Crispy Baked Hash Browns with Parmesan Cheese

These baked hash browns are lighter and easier than the pan-fried American classic, and every bit as crispy and delicious. Great for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! 

For an easy, complete breakfast, try whipping up a sheet pan of these crispy baked hash browns and serve them alongside oven-baked eggs. I mean, why spend time standing over a hot stove when you can visit with friends and family while sipping on Greek shaken espresso?

Plus, pan-fried hash browns can get soggy quickly and leave your stove a mess, this oven-baked version turns out perfect every time, which makes it great for feeding a crowd. The trick is to preheat the sheet pan, which beautifully crisps the potatoes without any extra oil needed. Parmesan cheese adds that irresistible umami quality to give the simple recipe a hit of flavor to take it over the top! 

As a bonus, this is a recipe everyone will love—kids, adults, grandma, you name it. Add it to your list of easy brunch recipes, and dress it up with a few toppings. I like fresh tomatoes, chives, olives, and pine nuts but you can get creative with what you have on hand. 

Table of Contents

1. Baked Hash Browns Ingredients and Substitutions 
2. Ingredient Spotlight
3. How to Make Baked Hash Browns
4. What to Serve with Baked Hash Browns
5. You’ll Also Like: Easy Baked Breakfast Recipes
6. Crispy Baked Hash Browns with Parmesan Cheese Recipe

Baked Hash Browns Ingredients and Substitutions 

Hash browns are a simple, humble recipe that are pretty perfect as-is, you really don’t need to get too fancy here. I added a few easy flavor-boosters but kept it very pantry-friendly. Here’s what I use:

• Yellow onion: Add the classic sweet and savory onion flavor without overpowering the dish. Best substitute would be shallots, green onion, or white onion in a pinch.
• Yukon gold potatoes are creamy, tender, and crisp up nicely (more info below).
• Parmesan: Adds a super savory depth of flavor. You can substitute it with other dry hard cheeses or leave it out for a dairy-free option. 
• Dried oregano: Adds an aromatic quality to give the simple cheesy potatoes a more interesting, grown-up flavor. Italian seasoning (you can my homemade version with a well-stocked spice drawer) or Za’atar (which you can order from our shop) would also be delicious. 
• Paprika: Adds a very mild kick. Smoked paprika would be too dominant—I like sweet paprika for this recipe, which is sometimes simply labeled “paprika.” You can try my favorite Spanish paprika at our shop.
• Kosher salt and black pepper enhance the flavor. Potatoes need a generous amount of salt for flavor, so season boldly. 
• Extra virgin olive oil holds the mixture together and adds quite a bit of flavor. Any extra virgin variety will work well here, but I especially love our peppery and robust Spanish Hojiblanca with the mild creaminess of the potatoes.

Ingredient Spotlight

I love Yukon gold potatoes for hash browns, as they have tender skin with a medium starch content. This means you don’t need to peel them, and what’s not to love about less work and fewer dishes?

Beyond their fuss-free nature, they’re also good balance between waxy and starchy, which makes them crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside when baked. The best substitute is Russet potatoes, which will have a slightly drier and fluffier texture. 

If you do substitute, the choice to peel or not to peel a Russet is enough to inspire passionate debate. I think it’s totally up to you, the skins are just fine but if you want to peel them by all means peel away! 

How to Make Baked Hash Browns

The trick to making these easy hash browns extra crispy is a hot pan. Simply, stick yours in the oven while you make the potato mixture. Here are the steps:

• Get ready. Heat the oven to 400°F.  When the oven is hot, place your sheet pan on the middle rack to preheat for about 5 to 10 minutes.
• Shred, rinse, and wring out the potatoes: Grate 2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes by hand or use a food processor with the shred attachment. Place the shredded potatoes in a large bowl, fill with cold water, and agitate with your hand. The goal is to rinse off the starch so the potatoes crisp up nicely. If you skip this step the potatoes will be gummy. Once rinsed, transfer the shredded potatoes to a colander. Discard the starchy water and repeat the process at least once more. After the final rinse, leave the potatoes in the colander, wipe out the bowl, and place a double layer of cheesecloth or a teatowel you don’t care much about in the bowl.
• Wring out the potatoes and onion. Place the potatoes in the cloth-lined bowl. Gather the edges of the cloth together, twist it tightly over the sink, and squeeze out as much liquid as possible from the potatoes. Return the potatoes to the bowl once you have wrung out all the liquid. Spread the cloth out, and grate or shred 1 yellow onion onto the cloth. Twist and squeeze to remove as much liquid from the onion then add the wrung onions to the mixing bowl with the potatoes.
• Make the potato mixture. To the bowl with the onion and potatoes, add 1 cup grated Parmesan, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1/2 teaspoon paprika, and a big pinch of kosher salt and black pepper. Mix in enough olive oil to hold the mixture together (1/4 to 1/3 cup). 
• Assemble the potato mixture in your sheet pan. Carefully remove the hot sheet pan from the oven add the potato mixture. Use the spoon to push the potato mixture down in one single thin layer evenly on the bottom of the pan. 
• Bake. Place the pan on the bottom rack of the oven and bake for about 5 to 10 minutes, or until the bottom is somewhat crispy, then transfer the pan to the middle rack and bake for another 20 minutes or until the potatoes are fully cooked and crisped on the top and bottom. 
• Slice and serve. At this point, you can slice the hash browns and serve them as-is or add some toppings as I do to jazz it up (suggestions below).

What to Serve with Baked Hash Browns

To me hash browns are a blank canvas that you can take so many different directions. You can serve them latke-style with apple sauce or labneh and even smoked salmon. But I prefer to layer on balance and texture with: 

• Something fresh: Chopped tomatoes and freshly snipped chives. 
• Something briney and salty: like Kalamata olives.
• Something crunchy: Like pine nuts, which are a lovely complement to the buttery Yukon Gold potatoes.

Of course, potatoes and eggs are a lovely match. Turkish Spinach and Eggs or Creamy Soft Scrambled Eggs would go well with this crispy baked hash browns recipe. Make it a feast and add a fresh fruit salad like this one with berries in the summer or a winter fruit salad when there is a chill in the air.

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