Fried Potatoes (How to make them and when to eat them!)
There aren’t many cultures who haven’t, at one time or another, relied upon potatoes as a staple in their diet due to their availability, adaptability, taste, and tendency to be very filling. Southerners, of course, are no different. I remember my great grandmother, Lela, telling about how she used to be picking cotton in the fields with her kids (when you were a sharecropper, the entire family had to work the fields) and they would walk back to the house at lunchtime and dig up some potatoes to go in and fry for their lunch. Its hard to hear things like that and not look at this bowl of potatoes as a connection to your ancestors, you know?
~Sigh~ I miss Lela.
Alright, moving on to the food part…
Now y’all know that when a Southerner gets a hold of a something, there’s generally gonna be some frying involved if we can help it. There is a great misconception about frying in the south though. Folks seem to think Southern Food = deep frying. That’s not the case at all. In face, much of our “frying” doesn’t even include oil. How can it be frying then? Well, its just a matter of what we call “frying” differing from what those outside of the south define frying as.
You see, to us, a skillet has always been called a “frying pan”. Therefore, when a person in the south tells you to fry something, sometimes they are just telling you what type of pan to use. A great many of our dishes such as “fried corn” have nothing to do with oil, but are just cooked in a skillet! I actually seldom use oil in my cooking, I am much more likely to use it in my baked goods, instead.
Fried potatoes are not so very different. You are really just barely coating the bottom of your pan with oil as potatoes do have a tendency to stick. Myself and absolutely everyone I know loves fried potatoes. There is no meal they can’t pop up at, either. They are just as likely to be served at breakfast in the south as they are lunch or dinner. Despite what you may think, they do NOT taste like a baked potato or even mashed potatoes. Fried potatoes are a treat unto themselves. This is the potato flavor at its finest, better than any other, honest!
Still, they do tend to be a regional thing. You’ve either heard of them and love them or are entirely confused by the very concept. Once, when Granny Jordan was visiting us (who was the epitome of everything a Southern Lady should be), we had prepared a large breakfast at my mother’s house.
Mama put a big old bowl of fried potatoes on the table and Granny Jordan leaned in and asked in her deep drawl “Well now, those look interesting! What are they?” Mama and I hid our surprise as Mama responded that they were just fried potatoes. To which Granny Jordan replied “Well now, isn’t that neat. I bet those sure will be good!”.
Born and raised in Atlanta and had never had fried potatoes?
Lets get some on y’alls table as soon as we can, alright?
Ingredients
- Potatoes
- Vegetable Oil
- Salt
- Pepper
Instructions
- Peel and dice potatoes into small cubes. Coat bottom of large skillet with oil, turn on medium heat and allow oil to get hot. Add potatoes. Salt and pepper to taste. Cover and continue cooking over medium heat for about ten minutes, until potatoes start to brown on the bottom. Remove lid and stir, continuing to cook until potatoes are all tender and mostly browned.
Nutrition
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Y’all have a wonderful day!
Gratefully,
Christy
We always called smothered potatoes, I guess b/c you put the lid on and let them smother down.
They were sliced thin and the onion were even thinner and layered in the black skillet (cast iron) with salt and lots of pepper. I don’t think we ever went camping that these taters weren’t served.
My husband grew up in Louisiana and had never had them. The first time I cooked them for him he said he fell in love with me all over again. lol
OK…now I’m wanting fried taters.
That is so sweet !! We clled them that also !!
just had some over at a friends house and she used her french fry cutter for cutting them .they came out real good .I slice them uneven .which made them cook uneven .so will try the french fry cutter this Thursday making riblets with it and green beans .
Well I have to add my two cents here. I love fried potatoes anyway you fix them but one way we really enjoy is I slice the potatoes, chop onion, green pepper, and hot peppers, and I buy a package of smoked sausage and slice it in half moon slices and through it all into my cast iron skillet with some oil, add salt, pepper and garlic.. When done I serve it with nice slices of tomatoes.
Yummy, that sounds wonderful Melanie!!
Have to comment on these. My wonderful grandmother used to make “Thursday lunch” for any of us who were able to stop by. Fried potatoes were almost always on the menu–these look very familiar! I probably should get around to making them while she’s still here to help me get them right! Central Illinois girl all the way here, although I say I’m geographically misplaced! (Hey, my grandpa was from Arkansas; I say that’s where the southern influence comes from.)
Oh my goodness, I love that…Thursday Lunch!!
I love me some fried taters for sure!! LOL… My Nanny Mac made them for me because I couldn’t have mashed or anything with butter on them. She’d saute an onion and throw in there with them, I haven’t made this in years, now I’ll have to buy some taters and have us a breakfast dinner complete with your Hoe Cake that my Mom dearly loves you for bringing into her life! : )
Not sure how to verify my email addy, just hope I don’t end up not getting your emails, would break my heart for sure! Lot’s of hugs, spread them around to you and yours!!!
Hi Marianne, you should receive an email, there will be a place in that email to click for verification. That is all you have to do! Thank you so much for being such a great supporter and give your sweet Mom a hug for me!!
Love my fried taters. Been eating them for most of my 65 years. I fry them with a little bacon grease and onion. They go with anything and everything. I like them best with soup beans, cornbread and a little applesauce to go with them. A meal made in HEAVEN!
That sounds like Heaven indeed!!
Love, love, love fried potatoes. They were my Daddy’s favorite. His mother stopped frying much in the 40’s. She had heard in a home demonstration club meeting that it was unhealthy. She was way ahead of her time. When she would go to work, Daddy would talk his sister into frying potatoes for him. He also liked them with onions in them but I always preferred them without. Another way that we loved potatoes was to boil and peel new potatoes and then brown them in butter with salt and pepper. Yum! makes me hungry just thinking about all those taters!
It makes me hungry too Teresa. I say we should go make ourselves some fried potatoes for breakfast!
Ya’ll are making me hungry with all this fried tater talk. Loved them growing up also, think I’ll fix some for dinner tonight with eggs and bacon. Breakfast for dinner is always good too.