Classic Hash Browns

Great method for cooking hash browns. I grated the potatoes into my salad spinner full of cold water - used that to triple rinse the potatoes and then drained them and spun the water out. The clarified butter is perfect for these as it can cook at a higher temperature than whole butter. I used a cast iron pan and don't flip or stir until you get a nice crisp bottom - then flip and stir and crisp up the rest. Excellent!

I watched Chef John's video on this recipe & realized that my fresh taters always turned brown. I had given up on using fresh potatoes for hash browns & had turned to frozen. I used my food processor to grate an entire big yellow onion. Next I grated 8 russets & added that to the onion. Yum - I kept flipping these to make sure all of it turned brown & yummy! Rinsing potatoes in cold water, like rice. Who knew! Love that I learn something new all the time on this site!

I cooked them longer than the recipe calls for because i like my hash browns crunchy. Easy and very good.

While I thought the recipe was wonderful, I found that the inside of my hash didn't cook very well at the times specified. I chose to cook it for 10 minutes and then bake it for another 10 minutes and chose to sprinkle some cheddar and mozzarella cheese on top while it baked. I served it with fluffy scrambled eggs and a little ketchup!

Very good. A tip that I learned long ago is to press the shredded potatoes in a potato ricer, after soaking & rinsing time, while holding the ricer upside down, you're pressing a lot of water out this way. Then pat dry with paper towels. You're not going to press the raw potatoes through the ricer, you're just pressing more water out of the potatoes more efficiently. I used 1/2 shortening and half butter to fry the potatoes in, like my mother always did.

very good! I didn't have paper towels to pat the potatoes dry so after draining the cold water off of them the second time I just put a bowl under the strainer with the drained potatoes in it and used a small plate to press them down some and squeeze some of the excess water off. This worked fine. I added some red and green pepper strips and onions (had a bag of frozen ones), some chopped ham and a little shredded cheddar cheese. A few minutes before they were done I poured a couple of eggs that I had previously scrambled in a bowl with a little milk over the potato, onion, ham, and peppers mixture and cooked up while mixing some and made one of those breakfast bowl type dishes, with rye toast on the side. Thanks Chef John!

I tried this the way it was printed but found we like it better with the salt and pepper mixed in rather than sprinkled on top. Also I always grate an onion into it. I make a huge pan of these and cook them just until a little brown and hot all the way through but not real brown. then I cut it into 6 to 8 pieces and wrap in foil and slide them into a storage bag. That way I have some made ahead and can save time by just getting one out of the fridge every morning and browning it in butter or bacon grease. My husband eats them every day so there is no spoilage. We use them up fast.

Yeah, i can finally make yummie hash browns, now more wasted potatoes! Mine didn't get as brown as the ones in the video, but they tasted great. (And even better with a little ketchup.) Will make again. Thank you Chef John

Rinsing out the starch and squeezing the moisture out with a ricer worked great. Didn't even need to pat dry. Always wondered why my fresh hash browns got so mushy. Used canola oil and seasoned salt with great results. Thanks for your tips!!

We liked these a lot. I accidentally got a little heavy handed with the cayenne, but this was still pretty darn good. I served this with the acapulco margarita grouper recipe on this site (but used tilapia instead) and the spiciness of the hash browns really complemented the fish dish. (I know, I know--totally bizarre pairing, but hubby wanted hash browns today, so I made them for supper --lol). We would definitely make again!

Worked perfect, rinsing out the starch made all the diference. Thank you for the great recipe!

Ahh... Thats the key! Cold water rinse to get the excess starch out. I put my shreded potatos into a large doubled over cup towel, fold it up and then ring it out like a washcloth. Makes 'em nice and dry then just bag it and pop it into the freezer for that next quick impulse meal. Also I do not peel the skins. Nice and rustic. Thanks for the insight!

I enjoyed making these, and they taste great. These classic hash browns were enjoyed by the woke family. Do to the large amount of hash browns I used a kitchen towel to obsorb the extra moisture instead if paper towels. In the future however, I think I'll stick with frozen hash brown due to the amount time required to make these. Thanks for sharing, now I know how to make hash browns in a pinch.

Update: I had made these going by the written recipe only back when I was not able to play the accompanying video. In viewing the video now I see my concerns were included in the video. I will try this recipe again following the video, as I do love and enjoy Chef John's recipes!

if you really no how to cook, this recipe is about the best way to make hash browns, cook on med. heat and your hash browns will be fantastic. brown till crispy.

these were great! I added some onion. The paprika and cayenne was nice, and I added a teeeeny bit of curry powder. I will definitely make these again!

Good recipe. One modification: grate half an onion into the mixture after rinsing potatoes.

A nice basic hash brown recipe. I added a few yellow onions to the butter and we liked the addition of the cayenne pepper. I did have to cook longer than 5 minutes per side. Mine took about 8 minutes per side. A good recipe that I will be making again.

Great recipe, worth watching video!! PATIENCE and that goes especially for those who make MORE than the recipe originally is intended for. We have a family of 6 and I made it with 7 yellow potatoes since that was all I had and they are a bit smaller than russets, so I just went with that. It was time consuming for me due to that, but if it were just my hubby and I , then it would have been a lot faster. Clarifying the butter is a great idea, I will continue to use that method, and add enough salt, potatoes do require more salt at times than expected, I did add enough, and the spicy addition of the cayenne is good. Maybe a little garlic or onion powder would be a nice addition, but not fresh, or it may add too much liquid to the recipe(??), not sure though. It is delicious just the way it is! REALLY Let it stick to the pan though, and I mean it when I say that, really do it. I had my electric burner on 5 (med heat) and it was just right for me, left it for a few minutes while stirring the potatoes on top of the crusting potatoes as they softened up and it was just right, if it is cooking too fast, just turn it down a notch, I also used a stainless pan, would have preferred a cast iron or stick free, but it came out clean in the end, and NOT BURNED as I had worried. My hubby kept saying I was going to burn them, he even grabbed the spatula and said he was going to "hack at them" and I scolded him (ha ha!), took it away, kicked him out of the kitchen and they were phenomenal!

I had all but given up on home made hashbrowns and resorted to the overly infested with sodium and preservatives frozen stuff.... Thank you so much for this recipe! I seasoned mine with a little lawry's seasoning salt and they turned out PERFECT!

What a great idea Baking Nana. I will use my salad spinner tonight!

Tasty. I used bacon grease instead of clarified butter.

Instead of butter I used Coconut oil, they were great, my kids love them!

I found these quite good. They definitely need to be cooked longer than the recipe states in order to get them nice and brown.

These are just all right. I'm still looking for that recipe that tastes just as moist and yet just as crispy as store bought hash browns.

Thank you for sharing this recipe! I think the cooking time is to short though. I took 8 min for each side. Delicious and easy to make!

Very simple and tasty. Quick to make and you can use any potatoes you like.

This is an absolutely terrible recipe. Anyone who rates this recipe 5 stars is not being honest. You are not supposed to put the potatoes in water before you cook them! It calls for WAY too much butter. You also don't put cayenne pepper or paprika on it. How could anyone recommend this recipe? Don't even think about eating this if you cook it, just throw it away. It is not edible.

Finally! I've been successful in making great hash browns from fresh potatoes! The first secret was grating the potatoes into the cold water and then rinsing them repeatedly to remove the excess starch. Then drying the shredded potatoes was extremely valuable. Lastly, the cooking technique described by Chef John in the video produced outstanding results. I had made enough to have leftovers for the next day, but my husband snarfed down the entire amount, leaving nothing!! Thank you!!

Good basic recipe but had to add 2 tbsp. shallots with the shredded potatoes and cooked for a total of 20 minutes to get very crispy. If you want to take it a step further, add 2 cups of cooked, shredded corned beef five minutes before removing from the stove.

Just like Mom made except she grated in some onion for flavour and didn't use any cayenne. Reminded me of my childhood but I will go back to her version. The basic recipe is great. You may have to work in batches to avoid having the potatoes go brown.

the rinse and squeeze did for mine, first ones that didn't look like something the dog would politely push away!! thanks!!!

Excellent! As per one review, I used my salad spinner for rinsing and drying the potatoes. Worked great, and the hash downs were seasoned just right!!

delicious! made pretty much as written but omitted the cayenne (personal preference). Also used one large russet which seemed to be a good amount.

the only was to make hash browns, these rock

This was fine but needed a bit more flavor. I think some minced onion would be a great addition next time.

Tasty and kids couldn't get enough! Also, thank you for not blathering for 500 words about how much you loved it growing up, or how potatoes are so versatile, or how "no one likes soggy hash browns." Food blogs suck - you gave us the goods right away and I appreciate it!

I never had hash browns before (it's not common in my country) but I really wanted to give it a try. This recipe seemed simple, and really is. It's very nice, very classic, and I think I'll just add my personal touch next time, but other than that, it's a great simple recipe. You can add whatever you want (I think I'll try onions next time, according to some reviews I read) Thanks for sharing.

After viewing the video I couldn't wait to try these. I am an admitted lousy breakfast cook, but still I try. Well today I made these hash browns with bacon & eggs, and man-o-man, my dear husband loved these. He remarked several times how good they were. Loved the tip about putting in water and rinsing and patting dry. These are things I have never done with my potatoes. I will be having these again. Thank you Chef John.

Excellent! Finding the right cooking temperature is key. Total time is more than 20 min for crispy style. Loved the salad spinner idea. thank you Baking Nana. Thank you Chef John.

Excellent, they tasted light and fluffy and were crispy. The trick was soaking them in the water. If you like crispy hash browns, cook them longer than 5 minutes before flipping. I was a little disappointed that I flipped them at 5 minutes but I just added time to the other side and kept flipping them.

Yum, I just made these not long ago and this is now one of my favourite recipes for hash browns, not overly complicated or finicky to cook. I couldn't be bothered clarifying my butter first, I just made sure to be careful so it wouldn't burn. I used some nice red skinned potatoes so I kept the skin on because I like it. The only problem I had was I picked a rather old and worn non-stick pan to cook them in so the potato stuck like no tomorrow!

This is how I always make mine. Simple, with no egg, flour, etc. The only difference is I make separate "patties" or layer the bottom of the whole pan and when crispy on the bottom, I flip them. Crispy on outside and soft on the inside. My family loves them. You can add other things like bacon, onion, etc to your own liking. The key is do not turn them until crispy. Be patient while they brown.

Never even thought to attemp hash browns but these were delicious I tested it out before making for family. One small potato a tsp of light can't believe it's not butter and salt and pepper it was amazing!! Thanks for sharing!!

I have tried to make hash browns for years with limited success. Rinsing the potatoes and clarifying the butter made all the difference in the world. The timing was perfect. It resulted in crispy outsides and soft tender insides. A great basic recipe! Thank you Chef John.

yummy

Super tasty! Just like I get at my favorite diner down the street. I usually stick to frozen hash browns at home but I had a couple of extra potatoes on hand and wanted to try my hand at these. They were much easier to make than I would have thought, and the taste was definitely worth the effort.

tried this recipe, but my hash browns fell apart as there is nothing to bind them with. am i just doing it wrong?

I loved the recipe!! Though I feel that mine came out wrong due to using regular butter and an old pan (so the food got stuck), nonetheless I can't fault this recipe! Will retry this when I have got the time again.

I have tried making home made hash browns before but they always had an odd taste. After reading through the directions and rinsing them with cold water..wow what a difference. Everyone gobbled them up!

Split these with the bf. DELICIOUS! I used 3 tbs butter because my potatoes were on the small side and they turned out sooo nice and crispy. Especially love the little tingle that the cayenne pepper adds!

I had never do homemade hash brown cause I thought it was imposible. I tried this recipe and so easy and tasty. It's better than the frozen ones. And my family loved it.

It took more than 20 min. I’m hungry. And this came out horrible. Now I’ll be having sleep for dinner.

Absolutely delicious! This is by far the best hash brown recipie I have tried.

I've made these for years only (and I know not the healthiest but very good) is to use some of the drippings from bacon. I like mine to be browned on the outside and a soft center. I'll make one large potato cake or 4 smaller ones. If the large one I'll let it get crispy brown and then flip it over or if too large, cut it into 4 sections. Let them get crispy on the other side & put them on a paper towel to drain when done. Sometimes if making them for dinner, I'll also add chopped onions into the raw potatoes before cooking. I salt & pepper before turning them over.

very good, my daughter and wife loved it.

omg these were unbelievable.. this was my first success with hash browns.. i didn't have any butter so i used the same amount of veggie oil and they still tasted great.. i like mine extra crispy so it took a little longer but it was well worth the wait.. ty so much for this recipe

This was a very easy and tasty recipe. I let the potatoes cook longer than the recipe states, as I like crispy hashbrowns. I no longer need to buy frozen hash browns from the grocery store.

I don't know what clarified butter is... I substituted for regular butter. I also used sweet potatoes. DON'T DO THAT. I could be half brain damaged... but this turned out absolutely awful. 45 minutes into this ordeal, the shredded disaster that made it into the pan (the remainder was all over my kitchen) was not brown at all. The end result was mushy sweet potato. I tried to save it by frying in some oil, which didn't help. Making substitutions in the recipe will result in a terrible kick off to your Sunday morning, and you'll still be craving hash browns.

Really great! They didn't turn as brown as I had hoped, although that is probably because I included a little less butter than the recipe called for... still turned out tasty. :)

Great hash brown recipe. The clarified butter is the key!!! Thank you!!!

Seems like I always give 5 stars but this deserves six if possible! A perfect way to cook hash browns. I also grated a sweet onion in the potatoes which tasted great. Cooked them a little longer for added crispness and used some smoked paprika for flavor. And of course the rinse in water which I had never done before topped perfection!! Another great Chef John receipe!

These hash browns were so easy to make, even for a novice cook as myself. Simply Delicious!

This recipe was awesome. I had tried it plain before, but this past weekend I added diced ham, onion, and cheese with excellent results.

my hubby said these were the best hash browns he had ever had!! I tend to agree. I added onion to the potatoes, and grated cheese on top of the finished product. But the potatoes themselves were great!

Finally I mastered the hash brown! Mine always turned out gooey and I had never thought to rinse them before. Thanks for the recipe.

This is a simple but very good recipe. The potatoes came out delicious.

mmmmm, mmmm.

Super easy and tasty! I think the cayenne & paprika are optional. They tasted great with just salt & pepper. I didn't shred mine. Instead, I diced them up real small. They took longer though. (About 30-35 min.)

So simple and so perfect! Might invest in a salad spinner. Had a little difficulty drying the potatoes. Cooked up great though.

Delicious, if you like the taste of raw potatoes. I rated this 2 stars instead of 1 because technically 1 star means "I couldnt eat it", which wasn't true for me. I just didn't enjoy the result. At the recommended cooking time, I had potatoes that were barely beginning to brown. After MUCH more time, I ended up with shredded potatoes that tasted like baked potatoes that had been baked for much too long. Not technically inedible, but nothing close to proper hash browned potato. If you choose to give this recipe a go, my advice is to arm yourself with either a package of store bought hash brown potatoes, or bag of potato chips, to mitigate the craving for properly prepared potatoes that you'll be left with. The author of this recipe must have a lot of friends willing to give fake reviews, for this recipe to have over 100 five-star ratings.

A great classic dish - delicious! I made more potatoes than what the recipe called for, but increased the other ingredients proportionately. I used a LOT of potatoes, but they really do shrink up when you cook them, so I could have made even more than I did, I will have to remember that for next time. Like other reviewers have pointed out, the cooking time is definitely longer than listed here, but that could partially be because I used more potatoes. Basically, just keep cooking until they get to the crispiness you like... and the seasonings can really be adjusted to personal taste too, this is a great recipe, you really can't mess it up!

I've tried several recipes for hash browns but the results of this one were the best of my efforts, which I'm guessing has to do with rinsing the shredded potatoes. The only thing I did differently was cook the potatoes in 1 TBSP avocado oil and 2 TBSP butter (not clarified). Also, I used a ricer to squeeze as much of the water out as possible (got that tip from another recipe). They were perfectly crispy and just ... delicious. Thanks for sharing this technique!

I've been craving this since I don't feel comfortable going to restaurants with Covid19. Excellent and flexible recipe that isn't fussy. Used regular butter and added seasoned salt and garlic powder.

Delish , I didn't change a thing !

Next time a larger skillet will give more room for the potatoes to brown evenly. I used chipotle powder which worked well. Next time I will let it cook down a bit before I disturb the mixture. Some of the potatoes did not cook well this try. A lot of work for a quick bite and now that I know how long it will take, I can better time the rest of the meal.

This is an eye opener. I did not realize washing the starch from the potatoes was such an important step. Being vegan, I cooked them in cocoanut oil. It worked just fine. When Chef John says a large skillet, I believe he means a minimum 10 inch or possibly 12 inch skillet. My cast iron skillet is only 8 inches so I ended up cooking in batches, Really happy with outcome. Will definitely make again.

This was super yummy. I rinsed them 3 times. Will make again.

These were THE best hash browns that I have ever made. I've never been able to get them crispy in the past. The only change I made was using Yukon Gold potatoes (as that was what I had on hand). I used the larger size of my 2 shredder disks and I left the skins on. I triple rinsed, dried well, and cooked in clarified butter with S&P + Paprika. Not sure if it was my large shreds, the skin on, the Yukon Gold, or my range, but it took nearly 15 min to start to get crispy and another 5+ of stirring/browning. TOTALLY worth it. This will be my go-to recipe for hash browns. In fact i'm off to the store and will buy more potatoes so I can prep them to make a small batch with breakfast a couple of mornings this coming week.

OMG! John you funny geezer, LOL. Me and my family sit and watch your videos for hours wetting ourselves! Such an exquisite recipe, it makes my mouth water. Please keep up the good work, you are the reason I am going to die happy.

Simple and classy for a perfect brunch. Made this on a whim as friends were coming over for brunch. Quick to make with easy clean up. Used butter/margarine combo to reduce burning and turned out great.

I made these and they were delish!!! They only thing different I did was add onion powder to them, they are so worth the effort of the 2nd rinse!! Thank you!

I just want to say thank you! I am by no means a cook by any stretch of the imagination. Kind of sad but I am 31 and didn't really start learning to cook until a year or two ago. I love hashbrown and eggs but had no idea how to do hashbrowns so this is a life saver

They turned out great.. I needed hash browns for a breakfast casserole. I had never made them before, so thanks for posting this! Since the process is messy, I made double what I needed, and put the extra in the freezer for next time.

Never been able to cook fresh hash browns until now. Great easy recipe. Rinsing potatoes in cold water to remove extra starch made the difference between soggy potatoes and crunchy.

Very good. My husband and I really enjoyed them. Easy to make and delicious!

I rinsed 3 times. Thanks for the video and recipe

These are the best hash browns I've ever had

Pretty good! I'm going to Uni next year so I basically have started panicking trying to learn how to cook easy stuff ;; these were super good and easy to make!! I cooked them for about ten minutes longer however since the time specified wasn't enough, and used jackets instead of russets as it was all I had, but it worked the same :))

these turned out amazing! so tasty

Followed recipe to the letter and the outsides burned and stuck to the pan, and the insides were cooked but tasted like raw 'taters.

Great flavor and easy method all in one. Easy enough for a beginning cook as well for a seasoned cook. I made these exactly as the recipe said in my cast-iron skillet and they turned out perfect the first time.

Lovely, lovely, lovely. Reminds me sooooo much of Sunshine Potato Stixx. Only used Salt and ground Black Pepper (not freshly ground - store bought package) to season. Hubby and Son did enjoy too!

I'm a wiz in the kitchen, but hash browns have always been my pitfall -- they're deceptively difficult. This recipe finally fixed that, and I can't thank the author enough! I now know that the double-wash, pat-dry method is absolutely key to successful hash browns!

I made this recipe and the only thing I did different was I layed the shredded potatoes long ways in a clean dish towel and twisted it at both ends to get all of the water out.it helps if you have someone at the other end of the towel this way you can twist it a little more.I have been cooking since I was 7 years and at 13 I worked in a cafe on the Redondo Beach Ca. pier.That was 55 years ago and I still love to cook for everyone. Roy

Forgot to take pictures before they were gone!

Perfect, I like a little onion in mine so I grated a half an onion and mixed it in. Outstanding!

These hash browns turned out great. Rinsing the potatoes a couple of times kept them from sticking together in a starchy mess. I cut my potatoes into small cubes and didn't pat them dry. It took longer for them to cook, but they were perfect. I added fresh chopped chives during the last couple of minutes of cooking for extra flavor. So much better than frozen hash browns!

Very good, I added onions and peppers too! Be patient when frying it, it took a while to get them crispy, I thought I did something wrong but they turned out perfect. My husband (the usual hash brown maker) said he has never been able to do hash browns that tasted this good. Thanks for submitting!