Clicky

Breakfast Potatoes

4.80 from 5 votes
Jump to RecipePinSave to Favorites

This post may contain affiliate links. See my privacy policy for details.

Breakfast potatoes are one of life’s greatest treats. Starchy, caloric, and satisfying, this recipe feels like it shouldn’t be allowed to be the first thing you eat in a day.

Make sure to make your very own Seasoning salt for this recipe. Or maybe make this Potatoes Romanoff recipe instead?

Breakfast potatoes on a white platter

Breakfast Potatoes

Breakfast potatoes have long been a diner staple; ordered alongside fried eggs, toast, and maybe even a few pancakes, they offer not only plenty of starchy goodness but also a ton of flavorful saltiness.

This recipe for breakfast potatoes has all of those great flavors that you would expect with a breakfast potato dish – plenty of special seasoning salt and garlic powder, as well as a healthy amount of paprika as well.

Just make sure not to burn any of the spices accidentally, and your breakfast potatoes will turn out amazingly. 

Breakfast potatoes ingredients in small bowls

Breakfast Potatoes Ingredients

Make sure you look at the recipe card at the very bottom for the exact amounts so that you know exactly what to buy for this recipe.

• Red potatoes or Yukon gold

• Olive oil

• Seasoning salt

• Onion powder

• Black pepper

• Garlic powder

• Paprika

Breakfast potatoes with spices on top in a bowl

How To Make Breakfast Potatoes

• Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray or use a silicone baking mat

• In a small bowl, mix the seasoning salt, onion powder, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika and set aside

• In a large bowl, add the diced potatoes and drizzle the olive oil over the potatoes and stir and toss to ensure the potatoes are coated well

• Sprinkle the potatoes with the pre-mixed spices and toss well to evenly coat

•Spread potatoes even into a single layer on the prepared baking sheet

• Bake for 15 minutes at 450 Fahrenheit

• Remove from the oven, toss and bake for about 10-15 minutes longer until they are fork tender

• Move the oven rack up, so it is about 5-inches from the broiler, and broil potatoes for about 2 – 3 minutes until slightly browned

• Stir them and broil for another 1-3 minutes to brown all sides

• Serve warm and garnish with fresh parsley if desired

Breakfast potatoes on a sheet pan

What Kind Of Potatoes Are Perfect For Making Breakfast Potatoes?

Breakfast potatoes aren’t just cooked potatoes with a few seasonings and spices.

They are tender, slightly crispy and super spiced, and salted, designed over generations to provide a huge amount of salty, intensely potato-y flavor.

However, the first step to making really good breakfast potatoes is to use the starchiest potatoes you can find.

Potatoes like Yukon gold are probably going to be best for this, as Yukon golds have an insanely high quantity of internal starch, resulting in a really good texture.

All of this extra starch crisps up really well when cooked in the oven or on the pan, plus it helps to prevent the inside of the potato bits getting too overcooked and getting a gross texture when they hit the broiler.

The other type of potato you can consider is any good quality red potato.

While red potatoes do sometimes have a reputation for waxiness, they can also offer a huge amount of flavor when crisped up really nicely under a hot broiler and given plenty of spices. The waxiness can actually be a huge benefit, just so long as you like your potatoes waxy and not starchy.

Choose your exact potato however you prefer, and remember there are no real right answers – only what’s right for you.

Breakfast potatoes on a pan with a wooden spoon

Is The Oven Enough, Or Should You Boil Your Potatoes First Before Frying Them

One slightly controversial step of this recipe is that it doesn’t involve any boiling of the potatoes before baking them. Instead, you cook the potatoes a bit longer in a lower oven and then finish them in a high oven or a broiler to get that final color and crispiness.

The reason that so many swear by the boiling trick is that it helps to get the potatoes cooked really fast and, most importantly, really evenly.

Coking potatoes when they are diced or cubed in the oven is going to result in some variations in their internal doneness. Some of them will be extra crispy in some places and more tender and soft in others.

However, that heterogeneity (meaning differences in every little bit, instead of homogeneity) is actually what we want! We want each mouthful to be a unique textural and flavorful experience!

Boiling Potatoes Removes the Starch

Plus, cooking in water saps out so much of the free starch content that the potatoes simply won’t get crispy enough. Furthermore, the added water detracts from any final crispiness because you cannot have browning from the maillard reaction when there is water present.

So while boiling the potatoes first in water can definitely speed up the process of making breakfast potatoes, they simply make a worse potato!

Plus, having to get extra pots and pans dirty just to boil water for the potatoes is a real bother. Instead, just bake them at different temps and only have to lift the potatoes once!

Looking for more delicious Breakfast recipes? Try these out:

Blueberry Waffles

Baked Breakfast Burritos

The Bisquick Impossible Quiche Recipe

Happy cooking

Love,

Karlynn

PIN THIS RECIPE to your
BREAKFAST Boards and Remember to FOLLOW ME ON PINTEREST!

Breakfast potatoes are one of life's greatest treats. Starchy and satisfying, this recipe feels like it shouldn't be allowed to be the first thing you eat in a day.
EMAIL YOURSELF THIS RECIPE!
Enter your email to get this recipe emailed to you, so you don’t lose it and get new recipes daily!

Breakfast Potatoes

Breakfast potatoes are one of life's greatest treats. Starchy and satisfying, this recipe feels like it shouldn't be allowed to be the first thing you eat in a day.
4.80 from 5 votes
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
33 minutes
Course
Breakfast
Cuisine
American
Servings
4
Calories
327
Author
Karlynn Johnston

Ingredients
 

  • 5 large red potatoes or Yukon gold (cut into 1/2-inch cubes)
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1 tsp seasoning salt
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 3/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 3/4 tsp paprika

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 450 ° Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray or use a silicone baking mat.
  • In a small bowl mix the seasoning salt, onion powder, pepper, garlic powder and paprika. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl add the diced potatoes. Drizzle the olive oil over the potatoes and stir and toss to ensure the potatoes are coated well.
  • Sprinkle the potatoes with the pre-mixed spices and toss well to evenly coat.
  • Spread potatoes even into a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.
  • Bake for 15 minutes.
  • Remove from the oven, toss and bake for about 10-15 minutes longer until they are fork tender.
  • Move the oven rack up, so it is about 5-inches from broiler.
  • Broil potatoes about 2 – 3 minutes until slightly browned. (Watch them closely as they brown fast!)
  • Stir them and broil for another 1-3 minutes to brown all sides.
  • Serve warm and garnish with fresh parsley if desired.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 327kcal, Carbohydrates: 38g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 18g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 13g, Sodium: 595mg, Potassium: 916mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 2g, Vitamin A: 190IU, Vitamin C: 42mg, Calcium: 29mg, Iron: 2mg

All calories and info are based on a third party calculator and are only an estimate. Actual nutritional info will vary with brands used, your measuring methods, portion sizes and more.

Made this recipe?

Share a photo of what you made on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thekitchenmagpie or hashtag it #thekitchenmagpie.

Please rate this recipe in the comments below to help out your fellow cooks!

Learn to cook like the Kitchen Magpie

A Very Prairie Christmas Bakebook

Cookies, Candies, Cakes & More: Vintage Baking to Celebrate the Festive Season!

Learn More

a copy of Flapper Pie cook book

Flapper Pie and a Blue Prairie Sky

A Modern Baker’s Guide to Old-Fashioned Desserts

Learn More

The Prairie Table

Suppers, Potlucks & Socials: Crowd-Pleasing Recipes to Bring People Together

Learn More

Karlynn Johnston

I’m a busy mom of two, wife & cookbook author who loves creating fast, fresh meals for my little family on the Canadian prairies. Karlynn Facts: I'm allergic to broccoli. I've never met a cocktail that I didn't like. I would rather burn down my house than clean it. Most of all, I love helping YOU get dinner ready because there's nothing more important than connecting with our loved ones around the dinner table!

Learn more about me

Reader Interactions

Comments & Recipe Tips Share a tip or comment!

  1. Sandra says

    Very good recipe. Should note that the ‘starchiest’ potato on earth is the traditional baking potato – Russet or Idaho – much better for crispy exterior than Yukon. I would never use a waxy red potato for this type preparation.4 stars

  2. Melody Lee Smith says

    what is excatly seasoning salt? there is many kinds out there so please tell me what brand of seasoning salt.

Leave a Comment or Recipe Tip

Recipe Rating