We don’t hold back on the spices for this breakfast potatoes recipe! The potatoes are crispy, golden-brown on the outside, and soft and tender on the inside.
I’m always so happy when these breakfast potatoes are in my fridge. I love making a batch, but saving some in the fridge for lunch or dinner the next day. The secret to these potatoes is the spice mix. Potatoes can take a lot of seasoning without it being too much, so we lean into that for this recipe!
Our recipe below uses a skillet on the stovetop for cooking the potatoes, but we’ve included tips for baking them instead if that’s more your style!
Key Ingredients
- Potatoes: Our go-to potato for this recipe is Yukon Gold, but any variety will work. Yellow potatoes turn out buttery and creamy, while russets, or baking potatoes, are a bit fluffier in the middle. We also use Yukon Gold potatoes when roasting potatoes.
- Spice Mix: We are generous and combine garlic powder, onion powder, both smoked paprika and sweet paprika, dried thyme (oregano works, too), salt, and a good amount of black pepper.
- Olive Oil: This works nicely, but ghee, melted butter, avocado oil, or any neutral oil will work.
- Bell Pepper and Onion: I love the extra color and texture from bell pepper and chopped onion, with a finish of sliced green onions. Feel free to omit one or all of them if you want to streamline the recipe a bit.
Find the full recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Breakfast Potatoes
Tip 1: Make a really good spice mix. Potatoes are not the time to hold back on spices. They can handle a lot and still taste just right. So that each piece of potato is perfectly spiced, we like to stir our mix together first, then use it as the potatoes cook. If you find yourself making these breakfast potatoes on repeat (which you probably will), make a big batch of the spice mix and stash it in a jar for next time.
Tip 2: Dice your potatoes small. The smaller the pieces, the faster they’ll cook. I go for about 1/2-inch cubes and skip the peeling.
Tip 3: Add the spice mix towards the end. If you’re making these in a skillet (which is my favorite way), you’ll cook the potatoes in two steps. First, toss them in the skillet with a little oil and let them cook for about 10 minutes, stirring now and then. They’ll start to soften up, but won’t be totally tender yet. That’s when you add the bell pepper, onion, and all those lovely spices, and cook for another 10 minutes or so until everything is perfectly tender.
Tip 4: You can make these in the oven. While I’m partial to the skillet, the oven is a great option too. Just toss everything together, spread it out on a baking sheet, and bake until the potatoes are tender (15 to 20 minutes). I’ve added detailed instructions below.
Serving Suggestions
I love these for breakfast just as much as I do a side for dinner. One of my easiest dinners is a bowl with a layer of these potatoes, topped with two fried eggs and some salsa or a chopped tomato salad. If you are making these for breakfast, though, here’s a list of breakfast recipes you might want to bookmark:
- Scrambled Eggs
- Chorizo and Eggs
- Oven Baked Bacon
- Breakfast Sausage
- Poached Eggs
- Hollandaise Sauce
- Eggs Benedict
- Breakfast Tacos
More Potato Recipes
Easy Breakfast Potatoes
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
These easy skillet breakfast potatoes are perfect for a cozy morning, but they’re just as good for dinner. They keep beautifully in the fridge and reheat like a dream, so go ahead and make extra! If you want to make them in the oven, we’ve got you covered with some oven-baked tips below the recipe.
You Will Need
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
½ teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
¾ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds yellow potatoes, chopped into ½ inch pieces (900 g)
1 large bell pepper, chopped, about 1 ¼ cups (170 g)
1 medium onion, chopped, about 1 cup (170 g)
1 bunch green onions, about 6, thinly sliced
Flaky sea salt, for serving
Directions
1Make spice mix: In a bowl, combine the garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, sweet paprika, dried thyme, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
2Cook the potatoes: Pat the potatoes dry, then heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet (12-inch) over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they start to brown.
3Lower the heat to medium, add the bell pepper, yellow onion, and spice mix, and cook for 8 to 12 more minutes, or until the onions begin to soften and the potatoes are tender. Don’t be afraid to add a little color to them. Add the green onions, then cook for 1 minute. Serve with flaky salt sprinkled over the top.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Storing: Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat in a skillet or oven.
- Oven-baked potatoes: Add the potatoes, olive oil, pepper, yellow onion, and spice mix to a bowl. Toss well, then spread into a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 425°F (220°C) for 15 to 20 minutes, or until crispy on the outside and tender in the middle. Stir halfway through baking for the best results. Scatter over the green onions and stir. The heat from the potatoes will wilt them nicely.
- The nutrition facts provided are estimates.
I was wondering if you could use frozen potatoes, I got several bags from our food truck thatched around ever month . We get frozen food and fresh produse. It’s nice helps with the food budget
Definitely!
I absolutely love this recipe! I doubled the spices to have extra and used a bit more than 1/2 and they were perfect! Next time I will try adding a chopped jalapeno!
Yay! We love adding pickled jalapeños on top 🙂
I really like your recipes but am frustrated that I can’t PIN them. Why don’t you offer that option? I search and search but never can find where I can pin them. I understand that you offer your own Save, but I want all my recipes saved to the same place. I click on the Pin symbol at the bottom of the screen but that doesn’t work.
Hi Beth, There is a pin function within the Share button. Best! Joanne
Thanks for your quick reply and for pointing that out. However, when I click on the share button and click on the pin function, it takes me to pinterest but nothing shows up–no picture or the recipe. I apologize for taking your time, but what am I doing wrong?
BETH, I think I know what is happening. When you tell it to pin the recipe to P, you are expecting it to show it in P. It doesn’t. But if you look at the top of the page, it asks you where to pin to? Once you tell it what category to put it in, it tells you at the top that it was ADDED. I just did that, and I checked it, and sure enough, that recipe is in the category I wanted it in, and it’s the first one in there as it was the last one added. Go check out your P category, I bet you have one or more recipes in there that you thought weren’t working. 😉
Hi Beth, I had this issue and it turned out I needed to open the website in Chrome. I was entering via Google. Soi clicked and opened in Chrome. I was able to use my fancy Pin button, and Pin worked properly via share as well.
I hope this works for you. ❤️
Hi Beth, That’s so strange. I just checked and it did work for me, but maybe you have a different browser or device. We will look into it. Thanks! Joanne
Your recipes are great. These potatoes are so delicious and beautiful!!!
I prefer the oven method, a bit longer but easier!
Loved loved this recipe so tasty 😋