.

What’s the best way to reheat leftovers? Back in a skillet over medium heat with a tiny bit of butter or oil. Microwave makes them soggy and sad. They won’t be quite as crispy as fresh but way better than nuked.

Do I have to use fresh parsley or will dried work? Fresh is what makes it taste bright at the end. Dried parsley tastes like dust and doesn’t do anything for this. If you don’t have fresh just skip it entirely rather than using dried.

How small should I chop the potatoes? Half-inch chunks, roughly. If they’re too small they turn to mush, too big and they won’t cook through in 35 minutes. They don’t need to be perfect cubes, just similar sizes so everything finishes at the same time.

Can I use garlic salt instead of garlic powder and regular salt? You can but then skip the extra salt you’d normally add because garlic salt is mostly salt. Taste it before serving and adjust from there.

Why does my garlic burn even when I only cook it 2 minutes? Your heat’s too high or there’s not enough fat in the pan. Garlic burns fast once the pan gets hot so make sure there’s still plenty of butter and oil coating everything before you add it.

What if I only have a 10-inch skillet? Use 4 potatoes instead of 5 and reduce the onion to half of a medium one. Everything else stays the same timing-wise but you just need less volume.

How do I store leftover crispy potatoes? In an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days max. They lose their crisp overnight no matter what you do but the flavor’s still there.

Should I peel the potatoes first? I don’t because I’m lazy and the skins add texture, but you can if you want. It doesn’t change the cooking time or anything, just your preference.

Can I add other vegetables to this? Anything that cooks in about the same time works. Diced zucchini or mushrooms added halfway through the covered cooking time turn out fine. Don’t add them at the start or they’ll disintegrate.

What does Season-All salt actually taste like? It’s got celery salt, paprika and a bunch of other spices mixed in. Tastes more complex than regular salt, kind of savory and slightly sweet at the same time. Every grocery store carries it in the spice aisle.

Why do the edges of my pan burn before the potatoes in the middle brown? Your pan’s too hot or not enough fat. Turn the heat down slightly and make sure you’ve got a good coating of butter and oil before you start browning. Also rotate the potatoes from the edges toward the center once.

Can I make this without onions? Sure but you lose that sweet base flavor that makes everything taste richer. You could add a pinch of sugar to the seasonings to replace some of that sweetness the cooked onions give you but it’s not really the same.