Have a healthy, crispy, perfectly seasoned starch on your breakfast plate in no time with these 10-minute breakfast potatoes!

overhead view of smashed crispy golden breakfast potatoes, sprinkled with green chives on a baking sheet

These 10-minute breakfast potatoes are one of those quick-food-prep tricks I’ve kept up my sleeve for a LONG time. I adore these potatoes for a couple reasons. FIRST, it’s a quick and easy way to get a healthy starch on your breakfast plate; next, they’re just dang delicious. I usually cook them in the same pan I used to fry bacon/cook eggs. This recipe is more of a choose-your-own-ending type template, but I’ll share my method and a couple variations so you too can enjoy crispy, heavily seasoned breakfast potatoes as often as you like.

Recipe Ingredients

The list is super simple…here’s everything you’ll need:

  • Potatoes – to start, you’ll need 4 small yellow potatoes! If you want to make more potatoes than that (hello, I do!), feel free to double or triple the recipe.
  • Butter or Ghee – 1 tablespoon of either butter, ghee, or bacon fat helps to crisp the taters.
  • Spice Blend – 2 teaspoons of your spice blend of choice will head onto the potatoes while they crisp.
  • Chives – sprinkle fresh chopped chives over the potatoes as garnish, if desired!

Best Seasoning Options

There are SO MANY options when it comes to seasoning your potatoes. Here are a few spice blends to get your wheels turning:

Don’t let these spice blends limit you, though. You can absolutely use a couple of single seasonings to create your own delicious combo. My go-to combination in this case would be onion powder, garlic powder, and sea salt!

smashed crispy golden breakfast potatoes, sprinkled with green chives on a baking sheet

How To Make Crispy Smashed Potatoes

  1. Soften the potatoes – to start, you’ll need to soften the potatoes either in the microwave or oven. I personally use the microwave method (it’s just so quick and easy), but they both work great.
    1. Microwave method: wrap each potato in 1 very wet paper towel. Microwave all 4 potatoes together on high for 4 minutes, adding time (if needed) until they’re soft enough to give with a poke. Let cool to touch.
    2. Oven method: place the potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 375 F for 40 to 45 minutes, or until they’re soft. Let cool to touch.
  2. Smash and crisp the potatoes – melt the butter, ghee, or bacon fat in a large skillet and then using the back of a spatula or large spoon, smash the potatoes until they’re about 1/2-inch thick, then season liberally with the blend of your choice and then pan sear for about 2 minutes, or until crispy looking. Flip to cook the other side for the same amount of time!
  3. Garnish, serve, and enjoy – add more seasoning, if desired, then garnish with chives, and enjoy warm!

Breakfast Potato Toppings

I personally enjoy these potatoes (garnished with chives) next to a plate of eggs, bacon, and fresh fruit, but if you’d rather enjoy them as a base, go for it! Here are a few yummy ideas for toppings:

  • Sausage and cheese: place the crispy potatoes on a sheet pan and sprinkle cooked and crumbled sausage and shredded cheddar cheese over the potatoes, then stick the whole sheet pan in the oven for just enough time to melt the cheese.
  • Ketchup: hang with me here! Keep things super simple with a drizzle of ketchup over your potatoes for a real french fries vibe!
  • Leftover carnitas: make a big batch of carnitas for the week and enjoy your leftovers over crispy potatoes! Go even further and load them up nacho-style with sour cream, salsa, red onions, and any other toppings you love.

How to Serve

Serve your crispy smashed potatoes alongside a simple breakfast (my go-to is either fried or scrambled eggs, bacon, and fresh fruit). If you’re looking for other options though, I’d go with something protein and fat heavy (think: bacon and cheese egg cups, breakfast casserole, or breakfast salad).

How to Make Ahead

There are a few make-ahead routes you take here: first, you can soften the potatoes (in either the oven or microwave) and store them in the fridge to be crisped in a skillet just before enjoying. If taking out a skillet feels like too much on a busy morning, though, you can make the potatoes from start to finish ahead of time, and then (on the morning-of), spread them out on a sheet pan, drizzle them with a little bit of EVOO, and pop them in a 375°F oven to reheat and recrisp.

How to Store, Freeze, and Reheat Crispy Breakfast Potatoes

Store your leftover crispy breakfast potatoes in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer. To reheat from the refrigerator, either recrisp in a skillet or on a sheet pan in a 375°F oven. To reheat from frozen, let the potatoes thaw overnight in the fridge, then crisp in a skillet or in a 375°F oven!

overhead view of smashed crispy golden breakfast potatoes, sprinkled with green chives

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you keep breakfast potatoes from getting mushy?

The whole point of this recipe is to end up with a starchy side of CRISPY (read: very *not* mushy) potatoes. If you’re crisping them in a skillet of hot ghee, butter, or bacon fat, they’ll definitely get crispy!

Should you boil potatoes before frying?

Nope! This method requires no boiling at all. Instead, you’ll soften your potatoes in either the microwave or oven.

Quick and Easy Crispy Smashed Potatoes

4.50 — Votes 4 votes
By Cassy
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 5 minutes
Total: 10 minutes
Servings: 2 servings
Have a healthy, crispy, perfectly seasoned starch on your breakfast plate in no time with these 10-minute breakfast potatoes!

Ingredients  

  • 4 small yellow potatoes
  • 1 tablespoon butter ghee, or bacon fat
  • 2 teaspoons spice blend of choice Adobo by Primal Plate is my personal favorite,Meat & Potatoes is a close second
  • fresh chopped chives for garnish optional

Instructions 

  • Microwave method: wrap each potato in 1 very wet paper towel. Microwave all 4 potatoes together on high for 4 minutes, adding time (if needed) until they’re soft enough to give with a poke. Let cool to touch.
  • Oven method: place the potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 375 F for 40 to 45 minutes, or until they’re soft. Let cool to touch.
  • Melt the butter in a large skillet and then using the back of a spatula or large spoon, smash the potatoes until they’re about 1/2-inch thick. Season liberally with the blend of your choice and then pan sear for about 2 minutes, or until crispy looking, and then flip to cook the other side for the same amount of time.
  • Add more seasoning, if desired, garnish with the chives, and enjoy warm!

Nutrition

Calories: 319kcal | Carbohydrates: 61g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Sodium: 66mg | Potassium: 1446mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 187IU | Vitamin C: 67mg | Calcium: 56mg | Iron: 3mg

Additional Info

Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Servings: 2 servings
Calories: 319
Keyword: breakfast potatoes, crispy potatoes

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About the Author

Cassy Joy Garcia, NC

Cassy Joy Garcia, a New York Times best-selling author, of Cook Once Dinner Fix, Cook Once Eat All Week, and Fed and Fit as well as the creative force behind the popular food blog Fed & Fit.


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21 Comments

  1. 4 stars
    Well, I guess I’m the first to respond. |:-) I don’t normally comment on things because I’m such a diverse person, I’d spend another large amount of time if I commented as much as I’d like. So, I spoke with some friends who had invited me to dinner and I didn’t see the text they sent earlier. So I called and said I’d take the things they asked for with me. I love to cook. All kinds of nationalities. If I was going to make some kind of potatoe recipe, it had to be real quick, but also really tasty, as my reputation as a good cook would be on the line (at least to me |:-) They made meat loaf and wanted corn-on-the-cob and potatoes. So I said to myself…search the internet for delicious recipes under 45 minutes and yours came up as one of the initial ones. I read it and said I can actually get this done in the amount of time I had, it seemed. And I did. It was quick and delicious, so very easy to make. I don’t know how you came up with the idea of partial cooking via microwave, smashing them to save time pealing, add the vitamins of the peels, leave them thicker when frying which also made them more substantial and quicker to brown. I am amazed this worked so well with the meat loaf, gravy or not. Thanks so much, Cassy Joy. I’m still amazed I could make something homemade, yet quick.

    1. …no, I wasn’t the first at all. I misread. |:-) And again, thanks.

    2. So glad that this recipe worked out so well for you, and in a pinch, Claude! Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us. -Team F&F

  2. Oh, these look yummy! Microwave is fine with me in moderation – and who wants to turn the oven on for 45 minutes in San Antonio, right?

  3. 5 stars
    Love these! Once you have them you want them with every meal not just breakfast!

  4. I know I’m a little late to the party, but I LOVE these! I saw a post on your instagram story and came over to find the recipe. I had been eating a gluten-free bread in the morning because I wanted some carbs to have my breakfast fill me up longer, but was never happy eating that every day. I swapped out the bread for one of these tiny bad boys and couldn’t be happier! Much better (and natural) compliment to my bacon, eggs, and greens in the morning. Thank you!

  5. I’m pretty new to the paleo lifestyle, but I’m wondering – don’t yellow potatoes fall into the non-paleo category? This recipe looks amaazing, and I’d hate to miss out on it if it turns out it’s not paleo compliant.

  6. Do you freeze them after you smash em or how do you do it? I am not used to freezing potatoes…

  7. WOW this is genius! I love homemade hash browns for breakfast, but unfortunately I never have time during the weekday to make them! That is until now!

  8. Yaasss Girl! I have been waiting for these! I saw your pictures of your breakfast, but must have missed the recipe. Thank you!! Love the microwave trick!

  9. I microwave a sweet potato every morning to go with my breakfast. Best trick out there!

  10. Love this! I saw you make these on snapchat and I was hooked. I’ve been known to nuke a potato or two in my day, but lately I’ve been using the Instant Pot to cook the potatoes (7 min on high pressure). Thanks for sharing this recipe!

  11. I have been waiting for these! I saw them on snapchat but didn’t write it down … adding it to my breakfast rotation!! Thanks for sharing ๐Ÿ™‚