Pan Fried Potatoes Recipe

Wooden spatula removing fried potatoes out of iron skillet.

Southern fried potatoes, slightly charred with a crispy golden crust on the outside and meltingly tender and buttery on the inside are delicious as breakfast potatoes or an easy side dish anytime!

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Southern

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Soaking Time 10

Total Time 40

Servings

Calories 265kcal

Author Marye Audet-White

Equipment

Iron Skillet

Ingredients

6 - 8 large potatoes peeled (or not) and sliced about ¼-inch thick
1 sweet onion optional
1 clove garlic optional
1 bell pepper optional - green, red, poblano, jalapeno, all of them - you decide
salt to taste I prefer kosher salt
black pepper to taste I prefer coarse ground pepper
¼ cup peanut oil light vegetable oil will work if there are allergy issues
2 tablespoons butter

Instructions

Peel and slice (or cube) potatoes. You can also leave them unpeeled - just wash well.
Let soak for 5-10 minutes in ice water in a large mixing bowl. You may skip this step if you like.
Drain well and pat dry - make sure they are VERY dry!
Heat ¼ cup peanut oil in a large skillet on medium high heat until it's shimmering and almost smoking.
Add potatoes and let fry for about 2 minutes or until they start to get golden on the bottom.
Cover the pan and reduce heat to medium. Allow to steam for about 2 to 3 minutes.
Remove cover and turn the heat back up to medium high. Flip the potatoes. Fry for a minute or two, or until the bottom layer begins to get golden.
Dump the pan of potatoes into a colander over the sink to remove excess oil and moisture. Blot with a paper towel and return them to the pan on medium heat.
Add the onion and peppers plus any seasonings you'd like on your potatoes.
Saute, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender and done. Do not cover at this stage of frying because they will get soggy!
Add the butter at the very end of cooking.
Taste for seasoning and serve hot with plenty of cracked black pepper.

Video

Notes

Storage:

Let leftover fried potatoes come to room temperature then put them in an airtight container (or cover with plastic wrap) and refrigerate. They'll be good for about 4 days.

Potatoes just don't freeze well so I don't recommend that.

Tips:

Slice or cube potatoes the same size so that they all cook evenly. They shouldn’t be too thick or too thin — about ⅛ inch is right.
Slice them into salted ice water and let them soak for five minutes or so. Drain, rinse and pat dry before frying. Do not try to fry them when they are wet. You can skip this step if you want, especially if you're using thin skinned potatoes like Yukon Gold.
Use peanut oil unless someone has an allergy. It is the best oil I have found for frying.
The amount of oil needed may vary from one time to the next. Use enough to keep them from sticking.
Fry potatoes in an iron skillet if you have one – try not to fry them in nonstick. The nonstick coating hampers the frying process because it doesn’t get hot enough.
Let the oil get really hot before adding potatoes. It won’t smoke but it will ripple in the pan.
Don’t overcrowd the skillet.
You can put a cover on the skillet to help them cook for the first bit but take it off for the last part of cooking or your potatoes will be soggy.

Nutrition