Potatoes O’Brien are diced russet potatoes pan-fried with green and red bell pepper and onion until crisp and golden. The potatoes simmer for 8 to 10 minutes first, then fry in hot oil for about 20 minutes with salt, pepper and an optional pinch of paprika. They serve 4 as a side for breakfast or dinner, in about 45 minutes.
How to make them: Dice 3 large russets into 1/2-inch cubes and simmer them in salted water until just tender. Drain and rinse in cold water. Sauté the onion in shimmering oil, add the peppers for 2 minutes, then stir in the potatoes, season, and fry until crisp and golden brown, flipping now and then.
Why You’ll Love Them
- Crisp outside, tender inside: the short simmer gets the potatoes most of the way before they hit the pan.
- Color and crunch: red and green bell pepper and onion in every bite.
- One skillet: after the pot of water, everything cooks in a single pan.
- Breakfast or dinner: serve them with eggs and bacon, or next to a steak.
Ingredient Notes
Russet potatoes: 3 large, washed and diced into 1/2-inch cubes. Keep the cubes the same size so they cook evenly.
Salted water: a large pot of it, for the first simmer.
Vegetable oil: 2 tablespoons for frying. Butter with olive oil, or bacon drippings, also work (see Variations).
Bell peppers: 1/2 large green and 1/2 large red bell pepper, seeded and diced.
Onion: 1/4 cup, white or yellow, diced.
Seasoning: 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and black pepper, to taste. Optional: 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, onion powder or both, and 1 to 2 pinches of regular or smoked paprika.
Parsley: optional, for garnish.
Ingredients
- 3 large russet potatoes, washed and diced into 1/2-inch cubes
- Water, salted (a large pot of it, for simmering the potatoes)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/2 large green bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 1/2 large red bell pepper, seeded and diced
- 1/4 cup onion (white or yellow), diced
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (optional; onion powder, or both, to taste)
- 1 to 2 pinches paprika, regular or smoked (optional, to taste)
- Parsley, for garnish (optional)
How to Make Potatoes O’Brien
1. Simmer the potatoes. Put the diced potatoes in a large pot of salted water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes. The potatoes should be slightly tender but not falling apart.
2. Drain and rinse. Drain the potatoes, rinse them in cold water and set them aside.
3. Sauté the onion. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet or frying pan over medium-high heat. When the oil begins to shimmer and is just starting to smoke, add the onion and sauté for a couple of minutes.
4. Add the peppers. Add the diced red and green bell peppers and cook for 2 more minutes.
5. Fry until crisp. Add the potatoes and stir to mix. Season with the salt and pepper (and the garlic powder, onion powder and paprika, if using). Fry until crisped and golden brown, about 20 minutes, stirring or flipping occasionally.
6. Serve. Serve immediately, garnished with parsley if you like.
How to Get Potatoes O’Brien Crisp and Golden
Soft, pale, broken potatoes are the usual complaint. Here is what to do instead:
- Cut even 1/2-inch cubes. Same-size pieces finish at the same time.
- Stop the simmer early. 8 to 10 minutes, until slightly tender but not falling apart. A cube should hold its shape when you drain it. Boiling first also shortens the time the potatoes need in the pan.
- Drain and rinse in cold water. Then let them sit while you cook the onion and peppers.
- Get the oil hot first. Wait until it shimmers and is just starting to smoke before the onion goes in.
- Use a large skillet. The potatoes need room to touch the pan.
- Leave them alone. Stir or flip only now and then over about 20 minutes, so each side has time to brown.
- Serve right away. They’re at their crispiest straight from the pan.
Other Ways to Cook Them
Recipes for Potatoes O’Brien agree on the ingredients but not on the order. Three approaches:
Boil, then onion, peppers, potatoes (this recipe). Simmer the potatoes, sauté the onion, add the peppers for 2 minutes, then fry everything together until golden.
Boil briefly, potatoes before peppers. Boil small chopped potatoes for 5 minutes and drain. Cook the onion in butter and olive oil for 1 to 2 minutes, add the potatoes, cover and cook on medium-high for 5 to 8 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes. Then add the bell pepper, salt and pepper, cover for 2 to 3 more minutes and finish with parsley. A non-stick pan helps here.
No boil, fried as one cake. Diced raw red-skin potatoes, unpeeled, go into bacon drippings with green and red bell pepper and plenty of yellow onion, salted and peppered as they go. Let the mixture brown until crispy. To turn it, loosen the edges with a spatula, cover the pan with a platter larger than the skillet and flip it out. Add a little more fat if the pan looks dry, slide the potatoes back browned side up and brown the second side.
Variations
- Butter and olive oil: use 1/2 tablespoon salted butter plus 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil in place of the vegetable oil.
- Bacon drippings: fry in bacon drippings for a smoky flavor.
- More onion: the onion share varies a lot from recipe to recipe; add more if you love it.
- Garlic salt: season with garlic salt in place of regular salt, and finish with chopped parsley.
- Smoked paprika: use smoked paprika instead of regular for a deeper color.
- Red-skin potatoes: leave the skins on and dice them medium.
Storage & Reheating
Refrigerator: Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours in shallow covered containers. They keep 3 to 4 days.
Freezer: Freeze for 3 to 4 months; longer storage can dry them out and dull the flavor. Thaw in the refrigerator, in cold water in a leak-proof bag, or in the microwave.
Reheating: Reheat covered until they reach 165°F. Don’t reheat leftovers in a slow cooker.
What to Serve With Them
For breakfast, serve them with eggs and bacon, or next to a bacon, egg and hash brown casserole. They’re also good on a plate with waffles. For more breakfast potatoes, try sausage hashbrown bites.
For dinner, set them next to steak bites or honey garlic pork chops. If you’d rather use the oven, roast carrots, potatoes and onions and fried potatoes, onions and smoked Polish sausage are both sheet-pan dinners.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you make potatoes O’Brien crisp?
Simmer 1/2-inch cubes just until slightly tender, drain and rinse them, then fry them in shimmering hot oil for about 20 minutes, flipping only now and then.
What is in potatoes O’Brien?
Diced potatoes, green and red bell pepper and onion, fried in oil and seasoned with salt and pepper.
Do I have to boil the potatoes first?
No, but it shortens the time in the pan. Raw diced potatoes can be fried from the start; they just take longer to brown.
Do I peel the potatoes?
Either way works. Russets are washed and diced here; red-skin potatoes are often left unpeeled.
When do I serve them?
Breakfast or dinner, alongside eggs, bacon, steak or your favorite main course.
Final Notes
A short simmer, a hot pan and a little patience turn diced potatoes, peppers and onion into a crisp, golden side. If you try the platter flip, tell me in the comments how it went.
Potatoes O'Brien
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Ingredients
- 3 large russet potatoes washed and diced into 1/2-inch cubes
- water salted, a large pot of it, for simmering the potatoes
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/2 large green bell pepper seeded and diced
- 1/2 large red bell pepper seeded and diced
- 1/4 cup onion white or yellow, diced
- 1/4 teaspoon salt to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder optional; onion powder, or both, to taste
- 1 to 2 pinches paprika regular or smoked; optional, to taste
- parsley optional, for garnish
Instructions
- Put the diced potatoes in a large pot of salted water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes. The potatoes should be slightly tender but not falling apart.
- Drain the potatoes, rinse them in cold water and set them aside.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet or frying pan over medium-high heat. When the oil begins to shimmer and is just starting to smoke, add the onion and sauté for a couple of minutes.
- Add the diced red and green bell peppers and cook for 2 more minutes.
- Add the potatoes and stir to mix. Season with the salt and pepper (and the garlic powder, onion powder and paprika, if using). Fry until crisped and golden brown, about 20 minutes, stirring or flipping occasionally.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley if you like.
