How To Make Perfect Skillet Potatoes

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.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 5 servings

Author Amy Rains

5 from 6 votes

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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

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. Transfer the skillet to the oven in the cast iron skillet (transfer to a baking sheet if using a regular pan).

6. 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.

7. Serve hot.