It’s remarkably easy to make your own frozen hashbrowns!
I’ve always had a hard time making good homemade hashbrowns. When my friend Brenda shared this little trick with me…I gave it a try and it WORKS!
Not only does this make delicious homemade hashbrowns, it is a great way to use up an abundance of potatoes before they start sprouting. Remember how I got 50 pounds for such a good price last week? I plan on putting up several pounds of them into the freezer in hashbrown form. That way, I’ve preserved some of my good organic potatoes, plus I’ve got EASY hashbrowns ready to pull out and cook up for breakfast or dinner anytime I need them!
Oh, and can you say “inexpensive”? Yes, I thought you could. These hashbrowns are so inexpensive, especially when you’ve taken advantage of a good deal on potatoes. So let’s get started, shall we?
How to Make Frozen Hashbrowns
First, scrub your potatoes…as many as you want.
Bake the potatoes. I avoid using aluminum foil if at all possible in baking, so I always just place my scrubbed potatoes into a covered dish and bake them for about 1 1/2 hours at 350°. Be sure to stab each potato with a knife before baking so you don’t have a massive potato explosion in your oven. Unless you want a massive potato explosion in your oven. Then feel free to leave them unstabbed.
Allow your baked potatoes to cool. Peel the potatoes.
Shred your potatoes with a cheese grater. They shred very easily because they are soft after baking.
See how lovely?
At this point, you can either cook them, or freeze them. To freeze them, lay them flat on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Put the cookie sheet into the freezer for a couple of hours or until the potatoes are frozen, then transfer them into freezer bags to cook up when you’re ready. Oh so convenient!
I usually cook my hashbrowns in my electric skillet or in a cast iron skillet on the stove.
I use a generous amount of butter, because I love the flavor butter gives my taters.
I also use quite a bit of sea salt or onion salt.
If the hashbrowns are frozen, you can cook them the same way as if they were not frozen…it will just take a few more minutes.
Cook them on one side for 4-5 minutes, then turn. Try not to turn them too much so they don’t get mushy. Cook until the potatoes are golden brown and slightly crispy.
Yum, yum, yum! Ever since I discovered this hashbrown making trick…we have the most delicious hashbrowns. Before, I had simply shredded a raw potato, then tried to fry it. I always ended up with a mushy mess. Blech. The trick: Bake the potatoes first. It works so well! PLUS, the baked potato does not turn brown and ugly like a raw potato does once you shred it.
You can use this same trick to make and freeze diced potatoes or potato chunks. Fry those up in butter and you’ve got some wonderful fried potatoes!
Sounds good and thrifty! I had noticed before that you cover your taters when baking? Why? I’ve always just thrown them on the oven rack at 400 and bake them.
I find that they maintain more moisture this way.
Gonna try this one for sure!
Well, that is super cool! Now I’m hungry for scrambled eggs, bacon, AND hash browns! :-)
Think you could the bake-and-freeze method to prep for quick mashed potatoes?
I would imagine so, but I’ve never tried it.
I’ve never thought to bake them first. Thanks for the tip!
Awesome! I have some potatoes that need using – so I’m definitely going to try this one soon! I love love love that these can go in the freezer.
Yay! What a practical method for making hash browns! I love it. Now, I’m going to ask, I’m sure there’s a reason, why you avoid using aluminum foil in the oven? Maybe that’s a whole ‘nother post. But you baited me, had to ask.
Yes, that’s a whole ‘nuther post….I’ll TRY to post about aluminum someday. Someday…
This is fabulous – thank you for sharing!
What a wonderful idea! We will definitely try baking our potatoes first. I love the idea of freezing them and having them ready to use for hash browns or I imagine you could put them in a breakfast casserole recipe. Thanks Laura:)
When can I ad white cooking onionsWhen is a good time to add chuppedmonions?
This is so awesome! I can’t wait to try this! Jim loves getting the hashbrowns at the “Awful Waffle” every now and then. Now I can make them at home for him. Keep those freezer recipes coming, please.
Thank you so much! I don’t even bother with hash browns any more because they always turn out awfully and the packaged ones have scary ingredients. I’ll give this a shot!
FYI: for the most delicious baked potatoes, rub them with olive oil and liberally sprinkle with sea salt, then bake right on the rack. So Yummy! I never bake them any other way.
Hmmmm, tempting to scrub some taters and put them in the oven on time bake for breakfast… LOoks good ~ Thanks, Laura!
Time bake? I need to get into this century. ?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HDJZWO/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0D
Having a sale on amazon for the chocolate chips you use…!
buy three and get the shipping free! whoo hoo! I such a nerd!
Ooh, thanks for the info!!!
I’ve been waiting to buy these until I saved up enough free amazon money from my checking account (perkstreet.com rocks!) but now they are unavailable!!! Too many people from this site are buying them, I’m guessing :) I hope they come back, I’ve had my eye out for them for the last month!
I am… tryng to nurse a baby and type is hard!
Would boiling the potatoes with the skins on work out?
Probably, but I don’t know for sure. I guess if you try it and it doesn’t work, you could still make mashed potatoes!
I have always boiled potatoes to make home fries. The grands and their dad just love home fries with the skins on. I will shred them and use as hash browns sounds like a great breakfast or anytime treat.
Boiled potatoes has soft eatable skins.
I always freeze leftover mashed potatoes in two cup portions and they taste just like fresh when you microwave them afterwards
What a brilliant idea! :-)
I KNOW!!!! It’s about time I got around to sharing it, huh!?
Thank you! I have not been able to buy organic hashbrowns locally like I used to and we just don’t enjoy raw potato hashbrowns much. My whole family will be so excited when I repeat your success!
Thanks for the instructions. I actually read the back of a bag of frozen hash browns the other day. I was surprised that it doesn’t just contain potatoes!
I will definitely be trying this for freezer cooking day this month. Thank you!
Thanks for posting this! I have tried every method out there to make homemade hashbrowns but they still turn out so sticky afterwords.
Def going to try this!
Thanks for posting.
Can’t wait to try this. I think I am going to make a batch with some peppers and onions.
This looks like a great idea! I’d love to try it. I did want to mention, though, if you’re making hashbrowns from raw potatoes, to keep them from turning brown, you just have to rinse them after you shred them (they will have already turned brown, but the brown stuff just rinses right off). Rinse and drain them a few times, until the water is clear. Then wring them out through cheesecloth or a thin towel. It works great!
I just ran into the mushy mess problem yesterday, thanks for the tip!
Do you bake them completely, or just partially? And then you can peel them with a potato peeler? They don’t just mush when you try to peel them?
Bake them completely. Let them cool before you peel them.
This is the way my mom and grandmother taught me. I did not know that there was another way until I saw someone make them with raw potatoes.
Hashbrowns are on my top 5 favorite foods list but I avoid the supermarket ones and only get to eat them when eating breakfast at a restaurant (which is like twice a year). Thank you, thank you! I want to reach into my computer and eat those cooked ones off the plate!
Great idea! Can’t wait to try it- thanks!! :)
Yes boiling the potatoes works great. I do it all the time. If I have left over boiled potatoes we make hashbrowns or fried potatoes to use them up.
I’ve never frozen hash browns, I usually cook them as soon as I grate them. It would be great to have some on hand though when I don’t feel like doing that much work in the morning. Thanks for sharing!
That sounds really easy…I can’t wait to try that. Thanks for sharing! :D
Thanks for sharing this! I always have potatoes that go bad. Now I can save them!
Thanks so much for the useful tip. Every now and then I buy frozen hashbrowns, though I have never looked at the ingredients. Now I can make my own and they will be healthy and inexpensive!!!
What an exciting tip! I always wondered how they did that! Thanks, Laura…I’m so glad that you like to share. Imagine how many potatoes would go bad or be neglected if you had kept this info to yourself! :)
I’ve never tried baking potatoes to make hashbrowns, but my secret method for making crispy brown hashbrowns and fries is to grate or cut them up raw, and then RINSE, RINSE, RINSE and then RINSE them some more to get the majority of the starch out of them, then pat them as dry as possible then prepare as usual.
I, too, have been doing this for years. Makes getting a meal
on the table lots easier.
My husband happens to love what I call “Cottage Fried Potatoes”
and so I use the baked potatoes sliced on the grater instead of
shredding them. I slice a med-large onion and saute the slices in butter until they are a bit limp. Remove those from
the pan, put in more butter and start with a layer of the sliced potatoes in the skillet, then put on a thin layer of
the onions and even put in a few slices or pieces of my stash
of frozen bell peppers, any color. I keep adding layers of
each along with sea salt and pepper. Frying on medium high
until the bottom layer is crispy brown like the hash browns.
When I want to turn them over I put a big plate/platter over
the top of the skillet and turn (very carefully) the plate and
skillet over. Put the skillet back on the burner and slide the
potatoes back into the skillet to brown and crisp up what was
the top. To dish up I put it back onto the plate and cut it in wedges to serve. Yummy to all of us.
I thank you for your sharing and caring that all us need to
eat not just good but good for us food.
Wow! I’ve never even thought of cooking them first. What a fabulous idea. Thanks so much for sharing. Now I never have an excuse of letting potatoes go bad again… any ideas for onions? LoL.
Chop or slice them up then freeze.
Yay! Thanks for this, I’ll definitely be trying it wish my abundance of Azure taters. :)
We have been trying and trying to figure out how to make your own hashbrowns and have never been able to have them come out (mushy or ugly or both…mostly both!) so I will definitely be trying this!
That’s a great idea. Here’s what we do: my husband grates raw potatoes and then puts them in a colandar and rinses out all the moisture. That’s the glue that makes your hashbrowns turn out sticky. So after rinsing then he fries in the pan.
Thanks so much for this post! What an answer to prayer! I’ve been trying to rid my cupboards and freezer of processed foods but when I came to the hashbrowns I didn’t know what to do and just kept them. I even bought some more last week. I couldn’t imagine all of the work of shredding raw potatoes only to have them turn brown and ugly (something we’ve tried before in a pinch). I am so excited to try this new way of doing it so I can truly move forward in my whole foods quest. Thanks!
As always I learn from the best…you are such a blessing (From The Lord)
I have baked potatoes cooling off as I type…last night we had the dish Potatoes ANNA as a side, it was so fun to make…it is in the Nourishing Traditions book…and I am learning so much! I would have never gone this route if it wasn’t for my little boy….anyway….I can’t wait to try this, and we will be having this for breakfast in place of our usual sugary cereal.
Thanks Again
Tara
My husband and I have been trying to find a way to freeze homemade hashbrowns for months–this is perfect!
Can’t wait to try this–thanks for sharing! :)
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Now I need some potatos to do this with!!!
THANK-YOU!! I was blanching my shredded potatoes and then freezing them and that was not working well. I’ll remembering this method if we can’t keep up with our potatoes that we grow this year!
Oh I can’t wait to do this! I have had trouble freezing them before. I dice mine in tiny cubes. It takes longer but my children eat them that way. Now I need to go buy some potaotes or tell mine to hurry up and grow!
Thank you! I tried making them with raw potatoes too and came out with the same yucky mess that you did. This is so exciting.
I just tried fried potatoes tonight – this would have been so much better! My husband will be thrilled.
Why didn’t I think of this??? I have a bag of taters in the garage just waiting for me to think of something like this! I also like to bake up a bunch of them, eat the ones we want for dinner, then make baked potato soup out of the rest of them on the next day~ thanks for sharing this great idea with us!
Has anyone ever tried to make hashed browns out of sweet potatoes? I love sweet potato fries but was wondering if I could make hash browns.
Thanks
I’ve never tried it before, but it sounds like SUCH a yummy idea!
We used to do something very similar at the greasy spoon where I learned to cook :) We would boil up massive pots of whole, skin-on red potatoes every morning. When they were just barely tender all the way through we’d drain them and then dump them out onto big cookie sheets to cool. We never bothered with potato peelers- the back of a cheap steak knife worked much better.
Once cooled enough to handle and peeled, we’d put half of them through the food processor with the grater blade and the other half we’d dice into chunks. Then all the potatoes went into the fridge to be pulled out a serving at a time. The grated spuds went on the griddle, the diced ones into the deep fryer.
Oh, heavens! I wish I still lived near that restaurant! It has never occurred to me to freeze the cooked but not-yet-fried potatoes- thanks for that handy dandy tip :D
Thanks for the directions! I can’t want to try this.
I can’t wait to try this too! Thanks for sharing.
I had always heard nightmares about freezing potatoes. But I never heard about freezing them like this! I can’t wait to try those hashbrowns. Yum!
I make my husband breakfast burritos (and freeze them) to take to work with him, and he’s been asking me if I could somehow incorporate hash browns into the burritos. I am definitely going to try this out! I’ll let you know how it goes :)
I am so glad I looked at this!! I have tried so many times to use fresh potatoes!! I can’t wait to try this! Thanks!
I just baked my russet potatoes and it doesn’t seem like it’ll work for them… they are too mushy to grate. I should’ve known, but now I have and won’t try this again with russets! Time to invest in some yukon golds..
Ooh, that’s a bummer because it worked for me with my russets. Mine were pretty dry though. These would be SO good with yukon golds though!!
They aren’t completely cool yet, so maybe I just need to wait a bit longer before I try to peel them? I haven’t even tried grating them yet, as they seem like they are too mushy…
Yes, try that! Maybe even refrigerate them overnight and see how they do!
I wish I had scrolled down far enough to read your comment. I did it with Russets too, since that’s what I had on hand. I am going to try it again, and maybe bake them for less time. Maybe about 1 1/4 hours, instead of 1 1/2. They do fry up tasty, but not crispy, and they lose their shape
Laura, you have singlehandedly revolutionized my potato processing! :>) I love breakfast potatoes, but never plan ahead enough to cook them beforehand. This rocks! I linked on my weekly roundup. Thanks for sharing!
Do you cook your hashbrowns in a nonstick pan? I LOVE hashbrowns, but I have no nonstick skillets, and all I get is a burned mess when I try to make them. This is a fabulous idea, and I’d love to try it if you have any tips for the pan!
I use cast iron with LOTS of butter!
Cast Iron works wonderfully and it can be made to be VERY nonstick.
Check out this article. http://www.richsoil.com/cast-iron.jsp
Awesome tip!!! I’m so excited; I will most definitely try this with my withering potatoes in the back of the fridge.
I can’t wait! Gee, I hope they make it to the freezer before I cook them up and eat them all…
Thanks for the info! I’ve been wondering about freezing some for fries. Do you think this would work for those too? I’d want to bake the fries from the freezer.
Oh yes, I’m sure it would work for fries too!
Prebaked french fries are the best. It works!
Just tried these this morning and although I thought they were going to be mushy, they turned out AWESOME!! I will definitely be looking for potatoes on sale so I can put some up in the freezer, Thanks for sharing! :)
AWESOME! I’ve never had time to make hashbrowns in the mornings, but they are so good and so cheap – I’m can’t wait to try this out!
THANK YOU!!! The only time I’ve tried to freeze hash browns, they came out black and icky. I never thought or read to cook them prior to freezing. I think I will try this tonight!
I did the same thing, it was such a waste of time, potatoes and then having to find something else to cook
These turned out great! I am going to try and freeze them next time…we ate them all this time:) Need to find a really good sale on potatoes!lol
What a great idea! Thanks. I am going to try this. Supermarkets here don’t have hashbrowns OR tater tots, and I’m missing them both.
My friend recently shared a potato baking trick with me. Put one potato in each muffin spot in a muffin tin. Cooked faster, similar to when people put a nail through the potato. Worked great. Love my taters!
Oh I love this! Thank you so much for all that you share with us. What a blessing you are!
Hugs & Blessings,
(¯`v´¯)
`*.¸.*´
¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`?Anita
http://aseknc.blogspot.com/
aseknc(at)gmail(dot)com
So brilliant- I had no idea! I had read that restaurants wash the grated uncooked potatos really really well to get out the startch before pan frying them- and that’s how they avoid the mushy mess- that its the excess of startch that causes that unattractive result. But this is just as easy!
I just worry… how do you ensure not to overdo the potatos so that when you try to shred them they dot just turn to mush from being so soft??
As long as you just bake them for one or one and a half hours, you’ll be okay. Then, let them cool completely before shredding…otherwise they will be mushy!
Thank you SO much for sharing this! So simple! Yep, I’m definitely going to be doing this!! I’ve been buying those big bags of shredded hashbrowns wondering in the world I can make my own! I am so glad you shared this!
His,
Mrs. U
Thanks so much for this!!!!!!! I tried it and it worked wonderfully. I used a regular stainless steel skillet with butter and I was thrilled at how crispy they got! I gave up on frying raw potatoes a long time ago because they would stick and be messy, even in a nonstick pan. Thanks again!
Michele
I’ve always baked an oven full of potatoes whenever we have baked potatoes. It’s more cost effective to bake a whole bunch than just a meal’s worth. Once cool, I stick them in a bag and keep in the fridge, then we use the leftovers to make hashbrowns for breakfast. I’m anxious to try freezing them now since we don’t have potatoes often enough! Thanks for the instructions!
While washing my potatoes this morning I wondered if you have ever tried this method for mashed potatoes. I can’t think of a reason it wouldn’t work. What do you think?
It SHOULD work, but I haven’t tried to it know for sure!
I freeze mashed potatoes and also twice baked potatoes all the time. Works great to have in the freezer for a side when you have unexpected company!
We just tried processing our own hashbrowns from our garden using red potatos, we did not want to go to the trouble of baking and shredding so we used our processor to shred them first and then blanched in boiling water for a few minutes, draind them and panfried half of them and froze the rest for tomorrows breakfast. The ones we had this morning were so great and did not have that dirty yucky color (even thou those are good too)we plan to prepare the rest of the potatos we have from the garden the same way as soon as we see the results of the frozen ones.
We used up the balance of prepared hashbrowns from the other day this
morning and they were great so it looks like shredding and blanching works as good as baking and and is less messy, all I did was use the shredding atachment in the processor and and rinse them well spread out to drain, place them on parchment paper and then freeze for a couple hours and then place them in a zip lock bags for the freezer.
I finally got a chance to make these! So far my shreds arent looking so hot, but maybe its the direction I’m going? And although I have baked and peeled countless potatoes, there wont be much in the freezer cuz –well, there’s this teenager in the house with puppy dog brown eyes who knows how to use them and signs eat…. so who could refuse that? LOL
You can turn these into swiss potatoes… you just make a layer in a frying pan (lightly coated with oil or butter), put in a filling (chicken, chesse, beef, veggies… whatever you like) and cover it with more grated potatoes. Ideally you cover it with another frying pan so it´s easy to turn over. Let it cook well on one side and turn. It can get messy the first times you try it (especially if you don´t have 2 frying pans), but it´s SOOOOOO good. :)
I bet using a griddle would work. I’m talking about one that closes down on itself like a waffle iron. However, you would use the flat plates instead of the waffle plates. I must try this!
Hi! I haven´t been here in a long time! :) Sorry for the late
response. I imagine it will work great. Let me know when you
try.
Wow! Cannot wait to give those a try!
super easy! thanks so much. Cannot wait to try some! they are in freezer now!
I have been making my own frozen hash browns for nearly 50 yrs. with only one slight change. I boil my potatoes with skins on , only till you can stick a fork in with some effort. Then cool – Peel- grate. Mix 1 tbsp. flour per cup of grated potatoes. Spread on cookie sheet,make perforations with a fork and freeze. When frozen break at perforations,place in bag and return to freezer. This method eliminates mushy potatoes.
Thanks! I am going to try this.
My daughter will be thrilled when I make these. She loves shredded hashbrowns more then my country potatoes so the next bag of potatoes will be shredded and frozen for later cooking.
Laura,
I’ve been searching through your comments and the links to other sites in regards to the freezer challenge. I’ve seen a few comments on your hashbrowns so I was looking at the recipe and it reminded me of a video I wastched on youtube. It is a quick way to peel potatoes. You pull them out of the hot water and into cold water, pull at both ends. Here’s the link to see the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjz3NV8l0zI
Thanks for all of your wholesome recipes and thanks for the laughs. You are hoot to read!
Thank you! My potatoes are in the oven at this very moment. I am very excited!
Thank you! My potatoes are in the oven at this very moment. I am very excited!
I just want to know….how do any of these make it into the freezer? I can’t make them fast enough for my family. Thank you for yet another fabulous recipe. Your hard work and willing to share what you learn is much appreciated.
Ha! Glad your family likes them so well!
The only way these make it into the freezer is if I make A LOT ahead of time.
This sounds good and I am going to try it. We just dug our potatoes and I am excited by trying to freeze the hashbrowns, but I have a question…has anyone added onions to them? Do you think that it would hurt to add some onions to them?
Adding onions would be awesome with this!
I made them today and they turned out great!! I chose all the same size potatoes, washed them, put them in a large shallow corning ware bowl with a lid and added water in the bottom of the bowl. Pricked the potatoes and cooked them 4 minutes in the microwace on high and them turned them and cooked another 4 minutes. Waited on them to cool and grated them. I diced up a sweet onion and and cooked it in a little water just till barely tender. Took the onion up on a paper towel and made sure there was no water left on them. I then added them to the grated potato mixture and mixed up well. I turned the potatoes and onion mixture out on a cookie sheet covered in wax paper, spreaded it out evenly, and made cut marks to divide the hash browns out. Put the cookie sheet in the freezer to freeze for about two hours. They popped right up off the pan and I stored them with waxed paper in between each hash brown. Wrapped them in foil in groups of four. Very proud of my results. I cooked one of them and it was yum yum good! My family will love the onions in them.
By the way, I did let the potatoes cool a bit and I did peel them before grating them.
I can’t wait to try this.
I do have a tip for peeling the potatoes, though. If you boil whole potatoes, then dunk them in cold water until they’ve cooled enough to touch, you can just pull the peel off with your fingers.
We are getting a mess of free potatoes soon from our friend (a potato farmer) and will definitely be making some of these! We looovve hashbrowns!
Try Crock Pot Baked Potatoes!
http://www.skiptomylou.org/2010/07/09/crock-pot-baked-potatoes/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+skiptomyloublog+%28Skip+To+My+Lou%29
I tried them the other day and they are good. :)
We used to buy 50# bags of small potatoes at a truck farm years ago. We would leave them whole and unpeeled, scrub them good, and bake them. After they cooled, I would shred them in the food processor and freeze. They were wonderful! In the food processor, some of the skin comes off as they are shredding, but I like to think the nutrients were still in good supply at that point.
I’ll have to do this again!
We were given lots of potatoes last year. I peeled and lightly fried the potatoes prior to freezing, so then I had fries. I like hashbrowns better so I’ll do this with any more I have.
These are great to do for camping…I’ve always left them whole and then diced on-site. We went with 5 other families several years ago and the husbands eating cold cereal found their way to our camp site! Another good way to use the shredded variety is to put a layer in a greased baking dish and then pour beaten eggs (6-8), thinned with a little milk or cream (about 1/2 cup)over them. Top with cooked sausage, crumbled bacon or diced ham, and bake at 350 till the eggs are set, then top with cheese and remove. We love to use salsa instead of milk, too. It’s a great breakfast casserole that shows up at all our family reunions now since it’s also gluten free and we have several who eat gf. I’vve never frozen them, but there are almost always a few in the frig ready to be used…I’ll certainly freeze them now!
These are great to do for camping…I’ve always left them whole and then diced on-site. We went with 5 other families several years ago and the husbands eating cold cereal found their way to our camp site! Another good way to use the shredded variety is to put a layer in a greased baking dish and then pour beaten eggs (6-8), thinned with a milk or cream (about 1/2 cup)over them. Top with cooked sausage, crumbled bacon or diced ham, and bake at 350 till the eggs are set, and top with cheese for the last little bit. Salsa’s good instead of the milk, too. It’s a great breakfast casserole that also freezes and reheats well. For travel soccer weekends I wrap squares individually and keep in a cooler…we usually just eat them cold.
?I can’t wait to try this!! I am so glad to not have to ever buy store bought again, I’m trying to eliminate anything processed. THANKS AGAIN ?
I first came across the idea for homemade hashbrowns over at http://amysfinerthings.com/homemade-hashbrowns. We love them! My only comments are: 1) after they cool, stick them in the fridge for awhile – even overnight – it makes the shredding easier 2) no need to peel before shredding – yes, a bit of the peel makes its way into the hashbrowns, but the bulk of it stays intact in your hand – saves time! :)
DEFINITELY have to try this because I cannot make hash browns :( It’s a failing.
now that the cool weather is hear I am making these today for two reasons the hash browns of course and to warm up my house!
I was wondering if it would work to make frozen french fries too. (For some odd reason the kids do not like hashbrowns.) If use a mandoline to cut the baked potatoes into fries do you think it would work the same? Or do you think the potatoes would be too soft?
I just tried these. My family couldn’t stop raving about them. I got a good deal on 40lbs of potatoes, so have been baking, peeling, shredding and freezing like crazy. I’m also freezing 2xbaked potatoes and blanching diced potatoes to freeze for future mashed potatoes and soups.
GREAT IDEA
Love it:):):):):)
I LOVE this recipe! The only thing that I do differently is I don’t peel the potatoes. The skin is delicious mixed in. Yummy!!
Amen! I am opposed to removing the skin from potatoes/apples/etc…saves me a step! ;)
So glad to read this tip! I have made homemade hash browns several times from raw potatoes and always wondered the trick to keep them from being soggy! Know I know! Thanks can’t wait to try!
I just heard about these from Penniless Parenting… WOW, so glad I did!! I can’t wait to have NON-MUSHY hash browns!!
I am so glad my sister in law told me about this blog! I can’t wait to try this recipe out this weekend!
just made this morning but used my salad shooter!! FAST!!! Strongly recommend!:)
WoW!! Seems like every click I make through your blog, I learn something new. I tried the non-baked freshly shredded hashbrowns. Yuck! Can’t wait to try these.
I have a HUGE harvest from our garden of potatoes. I want to do something with them before they start going bad….looks like I found it!! Thank you SOOOOO much for your blog! I am officially addicted to it! Blessings to you and your family. Hope you are feeling better soon, too!!!!! (xtra exclamation points for health! :o)
that would be “huge harvest of potatoes, from our garden” – we DID grow more than just potatoes.
Am getting on this today. Have pinned it in pinterest.
How do I pin this?
Hey – you can also boil the potatoes – skin on – put in fridge to chill overnight, peel (easy now) and then you can dehydrate them – they take up a tiny bit of area to store and you’re not dependent on your freezer. To use, put hot water up to the top of the potatoes – let sit a few minutes, drain and cook. Marvelous!
This is a great idea! Are they shelf stable after dehydrating or do
you store them a special way?
A dehydrator is on my list of TO BUY, but I wasn’t sure if I’d use it honestly.
I would def dehydrate potatoes to free up space in my 2 1/2 freezers :)
have read your storing potatoes and hashbrown blog, very imformative. our potatoes always sprout while storing, also hard to find a “cool” room for storage. We are about to harvest our “Reds” but have had lots and lots of rain…. hope they have survived.
Why do you peel them? Most of the nutrients are in the peel. I’ve made our hasbrowns like this for years. I tried the raw potato thing like you and it did NOT work. After some research I found that if you bake the potatoes then shred them, they are wonderful. I have never peeled ours and they turn out just fine. I always bake 7-10 potatoes when I know I will have the oven on for a couple hours then I store them in the fridge for a quick breakfast/snack. They last in the fridge for about 2 weeks. I am going to try making some for the freezer since we have an over abundance.
Thank you for this post. I just ordered 50 lbs of organic potatoes and was worried I would let some go to waste. This will work wonders for our freezer & convenience for a couple of males in the house that area always scavenging for food to fix fast. THANK YOU!!!
You are my hero! :) I wanted to make some bird’s nests for breakfast, but I didn’t want to buy hash browns from the store (with all the weird ingredients). So glad I found this. Thanks!
You don’t have to use foil to bake potatoes. Scrub, dry, poke holes and coat with a bit of oil – I use my hands and rub it on. Salt the oiled skin. Place directly on the oven rack. You can place a pan on the rack below if you are worried about your oven (but honestly, you don’t need to).
Not only are the vitamins in the skin, the flavor is there too. Roasting intensifies the flavor, even if you remove the skin later, the potatoes are improved by roasting in the skin. Brush the salt off before using. Let the steam out of any potatoes you save for later – it keeps them from getting soggy.
I agree, you don’t have to bake in a container nor use foil. We always rubbed the potatoes with butter—and that makes a delicious flavor on the skins!
Do you have a good hashbrown casserole recipe to use with these hashbrowns? Trying to find one that does not contain cream of something soup.
Sheri
I have an easy and delish recipe for hashbrown casserole.
Put a layer of hashbrowns in a sprayed 9×13 dish, sprinkle with seasoned
salt, then sprinkle with cheese. Repeat layers. Pour a pint of whipping
cream over all. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. This is a recipe using frozen
hashbrown, so if your hashbrowns aren’t frozen I would cut back on the
bake time about 15 min. or so.
Oh wow, does this sound good. I believe I may try to make this with our dinner tonight. :)
Cream of soup without issues: 5 T of white bean flour, 1 3/4 cup cool water, 4 t of soup base, bouillion (whatever you normally use) Bring all ingredients to a boil. Reduce heat and let thicken. This is equal to a can of cream soup. Add 1/4 c whatever kind of soup you’re making – such as mushroom. Yummy and full of fiber! Without any of the dangers of canned soups. . . (I hand grind my white beans into flour).
I’ll give this recipe a try.
What’s worked for me when preparing hash browns from raw potatoes is this: I place a tea towel on top of the chopping block, grate the potatoes (with or without skin, depending on the mood). Then I fold the tea towel around the mound of grated potatoes and squeeze as much of the liquid out as possible. Once this is done, no more mushy hash browns, no need to add flour or any other ingredient to absorb the starch and liquid.
I like to add minced dried onion to my raw potatoes cakes (hashbrowns).
It soaks up the
liquid, usually all of it. I also like to add one egg and some flour.
Oregano, or basil, salt and cayenne pepper complete the picture.
After a fry in olive oil, it’s ready to serve with organic ketchup.
What a smile will be on my four year old’s face!
I’m so curious about this prebaking the potatoes and then grating them!
And I have a LOT of potatoes going downhill fast(the reason I’m reading
here). I hope to try this out tomorrow or so.
Thanks!
I don’t have a glass lid for my casserole pan would foil work just as good?
It should! :)
Tried these, but mine crumbled when I tried to shred them. Do I just need to cook them less first?
I usually bake my potatoes for 1-2 hours and they do fine. If yours crumbled, it could be that they were a little undercooked, but I can’t say for sure.
I have been precooking my potatoes for homefries for years. I am a single mom, so I didn’t always need a ton. What I would do, is microwave “bake” a few potatoes on Saturday night before bed. Leave them out to cool overnight, and in the morning, ready for Sunday breakfast. I usually did homefries, where you just cube them. I always bake a few extra when I’m having baked potatoes just for this. I think russet work the best, but have used all my leftovers this way. Now I will have to try hash browns too…thanks…also as far as the crumbling potatoes go, could just be the type of potato, or probably didn’t let them cool enough.
I’ve never successfully made hashbrowns… UNTIL THIS MORNING! :-) Okay, they were a little mushy in the middle even though I only turned them once. The outside was crispy- sooo good! Before they always turned brown and weren’t too appetizing. Thanks for the tip!! These are easy to make!
I put my scrubbed and poked potatos in crockpot for 4 to5 hrs on high, spray crockpot first, when tha-ey cool, grate and cook like fresh or frozen hashbrowns
Wonder what this would taste like with sweet potatoes? you could flavor with cinammon sugar….
Tried this and loved it. Very excited about another product that I will not need to buy again. Will be planting double the potatoes this year. Thx for Brenda and you for sharing.
Can I grate these in my food processor? I just was eondering because you said cheese grater so I didn’t know if the processor would be too powerful and make a mess instead.
I am sure that would work fine. Give it a try! :)
no way! never thought of baking potatoes before frying them! what a great idea. since it takes forEVER to get them crunchy enough!
LOVE THIS!!!!! Can’t wait to try.
You, or perhaps your friend, or maybe both, are a genious! This is the BEST idea – I am going to have to try this ASAP =) Now to find a good deal on organic potatos =)
I discovered your blog while searching for “How many potatoes can I grow in one container” After clicking through & reading many of your wonderful & entertaining blogs on growing, storing & now eating, I am ready to get started. Aside from my 6 blueberry bushes in pots, this is my first attempt at any type of gardening. Starting small with 5 tomato plants & now a garbage can with 3 different potatoes (hope that will work)! Thank you for all the great info!
Thanks for the excellent tip. If you need to make hashbrowns right away you can skip baking them. Shread the hashbrowns then rinse them in cold water. Pat dry with paper towels and fry as suggested in your recipe. By rinsing the raw potatoes you remove the excess starch so the potatoes will crisp up. You will need a longer frying time with raw potatoes vs. the pre-baked. I also like the butter flavor but find butter burns too easily on me so I use butter flavored Crisco and they turn out wonderful.
Laura, If you can answer the question or if anyone can answer my question at the end please let me know the answer if you have one and let me know if you don’t so I know that this was looked at. I will try this recipe.
I have a question.
When I buy the bag of frozen shredded hash browns it says on the back potatoes and dextrose. What and why is dextrose used.
Thank you
I’m not sure, but I’m guessing they use it to preserve the color or flavor somehow??
Love your site! I noticed no one mentioned the hint to keep potatoes from turning black. Just pit about 1/2 tsp. of cream of tartar in the water(not the cooking water) and they won’t turn black. I tried to make a hash brown casserole with raw potatoes shredded, and it was awful!
Yes, the dehydrated potatoes are shelf stable. Since they have sharp edges, I pkg them twice in on of those – sealers for plastic bags. No black potatoes and you can save 100’s of pounds of them into whatever shape you want to use later. I use my dehydrator daily these days with the garden finishing up. Marilyn
Thanks so much for sharing. I have been turning away slow cooker recipes because they all take frozen hash browns and I do not want to use the bags from the store. Now I will cook up a bunch and we can enjoy the slow cooker specials – saving me time and effort,
Thanks for all these great tips. I have a few questions:
1.Is there a way to dehydrate potatoes without an actual dehydrator? Like in the oven maybe? How would I do that?
2.What quantity can you dehydrate at a time in a dehydrator and how long does it take?
3.Where would you suggest looking for a dehydrator if I decide to invest in one? Like, what are the qualities I would want to look for?
4.Marilyn, what is the sealer for plastic bags that you are referring to?
Janet – I would recommend an Excalibur dehydrator – the bigger, better ones come with good instruction books – a book by Mary Bell would be worth every penny you spend on it – she’s been eating this way for over 30 years – She’s the original for selling dehydrators at fairs. We also use a solar dehydrator – but not the oven, ours is electric. Takes about 6-12 hours depending on the thing you’re dehydrating.
The every day sealer is Food Saver – I have to have a much bigger model since I dehydrate and package food a lot. We live on a hobby farm and nothing goes to waste – now if I have a banana going brown, I throw it in the dehydrator – takes up tons less space and I don’t trust freezers here – might be the electric. Enjoy!
As I just got a 50# bag of taters from ID I will be doing this right away! THX.
We always peel our taters because the toxins from the soil are concentrated in the skin, not the potato. Perhaps this isn’t a problem for organic, homegrown taters though.
I live in Mongolia and bought 60 kilos of potatoes for less than 50 cents a kilo! That’s an awesome deal, but there are only 2 of us. A friend told me about your site and I am so happy to have found a way to preserve a lot of my potatoes! :) Thanks!
I have a question on dehydrating. I do not own an Excalibur dehydrator, I have an Open Country. If I can use this one to make my hash browns, how long would I have to dehydrate them? I have a small freezer and this way would help me so much more to have them stored. Could someone help me here. Thank you so much.
just found u and i am so excites about freezing potatoes. have a good price this week so will freeze 50 lbs. i cannes 40 lbs over the summer and that worked fine but want to try frozen hash browns. thank u. will let u know how they turned out.
Ive been making homemade shredded hashbrowns for years I boil the potatoes whole until they are slightly crisp in the middle cool then shred. I use a non stick pan melt butter lay the hashbrowns flat I use the mini food chopper to mash an onion I spread it over the hashbrowns and then cover for 4 or 5 minutes then flip and cover again for another 3 or 4 minutes. The onion gives it an amazing flavor.
I loved your site, I have canned potatoes in ball jars now I am going to try freezing them in hash Brown form
thank you
I tried this but missed the step about freezing the potatoes on flat trays before bagging them. So I’m afraid our hash browns did come out mushy. However, I’ve used the thawed potatoes now in potato soup with good results, and I like how they don’t turn dark in the refrigerator if they sit a few days.
Pinning!
I was looking for a way to use up a ten pound bag of russet potatoes that I bought on sale just before Thanksgiving. I spotted this page and decided to grate the potatoes for hash browns, freezing, etc. Thank you for the idea. I would like to add the following tip to others:
You don’t have to peel the baked potatoes before your grate them.
Most of the skin (on baked russet potatoes) will resist going through the grater, just rub the last of the potato off of them into the grater and then discard. You will get some slivers of skin in the mix, but I think it adds character to the hash browns and you can’t argue with the ease of preparation!
Easy to prepare and budget friendly one! Perfect for potatoe indulgence mama mia!!!
I need a suggestion. I cooked for the amount of time listed in the recipe (3 lbs for 1.5 hrs) – and I was basically trying to grate mashed potatoes. They were WAY too soft. So 1.5 hrs is too long for that amt of potatoes. Help?
I’d say try one hour and see if that works!
No more mushy, greasy hash browns! Thank you so much; i have been beating my brains trying to come up with crispy hash browns without all the grease. I may never visit Waffle House again. Thanks for the freezer storage tip too. This will save money. Thanks again!
I’ve been looking for a healthier way to make homemade hashbrowns i am an intermediate on cooking thanks so much for this nicely done recipe
This is fantastic!! I love hashbrowns and never could make them up right and I’ve always got a few leftover spuds that I don’t know what to do with. You’ve solved my problems :)
I love this cooking tip! We don’t eat a ton of hash browns, but only because I try to steer clear of the frozen variety from the store. But my boys LOVE them, so a year or so ago I read your recipe and realized I could actually have them on hand. We had a “package” just last night when we had breakfast for dinner. Such a simple solution and a great idea to have on hand in the freezer!
Hi, After you have baked and grated them they don’t turn color? I will have to add potates to my next Azure order. I have been buying them by the case at Whole foods. I will so have to try then. Thanks for the great ideas.
The baking solves that issue for me. :)
I’m not familiar with “Azure” please enlighten me.
Thank you,
Larry
Okay, I’m a dork that I’m back just a day after my last comment, but I have to say two things: First, my kids DEVOUR these hash browns so it’s so wonderful to have them on hand! Second, I got a BOGO bag of Yukon Golds so six lbs. of them for about $2, so I baked them all yesterday, shredded them this morning, used some for breakfast, and am freezing the rest. I love how easy this is!
Been eating a ton of these too – but we’ve dehydrated them and put them in gallon glass jars. Been a lifesaver – We never ate hashbrowns before this!!!
I am fascinated that you dehydrate them, Marilyn! How do you reconstitute/prepare when you are ready? Is it time-consuming?
Easy – I heat water in teapot – you’d probably use the microwave. I pour water over the potatoes while I heat the pan – I put dried onions in there too if I like – in just a few minutes they are soft and I take them out with a slotted spoon straight to the pan. They rehydrate easily. This way no electric outage will ruin any of my food and I can take a tiny amount or a large amount and throw it in the dehydrator. No more thrown out food! Since we’ve moved here, I don’t trust freezers. . .
LOL — I rarely use the microwave for anything! I have an electric tea kettle for boiling water, a Russell Hobbs — lived in England for awhile in a house with no microwave! I should try dehydrating my shredded browns. Such a great idea! Thank you!
I boil the potatoes whole until JUST done. I cool in fridge, peel or not depending on kind of potato. I grate them, dry them and bag them until I’m ready to put them in a storing container. They’ll store forever in good conditions.
I am ssssoooooooooooooo excited to try this! I tried making homemade hashbrowns one time (so I could make this recipe that looks absolutely lovely: http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2012/11/creamy-and-crispy-hash-browns-frittata.html) and it was DISASTROUS. The yucky brown slimy potatoes you had after shredding raw was what I got too … worse, they turned black and smelled *awful* after this was baked.
My husband and I NEVER throw food away. If it gets down to a little bit left that doesn’t make a meal, I freeze it in a bowl for “leftover soup” later. We threw this away. I was so disappointed.
I wondered if I should cook the potatoes somehow first, but was drawing a blank. Duh! Baking them! Why didn’t I think of that?!
I am committed to never throwing things out either, and am a huge user of the freezer. I’m glad to know I’m not alone. Sometimes I fail to label things, though, so we have some mystery freezer items…
BTW, we are now on Day #3 of eating hashed browns — my kids are blowing through 6 lbs. of potatoes quite efficiently — you’d think they were candy. But by baking, shredding, and freezing them (well, sometimes they’ve just gone straight to the pan instead of freezing), it makes it so easy. And you get to control how much fat and salt is involved, which is better than buying a bag of prepared at the store.
Hi! I wanted to know if I did something wrong…baked them, let them cool…but they wouldn’t peel, they were too baked, and they definitely wouldn’t shred, just turned into mashed potatoes basically. I thought when I read it that an hour and a half of baking would do that, but the comments were good and yours turned out so lovely! What’d I do wrong?
Shucks, since every oven bakes differently, maybe mine takes longer to bake potatoes. Hope you were still able to eat the potatoes! Maybe just bake yours for one hour next time. :)
I was wondering why you put the potatoes in a covered dish and not just loosely on a tray in the oven. Is there a reason, I would love to know. Thanks
I find that they cook faster this way. :)
That’s a very good reason, spares fuel!
I made these this morning after baking the potatoes last night and they were delicious. I have a griddle pan and first cooked bacon, then drained most of the grease and use the bit remaining to cook the hashbrowns. Yum. My husband was so pleased. Thank you for sharing this!
I love how easy this recipe is. . . and potatoes for that matter! I leave the skins on (we like them) and once they are cool, I pulse them in the food processor and store them in the freezer. I use them for everything, even throwing them in while cooking scrambled eggs and topping it all with cheese and salsa.
Tammy’s Kitchen website has a recipe for Creamy Corn and Potato Chowder. It is a very good “meatless” soup. I also substitute in my processed potatoes for the potato chunks. Yummy!
I wanted to share this tip also. I found a potato skin recipe online. She slices off the sides of the potatoes (the long side with a little “inside” on it) before she bakes them and uses them for potato skins! We bake the potato skins for an easy lunch with cheese and then top with salsa and sour cream.
Thank you Laura for making my kitchen work easier!
Thanks for the baking tip! I had it planned I was going to make Potato Latkes tonight, but I am sick of the labour intensive grating of raw potatoes! Definitely giving this method a try tonight to try and save me an hour of grating in the kitchen!
I always make a large batch when making potato pancakes or something similar. They are perfect convenience food because they chill/freeze and reheat so well.
Hello, just wondering if I could substitute sweet potatoes??? Have quite a few of them, but have never frozen them. This sounds great, my family loves when I make homefries with them, but this would give us something different. Thank you for the tip, will be put to good use!
I’ve never tried it, but I sure think it would work!
did you try it?
I need to “make-ahead” hash browns to feed 70 for youth camps. It typically takes me an hour and a half to make them the same day (using frozen uncooked). Can I freeze the cooked hash browns and simply warm up on serving day. I’m using them for sausage potatoe hash, so I would think preparing in advance and freezing would work.
I would imagine that would work, but I’ve never done it that way before so can’t say for sure. :)
This is a really good idea, only I like my potato skins too. When I make hashbrowns I shred the potatoes, skin and all, soak them in water for a few minutes, then change the water before poping it in the microwave for 3 to 4 minutes, drain, dry, and either freeze or cook up on the spot. You get crispy, non-slimy hashbrowns in under an hour!
We leave the skins on, too. Mostly because I’m too lazy to peel them, but also we use Yukon Golds for these hashed browns and the skins are really thin and potatoes are small so not as easy to peel as a russet. These are delicious and so easy — we make these all the time!
Hi, I was wondering why you put the potatoes in a covered dish vs just putting them on the rack in the oven. My case of potatoes arrive the other day from Azure, so making several batches of hashbrowns. Have you ever just sliced an froze for fried potatoes. Wondering I was thinking of trying that one also. We love potatoes.
That method would work too!
I have been baking potatoes and grating them for has browns for years now. A friend of mine when we lived in colo. a long time ag had a family member that owned a restaurant and that is how they made has browns. The only difference between how u make yours and how I make mine is I grate them with the washed peels on. A lot of the peel comes off in a large piece you can either mince this up and add it or make potatoe skins with cheese etc. we like peels on potatoes. I did learn from you about freezing and have been doing that. Happy eating.
We leave the peels on, too! I usually make my browns from Yukons (and those skins are pretty thin) but I also leave the skins on from russets because I dig my peels! Of course, I grew up in Idaho and never met a potato I didn’t like…
Hi Laura! LOVE your sweet blog! I bought your cookbook and love it too! I’ll have to try this way of making hashies! What I do is shred the potatoes over a flour sack towel and then squeeze all of the water out of the potatoes. And there is quite a bit! This makes them way less watery and oh so easy to fry up! I never get soggy, greasy hash browns that way.
Hi Jennifer,
I would have thought that after baking there is no more water in the potatoes?
We have learnt to love hash browns while visiting our daughter and family in Colorado 3, 2 and 1 year ago. They are starting to become popular here in South Africa as well and we are very keen to make and freeze them by the ton ;-)
This is great! I love making these! I have been doing this a lot lately with extra potatoes before they get to the point you have to throw them. I also cut them up in bite size pieces and make country hash browns with them! Works great!
I ‘bake’ the potatoes in the microwave, then shred with the skin on. Very little skin actually gets shredded, it ends up very nicely on the outside of the grater. So easy and quick! In less than 10 minutes, I’ve got baked and grated potatoes and can add to recipes or freeze.
I will be trying this with my garden potatoes! I am just curious, can I run them through the food processor tograte them?
Thanks :)
Probably, but I’ve not tried it before. :)
Can I just boil the potatoes and then cool and shred them or does it make a big difference in texture taste etc. to do them in oven? thanks cant wait to try them had a garden and have tons of potatoes!!!
I find that baking makes a big difference in texture and taste compared to boiling them. :)
I was wondering if you could cut the potatoes in to cubes for soups and cut them into fries and then freeze instead of grating all of them. Thoughts? Thanks!
Yep!
I was also wondering if you knew when (what month/season) Azure has their best pricing on potatoes. Thanks!
Sorry! One more question! When the potatoes are done baking, are they supposed to be the consistency of a regular baked potato? Have you baked them without being in a dish before so that you could do several pounds at a time? Did that change the baking time? Thanks!
Yes, I usually bake them until they have the consistency of a regular baked potato. :)
I can’t remember, but I think fall and winter are when they have the best prices. I love it when I can get 50 pounds for around $30!
Thanks for the great tip ! I love ways of being frugal. They turned out great.
Thanks for the tip! I have been wondering how to make my own shredded hash browns ever since I began cooking them on a waffle iron. Just spay the waffle iron, load w/shredded potatoes and sprinkle with spices and seasonings. They take about 20 minutes or so to brown on a high setting, so you have plenty of time to cook the rest of your meal while these can do their thing, unattended. I season them differently, just depending on what ever I am serving them with.
OMG, I never thought of using a waffle iron — what a great idea! No flipping involved, and you can walk away from them and do the other hands-on stuff. Brilliant! It’s 5:30am here — I am totally gonna get my cooked breakfast on for my kiddos when they get up at 7am! Thanks fo
r this tip!
I am SO trying this! My husband is a Midwest potato LOVER! I could live on pasta and rice. He wants to live on meat and potatoes LOL! He would be happy if we had hashbrowns every night.
And I LOVE the idea of the waffle iron here in comments.
Thanks for the tip!
Can these homemade hash browns be used in a cheesy hash brown casserole similar to the kind served at the Cracker Barrel?
Sounds yummy and yes that would work!
Can you dice them instead? We really love the style of hash browns that are small cubes rather than the shredded.
Yes, that should work just fine!
I love the recipe bought half a bushel of potatoes a couple of hours ago almost done can not wait to enjoy.
I’m so excited to try this! I’ve been shredding raw potatoes, which takes more work than the icky mess is worth.
Thank You so much for your great website.
I have been stressing, crying, throwing away everything we have in our pantry. Because I found out that all my life Ive been allergic to Aspartame, MSG and the processing of food. So that meant everything I could eat wasn’t good for me. Nor my family. So I went looking for easy meals that my kids would eat and love. I’m not a good cook but it looks like I will have to be now. Thanksgiving is coming up and all the family is coming to my house. So thanks so much for all the great recipes. :)
Thanks,
Crazy scared Mom!!
Hang in there! It’s hard to make those changes, but you’ll get it all figured out and probably have fun in the meantime finding lots of new yummy foods!
Been doing hasbrowns like this for a while now. Also you can cube the potatoes and add onion and green peppers to the mix. Always good.
I love the versitle potato and can’t resist a great deal on a 5 pound bag. Since I usually am just cooking for myself, 5 pounds is still a lot to go through before they start to go bad. I started doing a similar thing for mashed potatoes. I peel, dice, and boil about 2 1/2 to 3 pounds. Then add a little butter and milk or cream,salt and pepper and use a mixer until they are smooth and creamy. I pop them in the refridgerator until the next day and then scoop them with a cookie dough scooper onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and put them in the freezer until they are thoroughly frozen. Then transfer them to a freezer bag. The trick is to not season them too heavily or add too much liquid so that it can be added to your taste when you get them out to reheat. At that point you can make cheesy potatoes or garlic potatoes or potatoes pancakes or whatever you like with mashed potatoes. They also make great thickeners for soups and stews. Now I’m going to have frozen hash browns on hand too! Thank you so much.
The reason I was researching this was in the HOPE of recreating an Or-Ida brand hashbrown called “Country Inn Creations – Pepper and Onion Hashbrowns”.. They stopped making them or selling them in my area.. But they were GOOD!!
Bag ingredients say: Potatoes, Onions, Green, Red Bell Peppers (all diced), veg oils (mix listed), salt,modified potato starch (I assume potato flour), Dextrose, Rice Flour, yellow corn flour, Black Pepper, Garlic and Paprika,and modest preservatives and colorings (baking soda, anato, sodium acid phosphate, Xanthan gum)..
A nathural vesion would work for me.. Any Ideas??
Dennis, if you’re still looking to recreate that pre-bagged stuff, I think I can lend a hand. :-)
For starters, potato starch and potato flour are not the same thing. So don’t use them interchangeably.
Secondly, most of the unnecessary ingredients in the list you provided are things that are necessary to preserve the food for grocery store use and to cover up the way they dink with the original foods. I strongly suspect you could go VERY basic and get a better flavor from your homemade version than Ore-Ida ever had!
If you want to pre-make frozen potatos so they’re ready at a moments notice, it’s pretty easy. Do the potatos like this post suggested, and then grate or dice them as per preference. Peel and dice up some onion. Clean, de-seed, and dice some peppers. Lay it all out on a cookie sheet lined in parchment paper and freeze.
Once frozen, put it all in a Ziploc bag and suck out as much air as possible (or use a food saver), and voila! All done!
When you’re ready to cook it, heat up some oil in a skillet, dump in your frozen goodies, and season with salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika.
Don’t stir too often; let it brown on that side before you flip it over.
I can’t compare what I’ve just described to the Ore-Ida bagged version, since I’ve never tasted it, but of you do what I just said I think you’ll be quite happy with your breakfast! Hope that helps, and happy cooking!! :-)
As for the blog post I’m responding to…thank you! I can’t wait to try this! I dehydrate food to take to work and this may just save me a TON of effort and time! Woohoo!!! :-)
What has always worked for me instead of baking the potatoes I have also microwaved them or even boiled them. All works about the same.
I haven’t read all of the comments but I read enough to see some excellent ideas. I have a tip for you… If by chance you ever get stuck with frying raw shredded potatoes. Pile them in a tea towel and squeeze or twist the towel to squeeze the liquid starch out of them first… they don’t turn mushy this way. they do brown up and taste great. You’ll be amazed at how much liquid you’ll get out of them…
In nutrition classes I was taught that there was a chemical difference in potatoes that were boiled versus baked. The starch breaks down differently when boiled. Baking is preferred.
I’ve been making my hashbrowns this way forever. It doesn’t matter if one has leftover baked potatoes or leftover steamed (or boiled) ones. They all make great hash browns. If one has left over mashed potatoes, add an egg to a cup or so of them and mix and fry in butter for great potato pancakes. I never just make enough potatoes for one meal, as the “leftovers” are the best part…Well maybe, anyway! Potatoes are delicious!
Hi – there is a very good reason NOT to peel the potatoes. Almost all the goodness is contained just under the skin which peeling actually removes. Just thought you might like to know for the future. I always cook with unpeeled potatoes now and love them.
Can you use a ricer instead of grating?
Hmm, I’m not even sure what a ricer is! :) If you feel it would work to get a hashbrown effect, I’d say go for it!
I have a ricer and I wouldn’t use one for hash browns. It’s a better use for smoother mashed potatoes.
I peeled my potatoes before I put them in the oven on mistake. Will this still work? ugh.
Yes, they should still be fine. How did they turn out?! :)
I did half of them peeled and half unpeeled. They all cooked the same… but I found the one that were peeled before cooking were significantly easier to shred than the ones with the peel on. :-) Happy Day!
Hi! Three things: (1) you made me laugh out loud reading “Unless you want a massive potato explosion” – it was unexpected and I think it is nice that you are open to the idea that actually, some people might want to do that, just for a laugh!; (2) the photo of grating the potato also made me smile because your grater has a smiley face; (3) until I read this I thought hash browns were a small sausage shaped croquette sort of thing that you got when you ordered a cooked breakfast. I now realise it is a much simpler concept, easy to make myself and probably far tastier! So thanks for all three!
what about sliced potatoes to use in au gratin potates or casseroles. or partially boiled potatoes cubed that could be thrown in pan of water to finish cooking to make “fresh Mashed potatoes do you think that would work???
My kids LOVE these and so do I. Excellent recipe and soooo easy. So glad to make hash browns that I can feel good about feeding my family!!!
I was so excited to read about this method. Tried it today and like someone else mentioned, I ended up with mashed potatoes instead of grated. I’ve tried and tried to make homemade hash browns and nothing ever turns out right – only the refridgerated store bought kind turn out right… not sure what went wrong – cooked potatoes just til done, let cool, peeled and attempted to grate, but ended up with mashed potatoes. Any suggestions would be much appreciated! :)
I’m wondering if your potatoes are getting baked too long, thus making them mushy. Also, you might try letting the potatoes cool a bit more before grating to see if they stiffen up?
I absolutely love hash browns, but usually when I order them at a restaurant they give me home fries thinking that they are the same thing. However, now that I have this recipe I am going to start making them myself. I love how you can make them over the weekend, when I have time in the morning, and them cook them during the week, when I normally do not have too much time. Thanks for the recipe!
Some restaurants like Bob Evans serve home fries…(diced blocks) others like Denny’s serve hash browns (shredded) so you really have to read their menus to see which style of potatos they serve
I tried baking the potatoes,cooling them and using a food processor to shred them and they turned to mush. Perhaps it was because they were golden potatoes?
They may have just been baked a little too long to work well for hashbrowns. :)
You used a food processor, that’s what you did wrong , using a hand shredder has better results
This sounds great! How long do you cook the Potatoes for?90 mins or 30mins? Thanks!
Typically I bake potatoes for about 1-1 1/2 hours. :)
Hi. How would I do this if I wanted to make frozen patties?
I could scoop some out, press them into a patty, and freeze on cookie sheets. What a great idea!!!!!
Why don’t you leave the skins on when you grate them? Unless the skins get too well done when it’s baked maybe it’s hard to grate? Or, I see that you put them in a covered baking dish first….maybe that’s why they didn’t get a tough skin? I hope you still check this site. y
My experience is that the skins peel off while grating. We do try to leave them on, but sometimes it’s not worth the hassle since they clog up the grater. :)
Sorry I have a few questions!
First they just need to go into a baking dish like your first picture right? And covered with aluminum foil?
What kind of texture do I need to look for to see if they are done? Is 1 1/2 hours to long? Should I just try and hour first? How do I know if they are the right consistency?
Thanks!!
In Jesus Light and Love,
Ashley
These are what I have been looking for. I used to dice and bake potatoes for years, then last year I changed to boiling the whole potatoes and dicing them. But they weren’t what I wanted. But these hit the spot. I took a plunge and made a bunch and froze them. We had them this morning.
Start with baking the potatoes in a baking dish and cook them covered for around an hour. If you can push slightly on one and it gives a little it is probably done. I usually just cut mine in half to see if they are completely cooked. After they have been cooked, cooled and shredded you can put them into a frying pan or skillet with butter to brown.
Thank you! I have been trying to make hash browns for so long, without success, but with the baking first trick, things are looking good! I mixed in diced green peppers, onions, jalapeño, red peppers, garlic, shredded carrots and zucchini, a bit of Olive oil, and smoothed them out on a cookie sheet with parchment paper, brushed with butter, sprinkled with garlic salt, and I have them in the oven. The goal is to crisp them up, and then cut them into squares for quick nuke and go breakfast side to go with breakfast burritos I have pre made! I’ll update to let you know how it panned out!
My husband used to make what he called an egg white omelet using his own homemade hashbrowns, egg whites, onion and peppers for us on Saturday morning when our kids were young. we always looked forward to his Saturday morning breakfasts.
Can the Idaho Russet Potatoes (the big baker potatoes) be used for this? Or are they too dry and crumbly when grating them after they are baked?
I would think these would work just fine if they are baked long enough to make sure they become more moist.
How long do the hash browns last in the freezer?
I’ve stored them for up to 6 months before and they’ve done fine. :)
A few days ago i used frozen hashbrowns to make potato latkes they were great .and have been looking for something like this since. Thank you.
I have a shredder attachment on my food processor. Would this work to shred the potatoes? I’m afraid by cooking the potatoes first, they would be too soft for the food processor. Alternatively, could I just partially cook the potatoes?
I believe the shredder attachment should work well, but yes definitely go ahead and at least partially cook the potatoes. :)
How would I go about making french fries from this? I did the hash browns and they were perfect ty! My 2-year-old loves fries and I’ve been trying to figure out how to make fries with all these potatoes I just baked.
Simply cut them into strips instead of shredding them, then fry for just a few minutes. Yummy!
Would a meat grinder work to shred them? I have 3-4 screens from fine to course for it.
Thanks for this tip. I will make those hash browns!!
I’ve never tried that, but it sounds like it could work!
I just made them to take camping this past week. They were fantastic! They never once browned or got mushy. A herd of teen girls were going for 2nds and 3rds. I had them in my cooler for 3 days until I cooked them. I’ve been sharing this with everyone I know.
Is one type of potato better than another?
Any kind will work fine!
Better try 1 hr. for baking unless you like mushy potatoes that you can’t peel or grate.
I’m looking for a different recipe.
I’ve made my own before, but have not tried to pre-baked them. One question/favor – could you create an easily printable recipe? I love all the recipes I receive in my email box from your website, the downside is I just don’t make the time to type everything up, with the directions. If you could, I would LOVE it!
How do you make the hash brown in the skillet pan ? Do you shape them first ?
Yes, I do it like this: https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/make-frozen-hashbrown-patties
Great tip! Thank you for sharing! Definitely going to do this!