Crispy Fried Potatoes {Country Potatoes}

This simple technique results in the most delicious potatoes that are soft and creamy on the inside, and golden and crispy on the outside. Eat them any way you choose - on their own, with eggs for breakfast, alongside Roast Chicken or a perfectly cooked steak, or as a delicious topping for soup.

One of my favorite was to eat these potatoes is topped with mushroom ragu. A ragù is traditionally an Italian meat based sauce that's most commonly served with pasta. This version replaces the meat with mushrooms for an incredibly rich and versatile meatless ragù that is pure magic with fried potatoes.

Country Potatoes That Are Buttery On The Inside and Crispy On The Outside

The secret to perfect fried country potatoes that are crispy on the outside, and soft and creamy on the inside is to boil them in salt water briefly before frying them in butter and oil.

If you start with raw potatoes and try to fry them, you'll end up with potatoes that are burned on the outside and crunchy on the inside. That's because it takes much longer for the inside of potatoes to cook than the outside.

The key is to boil them first in salt water. This gives the inside of the potatoes time to get all nice and tender and seasons them from the inside out.

Potatoes are like sponges - they soak up a lot of water. If you season the water with plenty of salt, the potatoes will absorb the salt water. This means your potatoes will be seasoned all the way through - not just on the outside.

Another reason to cook potatoes in heavily salted water is that the salt will allow the water to boil at a hotter temperature. This will cook the starch in the potatoes more thoroughly and give the inside of the potatoes a creamier texture. 

How much salt should you add to the water?

Seasoning the potatoes by boiling them in salt water is a great technique for infusing the entire potato with flavor rather than just salting the surface. But, it only works if you add enough salt to the water. The goal is to add enough salt to the water to make the water taste like salty.

For 12 cups of water, 3 - 4 tablespoons of salt is generally about right. However, feel free to play around with the amount of salt that tastes right to you. Start with 1 or 2 tablespoons, taste the water, and add more from there.

I know this seems like a LOT of salt. But, most of the salt will stay in the water, not end up in your potatoes. When your water is well salted, there is no need to add any more salt during frying. The potatoes will absorb the salt water and be very well seasoned before you even add them to the skillet to fry.

What kind of potatoes are best for crispy fried potatoes?

You can use any variety of potatoes you like in this recipe, but my favorite potatoes to use are Yukon Gold. I just love the creamy, buttery texture of these potatoes and think they lend themselves particularly well to this technique for crispy fried potatoes.

My second choice is Russet Potatoes (also called Idaho potatoes). Both Russet and Yukon Gold potatoes have a high starch content, making them ideal for frying or roasting at high temperatures. 

How to make Country Potatoes:

#1. Fill a sauce pan with about 12 cups of water and add 3 to 4 tablespoons of salt. Remember, the goal is to add enough salt to make the water taste salty. Add 3 tablespoons, taste the water and add more if necessary.

#2. Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1-inch cubes. As you cut them into cubes, drop them into the pan of salt water. Starting the potatoes in cold (or room temperature) water is important.

If you drop the potatoes into boiling water, the outside of the potatoes will cook much faster than the inside. To ensure evenly cooked potatoes, start them in cool water. As the water temperature rises to a boiling, the potatoes will cook gently and evenly, from the inside out.

#3. Boil the potatoes just until barely fork tender. Let the potatoes cook in boiling water just until you can pierce them with a fork but still feel resistance. The goal is to cook the potatoes until they are about 75 - 80% done.

They will finish cooking as they fry. If you boil them until they are completely cooked through, they'll fall apart when frying.

#4. Drain the potatoes. Dump the potatoes into a colander that's been set inside the sink and allow them to drain. At this point, the potatoes can be stored for up to 2 days in the refrigerator before frying.

If you are NOT going to fry the potatoes immediately, it's important to rinse them in cold water. This will stop the potatoes from cooking, cooling them down quickly for storage until you are ready to fry them.

#5. Fry the potatoes in butter AND oil. In order to get a deliciously crispy outside on your potatoes, it's important to fry them at high heat. While butter will impart the most flavor to fried potatoes, it also has a tendency to burn easily.

Using both butter and oil to fry the potatoes gives you the best of both worlds. The butter will impart a delicious buttery flavor to the potatoes and the oil will keep the butter from burning.

One final note for all of you with an air fryer. This recipe for air fryer smashed potatoes is another crispy-on-the-outside-soft-on-the-inside potato situation if you like the idea of fried potatoes without any actual frying.

How to Serve Crispy Fried Potatoes

These make a perfect side dish for nearly everything, but we especially like to eat them with roast meats, like a simple roast chicken, crispy pork carnitas, this tri-tip roast with coriander gravy, or a perfectly cooked steak.

But, one of my favorite ways to eat these potatoes is as a soup topping. Split pea soup with truffle fried potatoes is thick, rich, and flavor-packed, with just enough ham to make it interesting. But, at the risk of minimizing the deliciousness of the soup itself, I gotta say that the crispy fried potatoes with truffle oil are where it's at.

And this thick and creamy, vegan broccoli soup with cheesy-without-the-cheese nacho cheese sauce and crispy fried potatoes is rich, savory, and totally indulgent with zero regrets. 

Also, of course, these potatoes are fantastic with eggs for breakfast. If we're going all out, I'll serve these with creamy scrambled eggs and buttermilk pancakes. Which is honestly the best breakfast ever.

If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Scroll down to leave a comment and rate it!