Perfectly browned and crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, these simple skillet fried potatoes are the best 2-ingredient side dish for any meal!
Need a side dish you'll never get sick of and is just as good with dinner as it is with breakfast? Meet these fried potatoes! Whether serving them with a smoked traeger tri tip or scrambled eggs and bacon in the morning, these will hit the spot. Guaranteed!
With just two ingredients that are most likely already in your kitchen, you can easily make these crispy fried potatoes in a cast iron skillet or any heavy-bottomed pan. Make sure to follow the expert tips below for perfectly browned, flavorful, and tender potatoes, ready in just 30 minutes!
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Why This Recipe Works
1. Just two ingredients and a little salt and pepper is all you need for this simple and tasty side dish!
2. While these are good enough to add to your meal plan, using just potatoes and oil means you can lean on this recipe any time you need a quick and easy side dish to round out a meal.
3. Make these for dinner and save the leftovers (if you have any) for a delicious breakfast that pairs well with bacon and eggs!
🛒 Ingredients You'll Need
- Oil - vegetable oil works really well for these fried potatoes.
- Potatoes - use either Russet or Idaho potatoes.
- Salt & Pepper - used to enhance the flavor. Feel free to use table salt or sea salt, either fine or coarse, whichever you prefer.
Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full ingredients list & instructions!
📋 Variations
- Potatoes - Russet and Idaho potatoes are best for this recipe as they have lower moisture than other types of potatoes, helping them crisp up without getting soggy. If you don't have either, the next best would be Yukon Gold, a versatile potato that also works well for pan frying.
- Oil - Canola oil or avocado oil are great substitutes for vegetable oil. All of these oils have a high smoke point and mild flavor. This helps the flavor shine through and prevents a rancid or burnt flavor, which can happen if you fry foods using an oil with too low of a smoke point.
- Onions - While the base recipe doesn't use onions, you can absolutely add them! Yellow or white onions can be sliced or diced and added to the pan while the oil is heating.
- Mushrooms - To add more flavor, mushrooms are a great choice! Any kind of mushroom that you can slice or dice can be added to these fried potatoes. To use mushrooms, sauté them in the oil while it heats.
- Seasoning Salt - For more flavor, use seasoning salt instead of regular salt.
- Layering the potatoes - You can control just how crispy your fried potatoes are with how you layer them in the skillet. Adding them in an even layer will give you uniformly crispy potatoes. If you add them to the skillet and they overlap, you'll have a combination of crispy and tender potatoes (this is the way I like them best!).
🔪 Step-By-Step Recipe Instructions
Step 1-3: Peel the potatoes, then slice them and thoroughly rinse in a colander. Set aside.
👩🏼🍳 Chef's Note: The thickness of the sliced potatoes should be approximately ¼ inch. If you want some of them to be crispy, cut them around ⅛ inch thick.
Step 4: Place a large skillet on the stovetop. Set the burner to high heat and add the oil to the skillet. Let the oil get very hot, for about 3 minutes. Once hot, add the potatoes to the skillet and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
👩🏼🍳 Chef's Notes: While you can use any type of skillet, using a heavy bottom skillet, such as a cast iron skillet, works best because they hold heat well ensuring the consistency of the potatoes are cooked evenly.
Step 5: Reduce the heat to medium-high heat and let them cook for 3-5 minutes before flipping them over. You'll know they are ready to be flipped because the bottoms will start to become slightly golden brown.
Step 5-6: Reduce the heat to medium and place a lid on the skillet. Allow them to cook covered for 3-5 minutes before flipping them again. Then, let them cook for about 15-20 minutes longer until tender, flipping every 5 minutes.
Once done, serve them hot and top with fresh chopped parsley and additional salt and pepper, if needed.
Now your fried potatoes are ready to be served alongside any meal, such as these baked bone in chicken thighs. And just like this sweet potato pudding, they are the perfect side dish to balance out any meal everyone will be ready to devour!
🙋🏼♀️ Recipe FAQs
A cast iron skillet is the best choice. Letting the oil heat up in the cast iron skillet before adding them will create the extra crispy layer on the bottom that you're looking for.
Yes, it removes extra starch which can help them to get crispier. I find that rinsing them is usually enough for a combination of crispy and tender fried potatoes.
If you have leftovers, place them in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days. To reheat, place them on a plate and microwave for 30-90 seconds until heated through.
To help them crisp back up, use my favorite method of reheating them by adding them back into a lightly oiled, hot skillet for 3-5 minutes until heated through. This helped them regain some of the crispiness.
💭 Expert Tips
- To know if your oil is hot enough to add your potatoes, do the water splash test. Run your fingers under water and flick a little into the hot pan. If it sizzles and the water immediately starts to evaporate, the oil is hot enough.
- Take EXTRA CAUTION when making these fried potatoes. Hot oil can splatter, so make sure to keep you face far enough away from the pan to avoid burns.
- While you can use tongs to flip them, a large, flat spatula works best to flip a large amount at once.
- The key to a good mix of tender and crispy potatoes is to control the heat and moisture levels. You don't want the oil to burn too hot for too long or they will burn before the inside is tender.
- You don't have to use a lid while letting them cook in the pan, but it does help lock in moisture, making the potatoes more tender, and is my preferred way of making this recipe.
- If you notice some of them browning too fast, go ahead and remove them from the skillet. Set them on a paper towel-lined plate, and continue cooking the rest. This will avoid burned potatoes ruining the flavor of the entire recipe.
- If you notice the potatoes drying out while they cook, add more oil to the pan, as needed.
🥘 More Recipes You'll Love!
If you tried these fried potatoes or any other recipes on my website, please let me know how it turned out in the comments below. I love hearing from you! And, please leave a 🌟 rating while you're there!
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Skillet Fried Potatoes
Equipment
- large skillet
Ingredients
- 6 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 russet potatoes, peeled and slices
- ½ teaspoon salt, to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Start by peeling the potatoes, followed by slicing them, and then thoroughly rinsing them in a colander. Set aside.
- Place a large skillet on the stove top. Set the burner to high heat. Add the oil to the skillet and allow it to get very hot, about 3 minutes.
- Once hot, add the potatoes to the skillet and sprinkle on the salt and pepper.
- Reduce the heat to medium-high heat and let the potatoes cook for 3-5 minutes before flipping them over. You'll know they are ready to be flipped because the bottoms will start to become slightly golden brown.
- From there, reduce the heat down to medium and place a lid on the skillet. Allow them to cook covered for 3-5 minutes before flipping them again.
- Continue to let them cook for about 15-20 minutes longer until tender, flipping every 5 minutes.
- Once done, serve them hot. Add additional salt and pepper, if needed.
Notes
-
- Take EXTRA CAUTION when making these. Hot oil can splatter, so make sure to keep you face far enough away from the pan to avoid burns.
-
- While you can use tongs to flip them over, a large, flat spatula works best to flip a large amount over all at once.
-
- The key to a good mix of tender and crispy potatoes is to control the heat and moisture levels. You don't want the oil to burn too hot for too long or they will burn before the inside is tender.
-
- You don't have to use a lid while letting these cook in the skillet, but it does help lock in moisture, making the them more tender, and is my preferred way of making this recipe.
-
- If you notice some browning too fast, go ahead and remove them from the skillet. Set them on a paper towel-lined plate, and continue cooking the rest. This will avoid burned potatoes ruining the flavor of the entire recipe.
-
- If you notice them drying out, add more oil to the pan, as needed.
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