Pan fried potatoes are small cubes of Russet potato cooked in butter and olive oil until they are deep golden and crisp on the outside and soft and fluffy in the middle. They go with eggs at breakfast, with steak or chicken at dinner, and with nearly anything in between.
How to make pan fried potatoes: Peel, rinse and dry Russet potatoes and cut them into 1/2-inch cubes. Melt butter with olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes, season with salt, pepper and onion powder, and turn the heat to medium. Cook 5 minutes, flip, and repeat for 20 to 30 minutes, until brown, crispy and tender.
Why You’ll Love It
- No boiling. The potatoes go into the skillet raw.
- Four pantry ingredients. Potatoes, butter, olive oil and onion powder, plus salt and pepper.
- One skillet. Nothing else to wash.
- Crisp outside, soft inside. Patience between flips gets you there.
Ingredient Notes
Russet potatoes. One and a half pounds. Peel them, rinse them, dry them gently in a kitchen towel and cut them into 1/2-inch cubes.
Salted butter. Two tablespoons.
Olive oil. Two tablespoons. The potatoes cook in the two fats together.
Onion powder. One teaspoon. Garlic powder can be used in its place.
Salt and black pepper. To taste. Season at the start and adjust at the end.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds Russet potatoes, peeled, rinsed, dried and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt, to taste
- Black pepper, to taste
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
How to Make Pan Fried Potatoes
1. Prepare the potatoes. Peel and rinse the potatoes, then dry them gently in a kitchen towel. Cut into 1/2-inch cubes.
2. Heat the skillet. Heat a large nonstick or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the butter and olive oil, stirring as the butter melts and sizzles.
3. Season. Add the potatoes and stir to coat them in the butter and oil. Sprinkle with salt, black pepper and onion powder, then stir again.
4. Fry and flip. Reduce the heat to medium. Cook for 5 minutes before stirring and flipping, then cook another 5 minutes and flip again. Continue the 5-minute cooking-and-flipping pattern for 20 to 30 minutes, until the potatoes are brown and crispy outside and tender inside.
5. Serve. Taste, adjust the salt as needed and serve hot.
Do You Need to Boil Potatoes Before Frying?
No. This recipe starts with raw potatoes, cut small, and cooks them all the way through in the skillet. Boiling first is one way to do it, and you will see recipes that parboil. It is an alternative, not a requirement.
What makes raw potatoes work is the size of the cubes and the rhythm of the flipping.
| Question | Answer for this recipe |
|---|---|
| Boil first? | No. Raw cubes go straight into the pan. |
| Oil or butter? | Both: 2 tablespoons of each |
| How often to flip? | Every 5 minutes, not more |
| How long? | 20 to 30 minutes over medium heat |
| When are they done? | Brown and crispy outside, tender inside |
The 5 minutes between flips is what browns them. Stirring too often keeps the potatoes from sitting against the hot pan long enough to form a crust. Set a timer, walk away and come back to flip.
Give them room, too. A crowded pan gets in the way of browning, so use your largest skillet.
Tips for Success
What’s the secret to perfect pan fried potatoes?
Leave them alone. Cook for 5 minutes before each flip, keep the heat at medium, and do not crowd the skillet.
Is oil or butter better for frying potatoes?
This recipe uses both together: 2 tablespoons of salted butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
Why dry the potatoes?
The recipe rinses the peeled potatoes and then dries them gently in a kitchen towel before they are cut and fried.
How big should the cubes be?
A 1/2 inch. Keep them the same size so they finish together.
What pan should I use?
A large nonstick skillet or a cast-iron skillet.
Can I slice the potatoes instead of cubing them?
Thin raw slices can be pan fried without boiling too, but this recipe and its times are written for 1/2-inch cubes.
Oil or Butter for Frying Potatoes?
Here you do not have to choose. The skillet gets 2 tablespoons of salted butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil, melted together before the potatoes go in. Stir as the butter melts and sizzles, add the cubes and turn them until every piece is coated. Keep the two amounts together as written. Change the fats or the amounts and you should not expect the same pan of potatoes.
How Long Does It Take?
About 45 minutes: 10 minutes to peel and cube the potatoes and about 35 minutes of cooking. Most of that is waiting between flips. The recipe makes 4 side servings.
Variations
Garlic powder. Use it in place of the onion powder.
Parboiled. Some methods boil the potatoes briefly before frying. That is a separate method with its own timing.
With onions and sausage. For a full skillet meal, see fried potatoes, onions and smoked Polish sausage.
Storage & Reheating
Refrigerate leftovers promptly in a covered, shallow container and use them within 3 to 4 days. Reheat fried potatoes in the oven or on the stovetop. Do not reheat them in a slow cooker.
What to Serve With It
These potatoes are a natural side for pan fried tilapia with lemon butter sauce. For potatoes cooked other ways, try 3-ingredient slow cooker potatoes, slow cooker glazed herb baby potatoes or Southern stewed potatoes. And for a one-pan dinner, there is chicken and potatoes with Dijon cream sauce.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should you boil potatoes before you pan fry them?
You do not have to. This recipe fries them raw.
Can you just pan fry raw potatoes?
Yes. Cut them into 1/2-inch cubes and cook them over medium heat for 20 to 30 minutes, flipping every 5 minutes.
Is oil or butter better for frying potatoes?
Use both, as this recipe does.
How many does it serve?
Four, as a side dish.
Final Notes
I set a timer for 5 minutes and keep my hands off the pan until it rings, because the crust only forms when the potatoes sit still. If you make them, leave a comment to tell me how they turned out or ask a question.
Pan Fried Potatoes
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Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds Russet potatoes peel, rinse, dry gently and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon onion powder garlic powder may be used instead
Instructions
- Peel and rinse the potatoes, then dry them gently in a kitchen towel. Cut into 1/2-inch cubes.
- Heat a large nonstick or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the butter and olive oil, stirring as the butter melts and sizzles.
- Add the potatoes and stir to coat them in the butter and oil. Sprinkle with salt, black pepper and onion powder, then stir again.
- Reduce the heat to medium. Cook for 5 minutes before stirring and flipping, then cook another 5 minutes and flip again. Continue the 5-minute cooking-and-flipping pattern for 20 to 30 minutes, until the potatoes are brown and crispy outside and tender inside.
- Taste, adjust the salt as needed and serve hot.
