Our quick and easy American Fries make the perfect addition to your Sunday morning breakfast! Made with 4 real, simple ingredients that come together in a matter of minutes for the best breakfast side dish. A great addition to a weekend brunch menu!
The Best American Fries
These breakfast potatoes need to be added to your weekend breakfast routine! We grew up eating this potato recipe and it still one of our go-to recipes. Plus, this American fries recipe can easily be made ahead of time as breakfast meal prep for the week. Serve them any way you want! We love to top them with some homemade ketchup and a fried egg. It is a family-favorite recipe that we know you will be making again and again!
Looking for another breakfast potato recipe? Try our Dairy-Free “Cheesy” Hash Browns Bake!
What You Will Need
- raw potatoes – we used russet potatoes, but feel free to use Yukon Gold potatoes or red potatoes!
- sweet yellow onion – this mild onion brings some nice flavor to the cubed potatoes.
- butter – melt butter in the bottom of the pan to add flavor and prevent sticking. Option to sub with ghee or olive oil.
- salt and pepper – a little bit of these simple seasonings that are always a must!
- serving suggestion: ketchup – option to make homemade ketchup or pick-up your favorite store-bought ketchup from the grocery store.
How To Make American Fries
The first steps to making this easy recipe are to gather the ingredients. Then grab a cutting board, sharp knife, and start cutting the potatoes into small cubes and dice onion.
Bring a large cast iron pan to a medium high heat and let butter melt to cover the surface of the skillet. Add half the onions to the pan and move around to soften.
Now add the diced potatoes in a single layer to the hot pan, give it a quick stir with a wooden spoon, and continue cooking for about 10 minutes.
Then add the rest of the onion, salt, and pepper. Mix to combine and continue cooking for about 5 minutes or until the pan fried potatoes are fork tender and golden brown.
Option to serve these crispy potatoes directly from the cast iron skillet or place on a plate lined with paper towels. While you cook your fried eggs.
Recipe FAQ
American Potatoes, American Fries and Home Fries all seem to be describing potatoes that are cut into cubes and then sautéed with onions, salt, and pepper. All are served with ketchup.
Absolutely! Feel free to add some diced bell peppers, garlic powder, onion powder, creole seasoning, red pepper flakes, cooked sausage, or bacon bits to the mix.
They can be reheated in a nonstick skillet (I prefer my cast iron). Add in a little butter or ghee (just a little to coat the pan) and then just sauté the potatoes until they warm up. You can also pop them in the microwave, if you want!
Made this delicious recipe and loved it?! We would love it if you would take a minute and leave a star rating and review – it is also helpful if you made any substitutions or changes to the recipe to share that as well. THANK YOU!
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Other Potato Recipes You Might Like
American Fries
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
Description
This American Fries recipe is the perfect addition to your Sunday morning breakfast that is easy and delicious!
Ingredients
- 3 russet potatoes, washed and cubed
- 1 medium sweet yellow onion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons butter, (sub ghee)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- for serving: ketchup of choice or hot sauce
Instructions
- Heat large skillet to medium-high heat, add 2 tablespoons of butter (or ghee), and let it melt, swirling to coat the pan.
- Add 1/2 the onions and let reduce for 2 minutes, stirring fairly constantly.
- Add potatoes and stir to coat. Cover and cook potatoes, uncovering to stir often, continue cooking on medium heat for approximately 10-15 minutes, adding the additional tablespoon of butter, as needed, to ensure the potatoes don’t dry out or stick to the pan.
- Add remaining onion, salt and pepper. Mix to combine and cook another 5 minutes and then start testing the potatoes for taste and firmness. Add additional salt and pepper as needed.
- Once the potatoes have reached your desired firmness, serve immediately with ketchup of your choice and an over-easy egg.
Notes
- Paleo/Whole30: if you are concerned with paleo/Whole30 use ghee instead of butter and serve with compliant ketchup.
- Storage: any leftover potatoes can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6 oz
- Calories: 51
- Sugar: 0.6 g
- Sodium: 157.5 mg
- Fat: 2 g
- Carbohydrates: 7.7 g
- Protein: 0.9 g
- Cholesterol: 5.1 mg
Originally published February 9,2018. Recipe was retested and photos updated.
Molly @ Spices in My DNA says
Omg Erin! I am so touched by this post!! I’m so proud of your dad and that’s so incredible to hear the results he had! How awesome?! It’s so fascinating to me how much our daily food choices impact our lives in so many ways. Loved reading this!!!
Erin says
Thank you so much, Molly!! I really, really appreciate the kind words! Isn’t crazy the changes he has seen – it still just blows me away. I wonder how many years this will add to his life! Thanks again!! ❤️❤️
Kelly @ Eat the Gains says
This is absolutely amazing! You should be so proud of you dad and that he took to the right step in his health journey. I have been trying to get my parents more on board with this kind of eating and it’s so hard. I am going to send this to my dad to read. So inspiring – and the recipe looks amazing too!
Erin says
Thank you so much, Kelly! I am SO proud of him! It has literally changed his life and it’s so cool to see! Hope it helps to inspire your parents as well – selling it as an experiment seemed to be big turning point for him and now he is so glad he gave it a try! Thanks again for the kind words! Means a lot!
Jamie Iskow says
Amazing amazing amazing. I’m on day 27 of my first round and I don’t know if I plan to stop it anytime soon.. im addicted to how amazing I feel. I’ve always struggled with depression and anxiety and am being assessed for another mental disorder. But my anxiety and depression have been so under control since starting Whole 30, and it’s incredible. I was in a dark place before Whole 30, and how positive and energetic I feel is amazing and I would rather be happy than eat junk food that doesn’t nourish my body. I now know how important it is to watch what I put in my body. Whole 30 has been life changing and possibly the best thing I have ever done. I’m so proud of your dad. Please tell him my life has also changed and that I’m so happy that his has, as well. Blessings to you all!!! <3
Erin says
Thank you for sharing!! That is so incredible!! I am so happy for you – isn’t it amazing how good you can feel when you put good food in your body!! Keep it up!