Make these perfect skillet potatoes with the right amount of flavor, and crispy texture! This versatile side dish makes a fantastic compliment to many main course dishes or as a breakfast treat. Paleo, Vegan, and Whole30!
These potatoes have been an absolute staple in my kitchen this entire month! In fact, straight out of the husband’s mouth the other day, “if I can eat these potatoes everyday, I’m good for an entire year of Whole30.” That’s right folks. He doesn’t mind the bitter coffee, zero sugar, and no baguette because he’s all about the potatoes.
This is the same person who refused to eat eggs without a piece of toast just last month, but has since decided that potatoes make an even better option than toast! So you can imagine, I’ve been making a lot of potatoes the past few weeks. These work perfectly well with a Taco Tuesday meal, with my Chicken Tikka Masala or Thai Coconut Curry Meatballs. Or how about with some eggs for a weekend treat?
Perfect Skillet Potatoes
Potatoes make a great replacement for typical starches such as rice, pasta, bread, etc. And when cooked just right, oh my goodness they are delicious! After living in Germany for several years, we grew to love the German Potatoes that were served with many common meals. I couldn’t quite figure out how how they got that crispy flavored texture, and were perfectly chewy. So I’ve been experimenting and came up with the perfect combo of roasting in the skillet and then transferring to the oven.
How to make Perfect Skillet Potatoes:
With just a few simple ingredients, this recipe is easy to make and one that everyone will enjoy. All you need is Yukon Potatoes, oil (I use avocado and you will find out why below), red onion, sea salt, and black pepper. That’s it! Feel free to add in some minced garlic or garlic powder.
For starters, preheat the oven to 425 and make sure you use a cast iron or oven proof skillet (my personal favorite inexpensive cast iron is Lodge). Start to heat the skillet while you prepare the potatoes. You will dice up the potatoes pretty small. You will also dice up part of the red onion, and toss both into a hot skillet with oil. Saute for 6-8 minutes, or until you start to see some browning on the potatoes.
Now transfer to the oven and cook for about 20 minutes (or until desired crispiness). The potatoes should look nice and toasty. A little crispy on the outside, and a nice soft texture on the inside.
Get ready to devour!!
Why Avocado oil:
I also wanted to share with you today another little secret that I’ve been keeping, and here it is: I don’t use Olive Oil for any of my cooking. It feels so great to get that off my chest, because you’ll often find that olive oil is listed as an ingredient in my recipes. The truth is, I use only avocado oil. And here is why: avocado oil has a much more mild taste (I find the taste of most olive oils to be bitter and not tasty), but most importantly: avocado oil has the highest smoke point of any cooking oil. So what exactly does that mean? It means that when cooking at high temperatures, you need a quality oil that won’t break down and create compounds that are harmful to your body. This is the case with many oils to include olive oil. Avocado oil has a smoke point up to 500 degrees! Making this the best and most versatile oil for cooking, but also for salad dressings and dips.
Avocado oil is also rich in monounsaturated fat, Vitamin E and Oleic acid which make it a great cholesterol (LDL) lowering food, but it also works to lower blood pressure. The bottom line is, if you can, I would suggest this one little healthy swap for your diet. Now that avocado oil is so readily available at most grocery stores, I feel that it’s time to start letting everyone know they should be using it! Both Costco and Walmart sell Chosen Foods Avocado Oil for less than $10 per bottle. We use a ton in my house, and that bottle will last me all month.
So phew, I feel much better.
Make ahead and storage:
I will often make these on a weekend or weekday, and this will last me 4-5 servings throughout the week. I store in the fridge, and re-heat on mornings when I want some eggs and something easy. They will last in the fridge for up to a week. My kids love these for breakfast too!
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How To Make Perfect Skillet Potatoes
Making Perfect Skillet Potatoes is so simple to do in less than 30 minutes! These potatoes care crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.
Ingredients
- 5 medium or 4 large Yukon Gold potatoes peeled
- 2-3 tbsp refined avocado oil
- 3/4 cup red onion diced
- 1 tsp salt + more to taste
- 1 tsp pepper or lemon pepper
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
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Heat up a large cast iron skillet to medium high heat. If you don’t have a cast iron skillet, a regular skillet can also work but you will need to transfer to a baking sheet at some point.
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Chop your potatoes into small pieces, from about 1/2 inch to 1 inch in diameter. Once skillet is heated, add in 2 tbsp avocado oil to coat the pan. Toss in onion and potatoes.
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Let the potatoes cook for about 6-8 minutes. You will need to continually stir to be sure the potatoes are evenly cooked and the onion doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. You may need to adjust the heat down to medium a few minutes in to the process, and add an additional tbsp of oil if needed.
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Transfer the skillet to the oven in the cast iron skillet (transfer to a baking sheet if using a regular pan).
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Roast for right around 20 minutes. Start checking the potatoes and 15 minutes to ensure they are slightly crispy and golden. They may need up to 25 minutes in the oven, depending on your desired crispiness.
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Serve hot.
These turned out really well! I have tried to make skillet potatoes before to no avail, but the combo of stovetop while continually stirring along with a good stretch in the oven made them the perfect texture–slightly crunchy on the outside and fluffy inside.
Hi there! They’re in the oven right now and I just reread the directions – they say to cook 15 min then stir and then the sentence is weird and it mentions 15 minutes again … the total cook time at the beginning says 25 so I assume that sentence is just … weird. Lol.
Hi there, cook time is around 25 minutes because they sauté for 10 minutes before transferring to the oven for 15 minutes. Hope that clears it up! And, hope you enjoyed!
Great recipe, I used less seasoning but it should really be what the recipe says, next time!
I’m not into the whole30 in a strict sense, but I just thought the recipe was very well done. Thank you
This was the perfect balance of how I like my potatoes! Thanks for the recipe, they turned out awesome! Usually it takes so long to cook potatoes in a skillet because you have to cook them low and toss them around so they don’t stick and then they fall apart. This allowed me to have yummy potatoes that stay intact with minimal sticking to the pan!
Great Recipe! Been researching cooking oils, for better flavor vs. added flavor & aroma. Will include herein for you and your followers: Cooking Issues To Consider First
* Do you want to use a “Neutral” or “Enhanced” cooking oil flavor?
* Do you want a Refined or Unrefined flavor in your cooking oil?
The Differences In Cooking Oils
Once you have determined the correct type of cooking oil needed for your desired meal, you must also determine whether you want a flavorful or neutral taste from the cooking oil selected.
* Virgin (unrefined) cooking oils boast an “enhanced, delicious, distinct scent and flavor; however, “refined” cooking oils are “Neutral” possessing no distinct taste, flavor or added aroma. Such difference does not consider or concern the smoke point of your selected oil(s) that you choose for your recipe.
Once you have selected the appropriate cooking oil and flavor desired, then you must consider the ‘smoke point’ of the oil you will select for the recipe and meal you will prepare:
Chart of Oil Smoke Points
* Refer to the chart below as a reference for the smoke points of common cooking oils.
Type of Oil Smoke Point °F Smoke Point °C Neutral Flavor?
Refined Avocado Oil 520°F 270°C YES
Safflower Oil 510°F 265°C YES
Rice Bran Oil 490°F 254°C YES
Ghee 482°F 250°C YES
Light or Refined Olive Oil 465°F 240°C YES
Olive Pomace Oil 460°F 238°C YES
Soybean Oil 450°F 232°C YES
Peanut Oil 450°F 232°C YES
Clarified Butter 450°F 230°C NO
Corn Oil 450°F 230°C YES
Refined Coconut Oil 450°F 232°C YES
Refined Sesame Oil 410°F 210°C
Vegetable Oil 400-450°F 205-230°C YES
Beef Tallow 400°F 204°C NO
Canola Oil 400°F 205°C YES
Grapeseed Oil 390°F 195°C YES
Unrefined or Virgin Avocado Oil 375-410°F 175-210°C NO
Pork Fat or Lard 370°F 185°C NO
Chicken Fat or Schmaltz 375°F 190°C NO
Duck Fat 375°F 190°C NO
Vegetable Shortening 360°F 182°C YES
Unrefined Sesame Oil 350-410°F 177°C NO
Extra Virgin or 350°F 175°C NO
Unrefined Coconut Oil
Butter 350°F 175°C NO
Refined Extra Virgin Olive Oil 325-375°F 163-190°C NO
Did I miss when you put in the additional 2T of oil and seasoning?
Hi Debra, no you didn’t miss something. It was a little confusing as written, but the additional oil was in case you needed to add some oil if the potatoes were too dry or sticking to the pan. I adjusted the recipe!
Really should say when to put in seasoning. I missed it and had to season at end.
This turned out perfect! I used yellow onions, it’s what I had. I will be cooking it like this from now on, love my big ole cast iron skillet!