These crispy baked hash browns take just 6 ingredients all loaded onto a sheet pan and baked until golden, cheesy perfection.
- So much flavour from potatoes, onion and cheese.
- Perfect crispy outside while the inside is tender and soft.
- Easy to make, though plan ahead to prep the potatoes.
- Can be prepped ahead of time.
- Perfect for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner.
You’ll love these cheesy mashed potatoes too.
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Ingredients you’ll need
These sheet pan hash browns require only 6 ingredients.
Detailed quantities and instructions in the recipe card below.
- Potatoes: While I use fresh potatoes, you can use frozen shredded potatoes if they’re available to you. I can’t get those where I am, so fresh it is. The best potato for hash browns is a waxy potato variety. Just go for a good old red skinned potato and you can’t go wrong. Floury potatoes are too starchy and won’t get as crisp done this way.
- Salt: Salt is used both to brine the potatoes and to flavour them later on.
- Onion: I use red onion since that’s what I always have on hand but a brown onion will work just as well.
- Cheese: A good but simple cheddar cheese is best. You don’t need to get a vintage or anything like that just a regular block style cheddar cheese then grate it yourself (pre-shredded cheeses have coatings that stop them from melting as nicely). You can also use something with a bit of spice like a pepper jack cheese if you can get it.
- Butter and oil: A combination of butter and oil gives flavour and the perfect crispy exterior.
How to make hash browns in the oven (step-by-step)
While these oven hash browns are easy to make, there is a little time in prepping the potatoes (unless you’re using shredded frozen potatoes) so make sure to plan ahead for that portion. If you are using frozen shredded potatoes, thaw them first, then skip straight to drying the potatoes.
Detailed quantities and instructions in the recipe card below.
- Shred the potatoes: Shred the potatoes coarsely on a box grater (photo 1). You can also use your food processor with the grater attachment.
- Brine the shredded potatoes: Place the potatoes into a large bowl and cover with water. Stir in 1 tablespoon of salt (photo 2). This step (ironically) helps to remove excess moisture from the potatoes and starch so they get nice and crispy in the oven.
- Drain the potatoes: Drain the potatoes through a strainer then rinse them well. Push out as much water as you can.
- Dry the potatoes: Transfer the shredded potatoes to a tea towel (photo 3) and wrap it up like a candy wrapper. Keep turning the ends to squeeze out as much water as possible (photo 4). Open the towel up and if they still feel wet, just press all over firmly with some paper towel.
- Dry the onions: The onions are easier. Just grate them, then press between sheets of paper towel (photo 5) to get rid of excess moisture.
- Combine everything: Combine the potatoes and onions in a large clean bowl along with the salt, cheese, oil and melted butter (photo 6). Make sure to separate any clumps of cheese.
- Bake: Transfer the mixture to a baking sheet lined with baking paper and spread out evenly (photo 7). Bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and crisp on top.
You can prep this ahead, then cover with plastic wrap pressed to the surface and chill overnight. Before baking, remove the plastic wrap and give them a fluff up with a fork.
Tips and tricks
- Don’t skip brining and drying: If you want nice crispy hash browns you need to dry them out. Brining is the first step to the process that draws out excess water and starch, then drying them well with a tea towel gets rid of the rest.
- Shred the cheese yourself: Don’t use pre-shredded cheese as it has coatings that stop the cheese from sticking together but it also means it doesn’t have such a nice texture when melted. The last thing you want is gluggy hash browns.
Variations / customising it
These cheesy hash browns are great for customising to suit your tastes.
- Flavours: You can use different cheeses or add things in like bacon, ham and spring onions (scallions). You can also add some spices like black pepper, garlic powder, paprika or dried chilli flakes (red pepper flakes) to taste.
- Herbs: I like to scatter some fresh chopped chives over the top after baking for flavour and garnish. Fresh parsley also works well. You can add some fresh thyme leaves to the mixture before baking too. Yum!
- Style: You can spread these out on the sheet pan like I do so you get a thin and crispy vibe. This way there is roughly the same ratio of crispy bits to soft bits. You can also pile them up higher so you get more tender potato in the middle.
Serving suggestions
- Breakfast or brunch: The most obvious way to serve these is as part of a breakfast. Top it with a fried egg and some cooked bacon, then serve some cooked mushrooms and spinach on the side.
- Dinner: I love these as a side dish for dinner as well and treat them a bit like fries. Serve with a nice steak (for a steak frites vibe) or sausages or just have breakfast for dinner.
- In a sandwich: Have you ever had a chip butty? Well try your hash browns between two slices of bread and add some sauce of your choice (I love BBQ sauce). You’ll love it.
FAQs
Can you fry hash browns?
You can fry these cheesy hash browns too. Just heat a little oil in a large skillet or frypan over medium heat. Place ⅓ cup scoops of the potato mixture into the pan and flatten them out with a spatula. Fry them for 4-5 minutes or until golden on each side. Don’t be tempted to turn the heat up or they’ll be burnt on the outside before they’re cooked in the centre.
Storage
Leftover sheet pan hash browns should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Reheat them in a frying pan over medium heat, in the oven at 180C/350F for 10 minutes, in an airfryer for 4 minutes on 180C/350F or in the microwave for a minute or two (depending on the wattage of your microwave).
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Ingredients
- 1.1 kg red skinned potatoes (2 ½ lb) (notes 2)
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon table salt (notes 1)
- 1 medium red onion (or brown onion) (¾ cup coarsely grated)
- 150 g cheddar cheese, finely shredded
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (notes 1)
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- Large bowl
- Clean tea towel
- Sheet pan
Instructions
- Wash and dry the potatoes. Don’t peel them.
- Coarsely grate the potatoes into a large bowl using a box grater. Cover with water and stir in 1 tablespoon of salt making sure it’s evenly dispersed. Let it sit at room temperature for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 220C (200C fan) / 425F. Line a large baking sheet (full size) or two smaller ones, with baking paper.
- Drain the potatoes through a colander, then rinse well with running water. Squeeze out the excess water.
- Transfer potatoes to a clean tea towel. Wrap it like a candy by twisting both ends, the over the sink, wring the tea towel as firmly as you can to squeeze out any extra liquid from the potatoes. Open up the tea towel and spread them out. If they still feel quite wet just press down on top with some paper towel. The drier you get them, the crispier they’ll get in the oven.
- Transfer to a large clean, dry bowl.
- Coarsely grate the onion onto two layers of paper towel. Press down with more paper towel on top to remove excess liquid. Place the onion into the bowl of shredded potato.
- Add the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt, finely shredded cheese, olive oil and melted butter over the top. Use your hands to mix well, dispersing everything as evenly as possible. Make sure to mix really well as the cheese will try to clump up.
- Scatter the potato mixture evenly over the prepared tray – don’t press it down.
- Bake immediately for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and crispy on top. Serve immediately.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- Tablespoons: I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons). Check yours before measuring.
- While this recipe is made using fresh potatoes, you can use pre-shredded frozen potatoes if they’re available where you are. Thaw them first and start from step 5.
- Cooking time will be longer if you have other things in the oven.
- You can use a combination of light and full fat cheese. Feel free to use up odds and ends from the fridge and other types of cheese like gruyere or pepper jack for some spice.
- Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge and reheat well. It’s great heated in a frypan.
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2 Comments on “Sheet Pan Hash Browns”
Perfect. Love this recipe. Easy to make, good if you are on a tight budget like me.😋👍
I’m so happy you love it, Delphine. Truly appreciate you dropping back to leave a review.