Make Your Own Frozen Hashbrowns
ByI’ve always had a hard time making good homemade hashbrowns. When my friend Brenda shared this little trick with me…I gave it a try and it WORKS!
Not only does this make delicious homemade hashbrowns, it is a great way to use up an abundance of potatoes before they start sprouting. Remember how I got 50 pounds for such a good price last week? I plan on putting up several pounds of them into the freezer in hashbrown form. That way, I’ve preserved some of my good organic potatoes, plus I’ve got EASY hashbrowns ready to pull out and cook up for breakfast or dinner anytime I need them!
Oh, and can you say “inexpensive”? Yes, I thought you could. These hashbrowns are so inexpensive, especially when you’ve taken advantage of a good deal on potatoes. So let’s get started, shall we?
First, scrub your potatoes…as many as you want.
Bake the potatoes. I avoid using aluminum foil if at all possible in baking, so I always just place my scrubbed potatoes into a covered dish and bake them for about 1 1/2 hours at 350°. Be sure to stab each potato with a knife before baking so you don’t have a massive potato explosion in your oven. Unless you want a massive potato explosion in your oven. Then feel free to leave them unstabbed.
Allow your baked potatoes to cool. Peel the potatoes.
Shred your potatoes with a cheese grater. They shred very easily because they are soft after baking.
See how lovely?
At this point, you can either cook them, or freeze them. To freeze them, lay them flat on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Put the cookie sheet into the freezer for a couple of hours or until the potatoes are frozen, then transfer them into freezer bags to cook up when you’re ready. Oh so convenient!
I usually cook my hashbrowns in my electric skillet or in a cast iron skillet on the stove.
I use a generous amount of butter, because I love the flavor butter gives my taters.
I also use quite a bit of sea salt or onion salt.
If the hashbrowns are frozen, you can cook them the same way as if they were not frozen…it will just take a few more minutes.
Cook them on one side for 4-5 minutes, then turn. Try not to turn them too much so they don’t get mushy. Cook until the potatoes are golden brown and slightly crispy.
Yum, yum, yum! Ever since I discovered this hashbrown making trick…we have the most delicious hashbrowns. Before, I had simply shredded a raw potato, then tried to fry it. I always ended up with a mushy mess. Blech. The trick: Bake the potatoes first. It works so well! PLUS, the baked potato does not turn brown and ugly like a raw potato does once you shred it.
You can use this same trick to make and freeze diced potatoes or potato chunks. Fry those up in butter and you’ve got some wonderful fried potatoes!
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We used to do something very similar at the greasy spoon where I learned to cook :) We would boil up massive pots of whole, skin-on red potatoes every morning. When they were just barely tender all the way through we’d drain them and then dump them out onto big cookie sheets to cool. We never bothered with potato peelers- the back of a cheap steak knife worked much better.
Once cooled enough to handle and peeled, we’d put half of them through the food processor with the grater blade and the other half we’d dice into chunks. Then all the potatoes went into the fridge to be pulled out a serving at a time. The grated spuds went on the griddle, the diced ones into the deep fryer.
Oh, heavens! I wish I still lived near that restaurant! It has never occurred to me to freeze the cooked but not-yet-fried potatoes- thanks for that handy dandy tip :D
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Thanks for the directions! I can’t want to try this.
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I can’t wait to try this too! Thanks for sharing.
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I had always heard nightmares about freezing potatoes. But I never heard about freezing them like this! I can’t wait to try those hashbrowns. Yum!
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I make my husband breakfast burritos (and freeze them) to take to work with him, and he’s been asking me if I could somehow incorporate hash browns into the burritos. I am definitely going to try this out! I’ll let you know how it goes :)
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I am so glad I looked at this!! I have tried so many times to use fresh potatoes!! I can’t wait to try this! Thanks!
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I just baked my russet potatoes and it doesn’t seem like it’ll work for them… they are too mushy to grate. I should’ve known, but now I have and won’t try this again with russets! Time to invest in some yukon golds..
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Laura Reply:
May 2nd, 2010 at 5:55 pm
Ooh, that’s a bummer because it worked for me with my russets. Mine were pretty dry though. These would be SO good with yukon golds though!!
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Carrie Reply:
May 2nd, 2010 at 5:58 pm
They aren’t completely cool yet, so maybe I just need to wait a bit longer before I try to peel them? I haven’t even tried grating them yet, as they seem like they are too mushy…
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Laura Reply:
May 2nd, 2010 at 6:00 pm
Yes, try that! Maybe even refrigerate them overnight and see how they do!
Laura, you have singlehandedly revolutionized my potato processing! :>) I love breakfast potatoes, but never plan ahead enough to cook them beforehand. This rocks! I linked on my weekly roundup. Thanks for sharing!
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Do you cook your hashbrowns in a nonstick pan? I LOVE hashbrowns, but I have no nonstick skillets, and all I get is a burned mess when I try to make them. This is a fabulous idea, and I’d love to try it if you have any tips for the pan!
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Laura Reply:
May 3rd, 2010 at 10:09 am
I use cast iron with LOTS of butter!
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Chris Holloway Reply:
May 25th, 2011 at 7:22 pm
Cast Iron works wonderfully and it can be made to be VERY nonstick.
Check out this article. http://www.richsoil.com/cast-iron.jsp
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Awesome tip!!! I’m so excited; I will most definitely try this with my withering potatoes in the back of the fridge.
I can’t wait! Gee, I hope they make it to the freezer before I cook them up and eat them all…
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Thanks for the info! I’ve been wondering about freezing some for fries. Do you think this would work for those too? I’d want to bake the fries from the freezer.
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Laura Reply:
May 4th, 2010 at 2:49 pm
Oh yes, I’m sure it would work for fries too!
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sheila Reply:
June 6th, 2011 at 10:22 pm
Prebaked french fries are the best. It works!
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Just tried these this morning and although I thought they were going to be mushy, they turned out AWESOME!! I will definitely be looking for potatoes on sale so I can put some up in the freezer, Thanks for sharing! :)
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AWESOME! I’ve never had time to make hashbrowns in the mornings, but they are so good and so cheap – I’m can’t wait to try this out!
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THANK YOU!!! The only time I’ve tried to freeze hash browns, they came out black and icky. I never thought or read to cook them prior to freezing. I think I will try this tonight!
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Heather T. Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 1:11 pm
I did the same thing, it was such a waste of time, potatoes and then having to find something else to cook
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These turned out great! I am going to try and freeze them next time…we ate them all this time:) Need to find a really good sale on potatoes!lol
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What a great idea! Thanks. I am going to try this. Supermarkets here don’t have hashbrowns OR tater tots, and I’m missing them both.
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My friend recently shared a potato baking trick with me. Put one potato in each muffin spot in a muffin tin. Cooked faster, similar to when people put a nail through the potato. Worked great. Love my taters!
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Oh I love this! Thank you so much for all that you share with us. What a blessing you are!
Hugs & Blessings,
(¯`v´¯)
`*.¸.*´
¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`?Anita
http://aseknc.blogspot.com/
aseknc(at)gmail(dot)com
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So brilliant- I had no idea! I had read that restaurants wash the grated uncooked potatos really really well to get out the startch before pan frying them- and that’s how they avoid the mushy mess- that its the excess of startch that causes that unattractive result. But this is just as easy!
I just worry… how do you ensure not to overdo the potatos so that when you try to shred them they dot just turn to mush from being so soft??
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Laura Reply:
June 13th, 2010 at 1:30 pm
As long as you just bake them for one or one and a half hours, you’ll be okay. Then, let them cool completely before shredding…otherwise they will be mushy!
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Thank you SO much for sharing this! So simple! Yep, I’m definitely going to be doing this!! I’ve been buying those big bags of shredded hashbrowns wondering in the world I can make my own! I am so glad you shared this!
His,
Mrs. U
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Thanks so much for this!!!!!!! I tried it and it worked wonderfully. I used a regular stainless steel skillet with butter and I was thrilled at how crispy they got! I gave up on frying raw potatoes a long time ago because they would stick and be messy, even in a nonstick pan. Thanks again!
Michele
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I’ve always baked an oven full of potatoes whenever we have baked potatoes. It’s more cost effective to bake a whole bunch than just a meal’s worth. Once cool, I stick them in a bag and keep in the fridge, then we use the leftovers to make hashbrowns for breakfast. I’m anxious to try freezing them now since we don’t have potatoes often enough! Thanks for the instructions!
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While washing my potatoes this morning I wondered if you have ever tried this method for mashed potatoes. I can’t think of a reason it wouldn’t work. What do you think?
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Laura Reply:
July 7th, 2010 at 9:21 am
It SHOULD work, but I haven’t tried to it know for sure!
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Lori Reply:
September 12th, 2011 at 10:59 am
I freeze mashed potatoes and also twice baked potatoes all the time. Works great to have in the freezer for a side when you have unexpected company!
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We just tried processing our own hashbrowns from our garden using red potatos, we did not want to go to the trouble of baking and shredding so we used our processor to shred them first and then blanched in boiling water for a few minutes, draind them and panfried half of them and froze the rest for tomorrows breakfast. The ones we had this morning were so great and did not have that dirty yucky color (even thou those are good too)we plan to prepare the rest of the potatos we have from the garden the same way as soon as we see the results of the frozen ones.
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Frank Reply:
June 29th, 2010 at 12:26 pm
We used up the balance of prepared hashbrowns from the other day this
morning and they were great so it looks like shredding and blanching works as good as baking and and is less messy, all I did was use the shredding atachment in the processor and and rinse them well spread out to drain, place them on parchment paper and then freeze for a couple hours and then place them in a zip lock bags for the freezer.
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I finally got a chance to make these! So far my shreds arent looking so hot, but maybe its the direction I’m going? And although I have baked and peeled countless potatoes, there wont be much in the freezer cuz –well, there’s this teenager in the house with puppy dog brown eyes who knows how to use them and signs eat…. so who could refuse that? LOL
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You can turn these into swiss potatoes… you just make a layer in a frying pan (lightly coated with oil or butter), put in a filling (chicken, chesse, beef, veggies… whatever you like) and cover it with more grated potatoes. Ideally you cover it with another frying pan so it´s easy to turn over. Let it cook well on one side and turn. It can get messy the first times you try it (especially if you don´t have 2 frying pans), but it´s SOOOOOO good. :)
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Amy Reply:
November 17th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
I bet using a griddle would work. I’m talking about one that closes down on itself like a waffle iron. However, you would use the flat plates instead of the waffle plates. I must try this!
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Aline Reply:
December 12th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
Hi! I haven´t been here in a long time! :) Sorry for the late
response. I imagine it will work great. Let me know when you
try.
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Wow! Cannot wait to give those a try!
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super easy! thanks so much. Cannot wait to try some! they are in freezer now!
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I have been making my own frozen hash browns for nearly 50 yrs. with only one slight change. I boil my potatoes with skins on , only till you can stick a fork in with some effort. Then cool – Peel- grate. Mix 1 tbsp. flour per cup of grated potatoes. Spread on cookie sheet,make perforations with a fork and freeze. When frozen break at perforations,place in bag and return to freezer. This method eliminates mushy potatoes.
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Thanks! I am going to try this.
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My daughter will be thrilled when I make these. She loves shredded hashbrowns more then my country potatoes so the next bag of potatoes will be shredded and frozen for later cooking.
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Laura,
I’ve been searching through your comments and the links to other sites in regards to the freezer challenge. I’ve seen a few comments on your hashbrowns so I was looking at the recipe and it reminded me of a video I wastched on youtube. It is a quick way to peel potatoes. You pull them out of the hot water and into cold water, pull at both ends. Here’s the link to see the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjz3NV8l0zI
Thanks for all of your wholesome recipes and thanks for the laughs. You are hoot to read!
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Thank you! My potatoes are in the oven at this very moment. I am very excited!
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Thank you! My potatoes are in the oven at this very moment. I am very excited!
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I just want to know….how do any of these make it into the freezer? I can’t make them fast enough for my family. Thank you for yet another fabulous recipe. Your hard work and willing to share what you learn is much appreciated.
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Laura Reply:
May 24th, 2011 at 3:00 pm
Ha! Glad your family likes them so well!
The only way these make it into the freezer is if I make A LOT ahead of time.
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This sounds good and I am going to try it. We just dug our potatoes and I am excited by trying to freeze the hashbrowns, but I have a question…has anyone added onions to them? Do you think that it would hurt to add some onions to them?
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Laura Reply:
May 25th, 2011 at 8:45 pm
Adding onions would be awesome with this!
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I made them today and they turned out great!! I chose all the same size potatoes, washed them, put them in a large shallow corning ware bowl with a lid and added water in the bottom of the bowl. Pricked the potatoes and cooked them 4 minutes in the microwace on high and them turned them and cooked another 4 minutes. Waited on them to cool and grated them. I diced up a sweet onion and and cooked it in a little water just till barely tender. Took the onion up on a paper towel and made sure there was no water left on them. I then added them to the grated potato mixture and mixed up well. I turned the potatoes and onion mixture out on a cookie sheet covered in wax paper, spreaded it out evenly, and made cut marks to divide the hash browns out. Put the cookie sheet in the freezer to freeze for about two hours. They popped right up off the pan and I stored them with waxed paper in between each hash brown. Wrapped them in foil in groups of four. Very proud of my results. I cooked one of them and it was yum yum good! My family will love the onions in them.
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By the way, I did let the potatoes cool a bit and I did peel them before grating them.
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I can’t wait to try this.
I do have a tip for peeling the potatoes, though. If you boil whole potatoes, then dunk them in cold water until they’ve cooled enough to touch, you can just pull the peel off with your fingers.
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We are getting a mess of free potatoes soon from our friend (a potato farmer) and will definitely be making some of these! We looovve hashbrowns!
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Try Crock Pot Baked Potatoes!
http://www.skiptomylou.org/2010/07/09/crock-pot-baked-potatoes/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+skiptomyloublog+%28Skip+To+My+Lou%29
I tried them the other day and they are good. :)
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We used to buy 50# bags of small potatoes at a truck farm years ago. We would leave them whole and unpeeled, scrub them good, and bake them. After they cooled, I would shred them in the food processor and freeze. They were wonderful! In the food processor, some of the skin comes off as they are shredding, but I like to think the nutrients were still in good supply at that point.
I’ll have to do this again!
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We were given lots of potatoes last year. I peeled and lightly fried the potatoes prior to freezing, so then I had fries. I like hashbrowns better so I’ll do this with any more I have.
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These are great to do for camping…I’ve always left them whole and then diced on-site. We went with 5 other families several years ago and the husbands eating cold cereal found their way to our camp site! Another good way to use the shredded variety is to put a layer in a greased baking dish and then pour beaten eggs (6-8), thinned with a little milk or cream (about 1/2 cup)over them. Top with cooked sausage, crumbled bacon or diced ham, and bake at 350 till the eggs are set, then top with cheese and remove. We love to use salsa instead of milk, too. It’s a great breakfast casserole that shows up at all our family reunions now since it’s also gluten free and we have several who eat gf. I’vve never frozen them, but there are almost always a few in the frig ready to be used…I’ll certainly freeze them now!
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These are great to do for camping…I’ve always left them whole and then diced on-site. We went with 5 other families several years ago and the husbands eating cold cereal found their way to our camp site! Another good way to use the shredded variety is to put a layer in a greased baking dish and then pour beaten eggs (6-8), thinned with a milk or cream (about 1/2 cup)over them. Top with cooked sausage, crumbled bacon or diced ham, and bake at 350 till the eggs are set, and top with cheese for the last little bit. Salsa’s good instead of the milk, too. It’s a great breakfast casserole that also freezes and reheats well. For travel soccer weekends I wrap squares individually and keep in a cooler…we usually just eat them cold.
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?I can’t wait to try this!! I am so glad to not have to ever buy store bought again, I’m trying to eliminate anything processed. THANKS AGAIN ?
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I first came across the idea for homemade hashbrowns over at http://amysfinerthings.com/homemade-hashbrowns. We love them! My only comments are: 1) after they cool, stick them in the fridge for awhile – even overnight – it makes the shredding easier 2) no need to peel before shredding – yes, a bit of the peel makes its way into the hashbrowns, but the bulk of it stays intact in your hand – saves time! :)
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DEFINITELY have to try this because I cannot make hash browns :( It’s a failing.
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now that the cool weather is hear I am making these today for two reasons the hash browns of course and to warm up my house!
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I was wondering if it would work to make frozen french fries too. (For some odd reason the kids do not like hashbrowns.) If use a mandoline to cut the baked potatoes into fries do you think it would work the same? Or do you think the potatoes would be too soft?
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