1 650 g (22 oz) package frozen hash browns, thawed
2 tablespoons butter, divided
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 small white onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
½ teaspoon granulated sugar
1 egg, whisked
1 cup Gruyère
½ cup sharp cheddar cheese
sprinkle kosher salt
sprinkle black pepper
chopped parsley to garnish
Takes ,
serves 8.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Transfer thawed potatoes into a clean dishtowel. Squeeze off liquid, if any. Transfer to a large bowl.
Mix cheeses together in a separate bowl.
Caramelize onion: Heat 1 tablespoon oil in medium skillet over moderate heat. Add 1 tablespoon butter and melt. Add onion and garlic and toss to combine. Sprinkle with sugar, toss and continue to cook until softened and lightly brown, about 10 minutes.
Hash brown mixture: Transfer onions to bowl with potatoes. Return skillet to stovetop add remaining oil and butter swirling until butter melts. Drizzle over potatoes and onion mixture, toss to combine.
Add whisked egg and 1 cup of cheese plus a sprinkle each of kosher salt and pepper, about ½ teaspoon of each. Toss to combine.
Spill mixture onto baking sheet, spreading it out into an even layer, without pressing down. Top with remaining cheese.
Transfer to oven and bake for 35 minutes until cheese bubbles and potatoes are golden brown.
To serve: Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Cut into squares using a sharp knife or pizza cutter. Serve immediately with eggs and bacon for breakfast, or as a side dish next to a favourite main course.
Hash Browns Recipe
Ingredients
1 650 g (22 oz) package frozen hash browns, thawed
2 tablespoons butter, divided
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 small white onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
½ teaspoon granulated sugar
1 egg, whisked
1 cup Gruyère
½ cup sharp cheddar cheese
sprinkle kosher salt
sprinkle black pepper
chopped parsley to garnish
Directions
Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Transfer thawed potatoes into a clean dishtowel. Squeeze off liquid, if any. Transfer to a large bowl.
Mix cheeses together in a separate bowl.
Caramelize onion: Heat 1 tablespoon oil in medium skillet over moderate heat. Add 1 tablespoon butter and melt. Add onion and garlic and toss to combine. Sprinkle with sugar, toss and continue to cook until softened and lightly brown, about 10 minutes.
Hash brown mixture: Transfer onions to bowl with potatoes. Return skillet to stovetop add remaining oil and butter swirling until butter melts. Drizzle over potatoes and onion mixture, toss to combine.
Add whisked egg and 1 cup of cheese plus a sprinkle each of kosher salt and pepper, about ½ teaspoon of each. Toss to combine.
Spill mixture onto baking sheet, spreading it out into an even layer, without pressing down. Top with remaining cheese.
Transfer to oven and bake for 35 minutes until cheese bubbles and potatoes are golden brown.
To serve: Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Cut into squares using a sharp knife or pizza cutter. Serve immediately with eggs and bacon for breakfast, or as a side dish next to a favourite main course.
Hash Browns Recipe
5 / 5. 2
Grated potatoes tossed with caramelized onions, garlic, an egg and two cheeses, then oven-baked crispy…
This FRENCH ONION HASH BROWNS recipe is what happens when French onion soup meets a breakfast classic!
This is one of those culinary thrillers that begins with a beloved usual suspect, potatoes. What takes it from simple to amazing is what we do with those potatoes, pairing them with an assortment of other tasty ingredients. One thing’s for sure, this FRENCH ONION HASH BROWNS recipe is just waiting to become your new favourite potato dish. Oh, the other thing we better clarify off the top: you can serve them anytime – breakfast, lunch or dinner.
If potatoes first got your attention, you’ve come to the right place. We love potatoes. After making this easy potato recipe, please try some of our other favourites like this OLD-SCHOOL POTATO SALAD and our big-flavoured WARM POTATO SALAD. And don’t let the name confuse you when you try THIS IS NOT POTATO SALAD, made with fingerling potatoes, asparagus, Dijon and mayo. We also have a creamy SCALLOPED POTATO recipe, these GARLIC-SMASHED POTATOES and the hugely popular CHEESY POTATO CASSEROLE. Try one, try ‘em all.
Let’s get back to this FRENCH ONION HASH BROWNS recipe:
INGREDIENTS
This photo of the ingredients easily tells the whole story here. Potatoes, onion, garlic, two cheeses, plus seasoning and a garnish… sounds like our kind of recipe, right? Best thing about this recipe, it took me five minutes to pick everything up at my local grocery store. No fancy trip to far-off places looking for tough-to-find ingredients. Love!
HASH BROWN POTATOES
So, if there’s one thing that may require some special attention, it’s these frozen shredded hash brown potatoes. Look for them in the frozen vegetable section of your grocery store. Pro tip: follow our instructions and place them in the refrigerator the night before. They have to be fully thawed before you begin, but once they are, they’re ready to go. Another thing about these potatoes, make sure you’re buying shredded potatoes and not shoestring, thin-cut, wedges or variations with seasoned coatings. Only unseasoned, shredded starchy potatoes will work. Of course, you can shred a favourite potato like russet potatoes or Yukon golds yourself using a food processor; waxy potatoes won’t work in this recipe. It’s more work to shred your own, and you’ll need to add 10 minutes to the total time for the recipe.
TWO CHEESES
True story: we’ve never (ever!) met a cheese we didn’t like. No surprise though, that we picked two of our absolute favourites for this cheesy potato recipe: cheddar and Gruyère. We suggest splurging on these two ingredients, looking for premium varieties if possible. We got ours from a favourite speciality cheese store and grated them by hand for the recipe using a cheese grater.
The Gruyère is a nutty Swiss cheese with fragrant grassy notes, while the sharp Canadian cheddar delivers a pungent, earthy flavour. If you’d like to try this hash browns recipe using other cheeses like Havarti, mozzarella cheese, blue cheese, feta, Colby and Monterey Jack, go ahead. Don’t forget to drop us a comment and let us know what worked so others can try your combos too. Thanks!
FLAVOUR BOOSTERS
So the whole idea for this recipe started with me thinking I needed to re-shoot our delicious recipe for FRENCH ONION SOUP. I went down that rabbit hole of caramelized onions flavoured with a hint of garlic, boosted with stringy, melted Gruyère. Somewhere along the way, I thought, “Imagine that onion and cheese flavour with potatoes.” Next thing I knew, I was adding thinly sliced, sweet white onion, finely minced garlic, plus oil and butter into a skillet to sauté something very delicious.
SAUTÉED ONIONS
Two things about the onion-garlic sauté. First, the addition of a tiny amount of sugar helps with the caramelization and adds a hint of sweetness to the mixture. Second, cook this mixture over low or moderate heat for best results. Cooking the onions over medium-high heat may cause them to brown too quickly without releasing their sweet juices. Just goes to show you can’t rush a good thing. Make sure to watch the VIDEO created for this recipe before you begin. We don’t want you to miss the return of the skillet, where we warm oil and melt butter after the onions are added to the mixing bowl.
MIXING BOWL
A large mixing bowl is essential to bring all of the ingredients in this FRENCH ONION HASH BROWNS recipe together before baking. To begin, squeeze the thawed potatoes in a clean dish towel or cheesecloth to remove excess starch and as much moisture as possible. You can also blot the potatoes on paper towels before transferring to the bowl. Gently toss the shredded potatoes with the sautéed onions, oil, melted butter, egg, cheese, kosher salt and black pepper to distribute all of the flavours. Please remember to toss gently, the goal being to keep the hash browns somewhat light and fluffy.
SHEET PAN TO BAKE
The other thing that prevents these hash browns from clumping and baking too dense is cooking them on a sheet pan. Unlike hash brown made in a heavy pan or casserole, a sheet pan distributes the potatoes across a larger expanse in an even layer. This creates crispy hash browns without the need for flipping. We suggest following our lead by placing a piece of parchment paper down on the sheet pan before spilling the potato mixture onto it. No need to oil or grease the pan; the butter and oil added to the mixture in the bowl prevent the potatoes from sticking. One last important point: don’t push the potatoes down onto the sheet pan. Just like when we tossed everything together in the bowl, gentle is the way to go.
OVEN BAKE
Spoiler alert – your kitchen is going to smell very appetizing as this simple potato dish cooks in the oven. We found 35 minutes of cook time works perfectly, but every oven is different, so watch closely. The potatoes are so fine, the edges of these hash browns can easily burn if left in too long.
Look for the telltale signs of doneness: the cheese will be melted and bubbly, and the potatoes will have a fab crispness with a rich golden-brown hue. Serve straight away, but do give the tray a sprinkle of chopped parsley before portions are transferred to plates. Nice touch.
FOR BREAKFAST
Enjoying these homemade hash browns for breakfast is always easy. Simply fry up a couple of eggs; sunnyside up, over easy or scrambled will all work. Add some toast with butter and a favourite jam, and then some crispy bacon or breakfast sausage for the win. Then a cup of tea or a mug of coffee. Fantastic.
AS A SIDE DISH
Then, we find this hash brown recipe also works as a sensational side dish. Try them paired with RIBEYE STEAKS, LAMB CHOPS or GRILLED PORK CHOPS. We like serving them topped with a dollop of sour cream and a fresh salad. They’re a nice change from pasta or rice.
In the rare, off chance you have leftovers, simply transfer them to an airtight container and store in the fridge until you go to reheat. Try to consume them within five days. Reheating them is easy, simply place them onto a parchment-lined pan and warm in a low 250°F oven for about 15 minutes until crispy again.
PIN IT!
This amazing side dish idea is so delicious, we suggest you PIN the recipe to a favourite breakfast, brunch, potato recipe or side dish board on PINTEREST or BOOKMARK this tab for easy access. SHARE it with friends so they can make them too. We’d also appreciate seeing pics of all the delicious dishes you’re making these days. Use #weekendatthecottage when you post those pics on Facebook and Instagram. Thanks!
Crispy, cheesy FRENCH ONION HASH BROWNS are delicious, no matter how you serve them.
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Ingredients
1 650 g (22 oz) package frozen hash browns, thawed
2 tablespoons butter, divided
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 small white onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
½ teaspoon granulated sugar
1 egg, whisked
1 cup Gruyère
½ cup sharp cheddar cheese
sprinkle kosher salt
sprinkle black pepper
chopped parsley to garnish
Directions
Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Transfer thawed potatoes into a clean dishtowel. Squeeze off liquid, if any. Transfer to a large bowl.
Mix cheeses together in a separate bowl.
Caramelize onion: Heat 1 tablespoon oil in medium skillet over moderate heat. Add 1 tablespoon butter and melt. Add onion and garlic and toss to combine. Sprinkle with sugar, toss and continue to cook until softened and lightly brown, about 10 minutes.
Hash brown mixture: Transfer onions to bowl with potatoes. Return skillet to stovetop add remaining oil and butter swirling until butter melts. Drizzle over potatoes and onion mixture, toss to combine.
Add whisked egg and 1 cup of cheese plus a sprinkle each of kosher salt and pepper, about ½ teaspoon of each. Toss to combine.
Spill mixture onto baking sheet, spreading it out into an even layer, without pressing down. Top with remaining cheese.
Transfer to oven and bake for 35 minutes until cheese bubbles and potatoes are golden brown.
To serve: Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Cut into squares using a sharp knife or pizza cutter. Serve immediately with eggs and bacon for breakfast, or as a side dish next to a favourite main course.
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