Sweet Potato Hash Browns

These Sweet Potato Hash Brown Patties are crispy on the outside, and bursting with flavour on the inside. Say hello to your new favourite breakfast!

Personally, if a hot breakfast doesn’t have hash browns, it ain’t a hot breakfast. Beyond the bacon, beyond the eggs, hash browns are by far my favourite breakfast item. Of course hash browns are usually made with white potatoes, but today I thought I’d mix things up. Follow me…

Crispy Sweet Potato Hash Browns

Unlike regular hash browns, sweet potato hash browns are really tricky to get crispy, purely for the fact they’re packed with more moisture/starch than regular potatoes. However, where there’s a will there’s a way. There’s 2 absolutely crucial steps to getting crispy fried sweet potato:

1. Remove the Starch

Sweet potatoes (and potatoes in general) are packed with starch. Once subjected to heat, the potato starts to release the starch, and this is what makes hash browns go sloppy and gloopy. In order to reduce this, once you’ve shredded the potato on a box grater, just soak it in COLD water. Give it a good swish around with your hand until the water turns cloudy.

2. Remove the Moisture

Sweet potatoes are packed with a fair bit of moisture, and we’ve gone and just added insult to injury. Some starch has been removed, which is great, but now let’s get rid of the moisture. To do this, just simply drain away the water then wrap the shredded potato in cloth and squeeze like your life depends on it. No seriously, squeeze until you can squeeze no longer. You want the potato to be so dry it’s like shredded coconut.

Process shots: add shredded sweet potato to cold water (photo 1), swish around then drain (photo 2), place on thin tea towel or cloth (photo 3), squeeze into a ball to remove moisture.

Sweet Potato Hash Brown Patties

Now you’ve got your shredded potato prepped, it’s time to form your patties. First things first –

You do not need egg to bind the potato.

It will just make the potato wet again, which isn’t what we want. To bind the shredded potato you just need flour. At first it’ll seem too dry to mould, but after adding some salt, the potato will release a tiny amount of moisture, which in turn will work with the flour to bind. From there we’ll need to add some seasoning too. You know, just for that little somethin’ somethin’. Here’s what I recommend using:

Sweet Potato Hash Brown Seasoning

• Smoked Paprika
• Garlic Powder
• Cayenne Pepper
• Salt

From there, just mould into equal sized patties, and fry in batches over medium-high heat in oil and butter. It’s important to fry them on a fairly high heat, just so they get nice and crispy. It’s also important to use butter because it’s always important to use butter 🙂

Can I make these into Rostis? 

The thinner they are for frying, the crispier they’ll be. However, you can form the patties into 4 fish cake sized patties and bake them in the oven to make them into Rostis. I recommend 356F/180C for 30mins flipping once.

Process shots: combine potato shreds with flour and seasoning (photo 1), mould into equal sized patties(photo 2), Fry over medium-high heat in oil and butter for 4-5mins on each side until crispy. Keep warm until needed (photo 3).

Serving Suggestions

When it comes to serving sweet potato hash browns, the world really is your oyster. A neat idea is to stack them up and top with a dollop of guac and a poached egg. Here I’ve simply served them with a side salad, some crispy bacon and some sliced avo.

If you’re looking for another sweet potato breakfast idea check out my Sweet Potato Breakfast Hash (it’s like a sweet potato shakshuka – so good!!)

For more similar recipes check out these beauties too:

Sweet Potato Recipes

• Sweet Potato Quesadillas
• Garlic Chorizo Roasted Sweet Potatoes
• Sweet Potato Curry
• Roasted Garlic Sweet Potato Mash

Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for these hash browns shall we?!

How to make a Sweet Potato Hash Browns (Full Recipe & Video)

Sweet Potato Hash Browns

These Sweet Potato Hash Brown Patties are crispy on the outside, and bursting with flavour on the inside. Say hello to your new favourite breakfast!

5 from 5 votes

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Servings (click & slide): 6

Course: Breakfast / Brunch

Cuisine: Western

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Calories per serving: 117kcal

Author: Chris Collins

Cost per serving: £1 / $1

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Equipment:

• Large Skillet & Wooden Spoon
• Large Bowl
• Cloth (for straining potato)
• Box Grater
• Spatula
• Turner

Ingredients (check list):

• ▢ 2 medium Sweet Potatoes, peeled & grated on a box grater
• ▢ 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
• ▢ 2 tbsp Flour
• ▢ 1 tbsp Unsalted Butter
• ▢ 1 Shallot, grated
• ▢ 3/4 tsp Salt
• ▢ 1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
• ▢ 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
• ▢ 1/8 tsp Cayenne Pepper, or to taste

Instructions:

• In a large bowl, soak your grated sweet potato in cold water and swish around with your hands to help remove as much starch as possible. Drain when the water turns cloudy.
• Place your sweet potato on a thin cloth over a bowl. Grate over the shallot. Squeeze into a bowl and push as much water out as physically possibly. This step is important, so give it some elbow grease.
• Add the sweet potato to a (dry) bowl and stir in your flour and seasoning. At the beginning it will seem too dry, but the salt will draw out a tiny amount of moisture from the potato, which in turn will help the flour mould the mixture. If it becomes too soggy adjust accordingly with a bit more flour.
• Mould into 6 patties and place to one side.
• Add butter and oil to a pan over medium-high heat then add your patties (work in 2 batches). You want the pan hot enough to get them nice and crispy, but not so hot the butter smokes and burns. Fry for 4-5mins each side, or until deep golden, crispy and soft through the centre. See notes rosti option.

Quick 1 min demo!

Notes:

a) Regular Hash Browns - You can absolutely use this method to make regular hash browns. My recipe has slightly altered ingredients and seasoning, so do check out my hash browns!

b) Thickness of patties - I tend to keep them on the thinner side. The thinner they are the crispier they will be, but also the quicker they will cook so just be vigilant.

c) Rostis - If you want to make these into rostis you absolutely can. Just mould into 4 fish cake size patties and pop in the oven at 180C/356F for 30mins, or until nice and crispy on the outside and soft through the centre. Flip half way through cooking.

d) Serving suggestion - I tend to have these as part of a savoury breakfast or brunch. In the photos above I've gone with bacon,poached egg, avocado and a side salad. Guac also works great with these, especially plonked on top of a rosti!

e) Calories - per hash brown.

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Nutrition:

Nutrition Facts

Sweet Potato Hash Browns

Amount Per Serving

Calories 117 Calories from Fat 54

% Daily Value*

Fat 5.98g9%

Saturated Fat 4.539g23%

Polyunsaturated Fat 0.21g

Monounsaturated Fat 0.898g

Cholesterol 2mg1%

Sodium 323mg13%

Potassium 304mg9%

Carbohydrates 15.04g5%

Fiber 2.2g9%

Sugar 4.06g5%

Protein 1.68g3%

Vitamin A 25100IU502%

Vitamin C 13.2mg16%

Calcium 30mg3%

Iron 0.7mg4%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Nutrition is based on the absence of salt unless stated as a measurement in the ingredients. Cost is worked out based on ingredients bought from UK supermarkets, then divided by the number of servings. In both instances these values are just for guidance. Please check out my FAQ Page for more info.

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