Dad usually was in charge of making home fries because he really made the best.
The recipe can be different every time you make these home fries with some additions added depending on what time of day it is for using spices we love them plain for breakfast, spicy for dinner.
Just by adding a few simple ingredients, Dad somehow turned an ordinary potato into an addicting crunchy wonderful spud and usually made our own homemade seasoning salt we kept on hand.
If you're a big potato fan don't miss trying my Salt and Vinegar Potato Recipes or my German Style Potato Salad Recipe both family favorites!
Scroll down to the recipe card to print these delicious how-to make the best home fries you ever tasted!
Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner Home Fried Potatoes
These home fries are the best-tasting spuds out there, made the old-fashioned once in a while won't hurt.
Back in the 1960s, all we used was a cast-iron skillet, olive oil potatoes, and a few blended seasonings.
The potatoes were inexpensive and made many a night with the addition of hotdogs or whatever else we could afford to feed the family
Getting them nicely golden was easy wit some of the tricks of the trade with vintage old recipes like this one.
If you prefer not to pan fry them, certainly go ahead and Air Fry them at 400 degrees for around 17 minutes with the same seasonings and just spray them and the fryer basket first with a little cooking oil.
Ingredients You Will Need
- russet potatoes are the best (we have also used red-skinned potatoes)
- salt, pepper
- paprika
- olive oil
- granulated garlic powder
- Garnish: Pecorino Romano cheese
- Optional: chopped parsley, oregano and basil
Optional Additions
- small cut up hot dogs
- sliced cooked hot Italian sausage
- sliced pepperoni or cubed
- hot peppers
- onions sliced
- eggs beaten
- shredded provolone
- shredded mozzarella
- sliced eggplant
- diced tomatoes
- shredded or wedges of zucchini
- garnish with pecorino romano cheese
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Stretching Your Food Budget
This is a very economical way to feed a large family on the budget and potatoes make the best side dish for any meal.
Using some of our optional additions like hotdogs for dinner or for breakfast some whisked eggs in with the potatoes or for lunch peppers and sausages, it turned plain potatoes into a gourmet meal (at least to us) back then.
Adding some of the leftovers during the week like hotdogs, boneless chicken or pork chops off the bone were just a few additions dad would use in these home fries to feed us kids.
The best part is you they are pre-boiled and partially cooked which seems to give the potatoes that extra crunch on the outside when fried they are so delicious.
These potatoes will always be one of the best memories of my dad's cooking dinners for us kids, simply delicious, with old-fashioned goodness, we honestly never knew we were poor and still appreciate making these in his memory.
Dad's Old Fashioned Italian Home Fries
Yield: 4
Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 50 MinTotal time: 1 H & 10 M
This is a basic recipe dad would make when us kids were little. Pan-fried potatoes and anything we had in the refrigerator would go in. Sometimes they were just plain potatoes and always these simple spuds were delicious to us.
Ingredients
- 6 to 8 russet potatoes ( we have also used red-skinned potatoes)
- 1/4 cup of olive oil adjust if using more potatoes
- Water for boiling enough just to cover the potatoes
- salt and pepper to taste or seasoning salt
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic powder
- Garnish Pecorino Romano Cheese grated
- Optional Additions:
- small cut up hot dogs add with potatoes in the beginning
- sliced cooked sweet or hot Italian sausage add with potatoes in the beginning
- cubed pepperoni
- chopped capicola
- regular or hot peppers at the beginning with potatoes
- pour beaten eggs over them for potatoes and eggs
- shredded mozzarella on top at the end
- sliced eggplant add almost at the end when potatoes are cooked
- diced tomatoes add almost at the end when potatoes are cooked
- shredded or wedges of zucchini same as eggplant
- shredded provolone on top at the end or use some shredded mozzarella
Instructions
- First, boil as many potatoes as you need for your family in 1 teaspoon of salt to a 5-quart saucepan (skins remain on) we usually cook 6 to 8 potatoes for 25 minutes.
- Drain the potatoes and cool completely. (We usually make them and refrigerate them until needed for the week) The potato needs to be cold so you can slice them.
- Once the potatoes are cold run under water and remove the skins or leave them if you like them on.
- Slice the potatoes around 1/4 to 1/2 thick slices.
- Heat the butter around 1/4 cup of olive oil in a deep cast-iron or chicken fryer-style pan on low heat.
- Place the potatoes into the pan of hot oil fry them around 10 minutes and lower the heat (the bottoms when flipping should be crispy golden in color).
- Sprinkle with salt, pepper, granulated garlic powder, and paprika.
- Saute on low heat until golden and crispy almost like golden-colored potato chips, this usually takes around 25 to 30 minutes.
- Drain them on the paper towel and eat them hot sprinkle with Pecorino Romano cheese on top or optional additions listed above.
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Disclosure: This recipe was originally shared in 2010. It was edited and re-published in 2021.
