Crispy edges and creamy centers, there’s nothing quite like a skillet of old-fashioned Country Potatoes to kickstart your morning. But what’s the secret to getting that golden crust without sacrificing a tender interior? Learn exactly which potatoes work best and the simple technique of skillet frying them. Adding ham is my family’s signature addition for a old fashioned Country Potatoes.
If you’re a fan of country style comfort food, don’t miss these classic recipes, Skillet Fried Chicken with Chicken Gravy, and Stovetop Mac and Cheese with White Cheddar.
Quick Look: Country Potatoes With Ham
- 🧁 Serves: 4
- ⭐ Features: No par-boiling potatoes ✓ Crispy ✓Buttery✓
- ⌛️ Prep Time: 15 minutes
- 🍪 Cook Time: 20 minutes
- 🕑 Total Time: 35 minutes
- 👩🍳 Skill Level: Beginner
- 🏆 Why make THIS version? A 60 year old family recipe for Country Potatoes with ham, and sweet onion in every bite.
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What Are Country Potatoes?
Country Potatoes are a classic American-style comfort food routinely served for breakfast. Diced or cubed, seasoned and fried until tender inside and golden browned and crispy. A cast iron skillet is typically used to achieve this texture. Skillet fried, along with their rustic cut is associated with farmhouse country kitchen cooking.
Why I Make Potatoes This Way
Growing up on a farm, I know my home fried potatoes, as they made a daily appearance on our table, whether for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I’ve seen country potato recipes that add bell peppers, spices and different cooking methods, But the simpler version I grew up with using butter, onion and ham is the only version I still make to this day.
How I Get Crispy Cubed Potatoes Without Par-boiling Them First
You don’t need to parboil Country Potatoes. Evenly cut, dry potatoes will develop crispy edges when cooked in a hot, heavy skillet and left undisturbed just long enough to brown.
- Butter: My mom made her Country Potatoes using butter, rather than Crisco or oil. Butter delivers a deliciously crisp on the outside, tender in the middle potato cubes.
- Knife Skills: Practice those knife skills and uniformly cut those potatoes in equal cubes for even cooking. Cut them about twice the size as the cubed frozen hash brown potatoes you buy from the freezer section.
- Dry Potatoes: Once you cut the potatoes into cubes, take a paper towel and pat away any moisture. A dry potato will crisp quicker and better.
- Skillet: Use a heavy skillet. A cast iron is preferred.
- To Cover: No need to use a lid during this cooking process. Doing so may compromise the crispy nature of the browning process.
- Patience: Turning the potatoes too quickly once added to the hot skillet will compromise their texture. Patience before the first turn are what give them the crispy edges and creamy centers. And don’t over-stir. This can cause them to get mushy.
- When To Add Onions: Onions cook quicker than potatoes, and if added at the beginning will most certainly guarantee them to burn. The recipe card instructs when to add.
Key Ingredients
- Ham Steak: Fully Cooked
- Yukon Gold Potatoes: A medium starch potato.
- Onions: We’ll use a sweet onion during the cooking process and sliced green onion for garnish.
- Butter for frying. Salted or unsalted.
Variations
- Cheesy: Looking for cheesy country potatoes? Once the potatoes and ham are cooked, sprinkle on ½ cup of grated cheese of your choice. Cover with a lid for a couple of minutes to let the cheese melt. Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Pepper Jack or Muenster are all good melting cheeses.
- Smother Them: How about borrowing a idea from Waffle House. Drizzle with some country style gravy and serve.
- Southwestern: Once cooked, drizzle them with Colorado Green Chili.
- Seasoning: Looking for more smoky flavor, sprinkle on a pinch of smoked paprika before serving. Try adding some garlic powder, onion powder, or both to potatoes at the beginning of the cooking process. Fresh rosemary and thyme are also good flavors for potatoes. Add a few springs at the beginning of the cooking time. Tip: Smoked paprika and thyme are a good flavor combo.
Ingredient Substitutions:
- Butter: If you’re opposed to using butter, substitute Canola or vegetable oil. Olive oil is not a good choice, as the smoking level (heat index) is not as high as vegetable or canola oil. The potatoes simply won’t crisp and brown as quickly, and compromise the texture.
- Ham: If you’re looking for a vegetarian breakfast, simply omit the ham. Or if you don’t eat pork, switch the ham out with cubed smoked chicken deli meat. Simply ask the deli attendant not to slice the chicken so you can cut and cube it at home.
How To Make Country Potatoes With Ham
- Step 1: Peel and cube potatoes. Cut the potatoes into into ¾″ cubes. Cover them with water if you’re cutting them ahead of time.
- Step 2: Use Butter: Heat butter over medium high heat, when melted and bubbles subside add the potatoes. Spread them out to get them as close to single layer as you can. As soon as you add the potatoes, turn the heat down to medium. Don’t stir the potatoes for five minutes to allow a good sear on the first side.
Pro-Tip: When dicing the potatoes, place the already cubed pieces in water. This will prevent the potato from turning that odd pink color. Potatoes turn color due to a chemical reaction where enzymes are exposed to air. Pat the potatoes dry with a paper towel before cooking.
Why Wait Until Bubbles Subside When Cooking with Butter? When cooking with butter, it’s important to wait for the foaming to subside before adding food. During the melting process, bubbles appear, meaning that water is evaporating from the butter. This evaporation is necessary for butter to reach a higher cooking temperature. If you add food before the water is gone, the food will absorb the butter, rather than cook in it.
- Step 3: Once the potatoes have a golden brown color on one side, use a sturdy thin spatula to stir and turn the potatoes around every 5 minutes. Five minutes before potatoes are done cooking, add the onions. Don’t add the onions at the beginning as they’ll burn with this 20 minute cook time.
- Step 4: Add The Ham: I like to buy Kentucky Legend ham steak to make country potatoes. This is a ham steak that is fully cooked. If you purchase a brand such as Cooks, this steak is not cooked. You’ll need a quick pan sear before adding the pieces to the potatoes. While the potatoes are cooking, slice the ham into short fat strips. Somewhat of an abbreviated batonnet cut. Add the ham to the potatoes and onions and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often to warm the ham. Sprinkle on sliced green onions and serve.
What To Serve Them With
- Eggs: Since these Country Potatoes are fried with ham, it’s pretty much a breakfast meal on it’s own. All you need to add is eggs. Fried, scrambled or poached, you’ll have a wonderful country style breakfast. Add some toast and orange juice and you’ve got a traditional old-fashioned breakfast.
- Dinner: Don’t stop at breakfast, these country potatoes make a hearty dinner entree. Make it a complete meal by adding a side salad topped with my Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing. Or omit the ham and serve it as a side dish for a Steakhouse Burger, or a Baseball Top Sirloin Steak.
Tips For Success
- Ham Steak: Make sure you purchase a ham steak that is fully cooked. If the ham steak is labeled “smoked” it is cooked. If the ham steak is uncooked, you’ll need to fry the steak separately before adding to the potatoes.
- Non-Stick Skillet: I don’t recommend using a non-stick pan for skillet fried potatoes. Most non-stick skillets are notorious for their not being able to generate high enough heat level to get a good crispy sear.
- Spatula: Use a thin sturdy metal spatula to stir the potatoes while they cook. The metal is simply a better option to get under those potatoes than a thicker nylon or silicone spatula.
- Ultra Crispy Potatoes Without Par-boiling: Chop the potatoes small enough so they’ll achieve a crispy exterior and tender interior. ¾″ chunks are a good rule of thumb. Practice those knife skills and cut the potatoes evenly.
- Dry Potatoes: Use paper towels to pat the potatoes dry, a wet potato will not sear well.
- Holiday Ham: Home fried potatoes and ham are a perfect way to use that left over holiday ham. No need to make any adjustments to the recipe, just cube the ham and proceed with the recipe.
- Cutting Potato Cubes: To easily cut potatoes into cubes, slice off a very thin piece off each of the long side of the potato. This will make the potato straight rather than a rounded shape. Slice the potato lengthwise. Then cut those slices into planks. Then cut the planks horizontally into cubes.
Make Ahead, Storage and Reheating
- Make Ahead: You can cook country potatoes ahead of time and refrigerate them for several days. Reheat them in a skillet for the best texture and to bring back their crispy edges.
- Refrigerator: Store any leftovers in an air-tight container container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. I’m not a fan of freezing these types of dishes due to compromising the texture.
- Reheating: To keep the crisp texture of the potatoes, gently reheat in a cast iron skillet over medium low heat. Or on a sheet pan in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes.
What’s The Difference Between Country Potatoes, Home Fries and Hash Browns?
- Home Fries are traditionally sliced into steak house style potato wedges. A good example is my recipe for Oven Steak Fries.
- Hash Browns: Are an all American potato breakfast side-dish. Traditionally potatoes are shredded, then fried until crispy. However, hash brown can be small-diced or even formed into potato patties. Hash-browns are a very popular choice to serve along side bacon and egg, or ham and eggs.
Country Potatoes With Ham, FAQ’s
Yukon Gold potatoes, a medium starch potato, are my choice because they hold their shape while developing a creamy, tender interior. Their thin skins also make them convenient to prepare without peeling. Save those high starch, thick skinned russet potatoes for mashed potatoes, like my recipe for Chive Poblano Mashed Potatoes.
No. You can make crispy country potatoes without boiling them first. For this recipe, evenly cut potatoes are cooked directly in a hot skillet until tender inside and golden and crisp around the edges. When boiling small cubed potatoes, you risk overcooking them, which will cause them to fall apart when you start the frying process.
Any heavy skillet such as a cast iron skillet will brown those country potatoes beautifully. Just make sure your skillet is large enough to hold the potatoes and the ham. A 12″ diameter skillet is a good starting size.
Use a well-heated, heavy skillet and enough cooking fat, then avoid moving the potatoes too soon. Letting them cook undisturbed gives the potatoes time to form a golden crust, which helps them release more easily when turned.
Explore More Breakfast Potato Recipes
And if you’re spud lovers like us, don’t miss my category for Potato Recipes. You’ll find lots of great potato side dish recipes, including the most popular on my site for Cumin Garlic Marbled Potatoes.
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Country Potatoes with Ham
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 ½ pounds potatoes cut into ¾ inch diced
- 1 ½ cups sweet onion chopped, about 1 medium onion
- 1 teaspoons Kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ pound smoked ham slices cut in short strips
- 3 tablespoons minced green onion white and green parts, for garnish – optional. About 3 green onions.
Instructions
- When using a medium starch potato like Yukon Gold or Red potatoes, you can elect to peel or not to peel. The skin of these potatoes are tender and edible. To easily cut potatoes into cubes, slice off a very thin piece off each of the long side of the potato. This will make the potato straight rather than a rounded shape. Slice the potato lengthwise. Then cut those slices into planks. Then cut the planks horizontally into cubes.
- Heat a 10 – 12 inch heavy skillet (cast iron works great here) over medium high beat. Add butter.
- When the bubbles from the melting butter subside, turn the heat to medium. Add the potatoes, salt, and pepper. Don't stir the potatoes for 5 minutes to allow for a sear and turn golden on the first side.
- Continue to cook the potatoes for 15 minutes, turning and stirring with a sturdy metal spatula every 5 minutes. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the ham steak batons and cook for 2 minutes or until ham is heated through.
- Turn off the heat and sprinkle on the green onions. Serve immediately with a fried egg for a beautiful breakfast.
Notes
-
Ham Steak: Make sure you purchase a ham steak that is fully cooked. If the ham steak is labeled “smoked” it is cooked. If the ham steak is uncooked, you’ll need to fry the steak separately before adding to the potatoes.
-
Non-Stick Skillet: I don’t recommend using a non-stick pan for skillet fried potatoes. Most non-stick skillets are notorious for their not being able to generate high enough heat level to get a good crispy sear.
-
Spatula: Use a thin sturdy metal spatula to stir the potatoes while they cook. The metal is simply a better option to get under those potatoes than a thicker nylon or silicone spatula.
-
Ultra Crispy Potatoes Without Par-boiling: Chop the potatoes small enough so they’ll achieve a crispy exterior and tender interior. ¾″ chunks are a good rule of thumb. Practice those knife skills and cut the potatoes evenly.
-
Dry Potatoes: Use paper towels to pat the potatoes dry, a wet potato will not sear well.
-
Holiday Ham: Home fried potatoes and ham are a perfect way to use that left over holiday ham. No need to make any adjustments to the recipe, just cube the ham and proceed with the recipe.
-
Cutting Potato Cubes: To easily cut potatoes into cubes, slice off a very thin piece off each of the long side of the potato. This will make the potato straight rather than a rounded shape. Slice the potato lengthwise. Then cut those slices into planks. Then cut the planks horizontally into cubes.
Nutrition
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Maaaan, I cooked that up, pretty much like you said, except I used thin sliced country ham instead. Gobbledy, gobbledy, gone!
Good Morning!
What kind of potatoes and do you peel them? Also the directionsame say butter but you mentitled using CrisCo oil?
Thanks
Chris
My mouth is watering! I’d eat this any time of day. Just a few simple ingredients and you have a delicious meal.
Yep, I have those same memories. But, sometimes ours were fried in leftover bacon fat (from the canister that mom kept on the stove top). 🙂
Sigh, no trips planned to NM. 🙁 Thanks for asking, though.
You had me with the potatoes, but the ham puts it right over the top.
Lea Ann, I make this for dinner! Breakfast gets pretty short shrift around here–for me, a cut-up apple, a handful of raw almonds and a cup of tea! But I’d probably eat this in the morning if you could deliver it!
Mmm, home-style cooking at its best! Who doesn’t like potatoes? And they play so nicely with ham and onion. I could make that dish my meal all by itself, but the addition of the egg is nice. Thanks!
I can’t imagine there’s anyone who doesn’t like potatoes. 🙂 Thanks John.
when I make fried potatoes I give them a quick cook in the microwave, about 2 minutes. This gives them a shorter time to cook in the skillet. I have done it the night before then into the skillet the next day
Fried potatoes, onion, and ham – doesn’t get better than that and we also had them regularly for supper but also for breakfast some- often home fries. Sure glad I discovered them as regular fare for breakfast (3 times/week would work fine) topped with a couple of running yolked eggs – but the pic looks better with your presentation.