Bangin’ Breakfast Potatoes.
OH WHERE TO START. My secret to perfect breakfast potatoes lies with a few techniques: saute, render, caramelize.
I start with my cast iron skillet. Any skillet will work, but just remember the darker the skillet the darker your product. Dice up the potatoes, toss them in minimal olive oil, and cook them up until nice and brown. Just as the pan is au sec, or nearly dry, throw in some diced raw bacon. Dicing raw bacon can be a pain and I’ve seen some resulting knife cuts, so just before your potatoes start to cook throw the bacon in the freezer! Dicing frozen bacon will change your life. Forever.
The bacon will render which will further cook the potatoes and add a whole new level of flavor. Speaking of flavor, I season my potatoes with salt, pepper, and Old Bay. The key is to lightly season throughout the entire cooking process, that way you build flavor.
Once the bacon is cooked, mince a clove or two of garlic and toss that in. The first time I made this I made the mistake of adding the garlic too early, resulting in hidden burnt pieces of garlic. Don’t do that. Yuck. I also added some dried parsley – only because I didn’t have any fresh on hand. Use whatever works for you!
My favorite part of this recipe is the caramelizing the potatoes. Oh my gosh I’m drooling again. Just before taking them off the fire to serve, sprinkle over a tablespoon of pure maple syrup. You’ll hear it sizzle and your mouth will water. Toss it up and cook it for another minute. The sugars will melt and will just add another layer of deliciousness.
I served mine with a sunny side egg on top for a more breakfast feel. This is completely optional though. I do recommend that egg be runny because then eating just gets fun. If you’re wondering what type of bacon to use, obviously turkey bacon is a healthier-less greasy-option. However, turkey bacon does not render as much fat as regular bacon. I used one slice of each, but easily use turkey bacon with a little bit of oil if you feel it’s necessary. You could also add in onions and other fresh herbs. Really, you can’t mess these up.
Oh and did I mention the smell? I’ll let you find that out for yourself, but I will just say this combination is something that could put Yankee Candle out of business. I love them that much.
- 3 medium golden potatoes - skin on
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more if needed
- 2 pieces of bacon
- 1-2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- parsley for garnish
- salt
- pepper
- Old Bay
- Before you do anything, freeze your bacon slices that way when you're ready to prep, it'll be so much easier to chop!
- Wash the potatoes and cut medium dice into square pieces. To prevent any browning, place the already cut potatoes in a bowl filled with water.
- In the meantime, heat 1-2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Tilt the skillet so the oil spreads evenly.
- Once the oil is hot, drain the potatoes and add to the skillet. Season with salt, pepper, and Old Bay as needed.
- Cook for 10 minutes, stirring the potatoes often, until brown. If needed, add a tablespoon more of oil.
- Chop up the bacon and add to the potatoes. The bacon will start to render and the fat will begin to further cook the potatoes. Toss it up a bit! The bacon will take 5-6 minutes to crisp.
- Once the bacon is cooked, reduce the heat to medium-low, add the minced garlic and toss. Season once more. Add dried or fresh parsley. Control heat as needed.
- Let the garlic cook until fragrant, about one minute.
- Just before serving, drizzle over the maple syrup and toss. Let that cook another minute, giving the potatoes a caramelized effect.
- Serve in a warm bowl with a sunny side up egg!
- This served 3 people in my household, easily bump up the amount of potatoes if serving more!
- If turkey bacon is preferred, add a little more oil throughout cooking process.
- Red potatoes work well too!
Have you ever used red potatoes or do you think the golden potatoes are best for this recipe?
Red potatoes would work just as well! For any recipe using this saute or roasting method I go with golden or red. I’ll add that to the recipe!
Hi! I was just wondering how long these amazing potatoes take from start to finish?
About 25 minutes 🙂
I was looking for a really good breakfast potato dish and I have found it! I didn’t have all the ingredience and I had to make a homemade version of the Old Bay Seasoning but I think it turned out pretty good. Didn’t have bacon on hand, so I used ham. Didn’t have maple syrup, so I used regular syrup. I’m sure the maple syrup is a lot lighter cause it was pretty sticky with regular syrup but it was really yummy. I also didn’t try it with the egg cause my husband made pancakes but the next time I make this, I will use the egg. I will be going to your other ingredients in the future. Thank you!!
I’m so glad you liked them Katie!
I love breakfast potatoes! I add herbs de provence on mine & they turn out amazing! I will try with maple syrup!
I just stumbled upon this recipe from Pinterest– that super close up of the potatoes on the fork…and then the egg + potatoes…. *drool!*.
These are happening tomorrow morning!
What type of camera do you use? I know nothing about photography, but I wish I did. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Thank you!! Samsung came out with a Galaxy camera last summer and that’s what I use. It’s amazing and simple. I know nothing about photography either, hence the less fancy camera!
~Swoon worthy taters! Saving this to make and feed my tater-lovin’ man.
Yum this Looks So Good.The Best Comfort Food.I’m From The South And We Love Potatoes.This will be Great For Breakfast Can’t wait to Try.Thank you for Sharing 🙂
I just made these and oh my goodness AMAZING. Thank you for the recipe
Eating these as I type. We couldn’t get enough. Perfect!
Glad you like 🙂
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I am so excited to make these! How much Old Bay do you use? I have never cooked with it so I am not sure how much should be added.
Ooooh I’m excited for you! I pour about a tablespoon of it in a little bowl and use pinches throughout the cooking process instead of adding it all at once, it just helps to build the flavor. If you have trouble finding the Old Bay, use whatever seasonings you have on hand!
A good pair of kitchen shears does a nice job for dicing bacon 🙂
Don’t you hate to throw away all those uneaten french fries at a restaurant? Take them home–they make great hash browns, and I can see them as the base of your bangin’ potatoes.
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When should I add the onions? And what are your thoughts on adding cheese?
I would add the onions before adding the bacon. Nobody’s ever said no to potatoes, bacon, and cheese…just sayin’.
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Is there any way these could be successfully frozen? I need to make batches in advance for a large brunch –
Hi Sylvia, I’ve never tried freezing breakfast potatoes so I don’t want to give you any false information. I think the best thing to do is make a very small batch and give it a try. Here is an article on freezing cooked potatoes that might help you out: http://www.thriftyfun.com/Freezing-Potatoes-1.html
Can you use honey instead of syrup?
Question – Could you use an Idaho baking potato? I want to make this tomorrow but don’t have any gold or red potatoes. Thanks!
Can’t wait!
Carol
Hi! i haven’t done it with this recipe however I have used baking potatoes for roasting/saute and it came out fine. You should be good 🙂
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Scrumptious! I had not used my cast iron skillet in years – it worked perfectly. I used Jane’s Krazy Mixed Up Salt instead of Old Bay and added onions. Thank you for sharing!
Do I have to boil the potatoes to soften them first ?
Nope! You just dice them smaller so they cook quicker, about 1/4″-1/2″ dice.
I would love to make these for a crowd of 12 people . Can I roast the potatoes instead of cooking in a pan??
I would love to make these for a crowd. Can I oven roast them instead of cooking in a pan?
Hi Carla! Oven roasted potatoes are great! I don’t see why not. I would still follow the recipe in the order (adding in the bacon first, then the garlic last, etc). I would cook them at a higher heat (like 425) and make sure your potatoes are cut into medium dice (about 1/2″) so they cook in time! You can also crank up the broiler to get them super crispy. Let me know how it turns out!
Help!
Mine look nothing like yours. I’m new to the skillet cooking. I have a thick crust stuck to the bottom of my skillet, my potatoes are still white not golden brown and my bacon is floppy and looks raw. I wish I could send a picture but I hope you can give me sone pointers for the next time I want to try this!
Oh no! They need a 911 for food! There’s a few things that could have happened. Potatoes are super starchy so they tend to stick to the pan, which would cause the crust. Be sure to toss them around in the pan ensuring that they don’t stick. Adding a little more oil will help too! The bacon does need some time to render before it crisps up, just as if you were sauteing bacon or pancetta. Toss that around too so it cooks evenly. Cast-iron skillets can handle heat better than any other skillet, so crank it up a notch or two and just keep an eye on the temperature. The potatoes and bacon won’t burn as fast/easily as garlic will, so just before tossing in the garlic reduce the heat. Hopefully with more oil, and frequently tossing everything around, you’ll get a better outcome! I’ll adjust the recipe with these pointers!
Just made these this morning. I messed it up and it’s STILL awesome! First, I only had russet potatoes, so I diced those up. I didn’t have bacon, but we always keep rendered bacon grease in the fridge so I used a couple dollops of that instead of olive oil and diced bacon. I didn’t have old bay so I used salt, pepper, and a tiny bit each of paprika and crushed red pepper. I wanted to add bell pepper, but I only had dehydrated strips. I broke the strips into small pieces and added about 4oz of water to boil and rehydrate them. I then added 2t of minced garlic and about 2t of diced green onion. Here I also added another 4oz of water to make sure the peppers rehydrated (which was probably too much as it made the outside of the potatoes a bit mushy and caused the starches to wash off and contributed to the mushy look). I also only had regular syrup, which I drizzled on towards the end. It was still amazing and I plan on making it for everyone this weeken, with a few changes to my tweaking. ^_^ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
So glad you enjoyed it! I do love that you used bacon grease!!
Did you peel the russetts?
Nope you don’t have to unless it’s a preference
These look fabulous! Do you have an oven method as well?
Cathy
I found your post on pintersted while looking for Whole 30 breakfast ideas. Obviously adding the Maple syrup isn’t approved, but the rest of it was delicious! I added a Whole 30 ketchup. By the way, I have never figured out how to make pan fried potatoes until this post. They turned out perfect following your directions!
Thanks for making them Christina! I’m so glad to hear these are (almost) Whole 30 as I’m looking into doing it this September!
My mouth is full of these right now, and they are incredible. The egg on top was the perfect touch!
Yumm, I’m about to make these right now!
Enjoy! xo
Any ideas how this could be done for a large group would be it amazing Christmas morning
Hi Marcy! I’m going to try making this over the weekend in the oven instead of the stove top, so I will post an update! I think that would be your easiest bet.
Oh man, I made these to feed the boys after a sleepover… They’re all gone! I thought I made enough for some leftovers 😂😂😂 triple recipe has nothing on 4 growing boys!
Oh my goodness they probably destroyed them! My boyfriend has all brothers and I’ve NEVER had leftovers when I make it for them, lol!
Would it be possible to make these the night before and heat up in the oven? Or would the potatoes get mushy? Thanks!
Yep you can! I would wait and put the syrup on the potatoes before they hit the oven.
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