Home fries

For the film, see Home Fries.

Home fries or cottage fries are a type of basic potato dish made by pan or skillet frying diced, chunked, wedged or sliced potatoes (sometimes unpeeled) that have been par-cooked by boiling, baking, steaming, or microwaving. The potatoes are cooled between the two stages. Thus, they differ from french fries, which are cooked primarily by deep-frying (short immersion in high temperature oil).

It is possible to make home fries without par-cooking the potatoes, the texture will be more chewy, but the cooking time is longer and it can be harder to prevent burning to the potato pieces. Home fries are also made as the name suggests as a simple homemade potato dish, that can be made even by people with modest cooking skills as a meal or a snack.

The frying is typically done in vegetable oil or butter. Other ingredients may be added. If chopped onions and bell peppers are added to diced potatoes it creates a dish referred to as Potatoes O'Brien. If sliced potatoes and sliced onions are sautéed together with seasonings it can create a dish referred to as Lyonnaise potatoes.

The consistency depends on the type of potato used. Although various types of white potatoes are the most popular base, sometimes waxy (usually red-skinned) or sweet potatoes are used.

In North America, home fries are popular as a breakfast dish {{citation}}: Empty citation (help), they are sometimes served in place of hash browns. There are many ways people eat them, for example with a condiment such as ketchup or maple syrup (mostly in Canada) or as a side dish to ham and eggs. In some locations, home fries are even used as a pizza topping.

See also

• Hash browns shredded pan fried potatoes
• French fries