The Case For Pairing Fried Eggs With Home Fries Over Hash Browns

Skillets, casseroles, and potato pancakes are just a few of the many breakfast potato dishes that take the first meal of the day to the next level. But the real battle for the best breakfast potato has two top contenders when it comes to being paired with fried eggs: home fries and hash browns. 

Hash browns and home fries mark a serious division in the potato lovers community as both are popular choices in home kitchens and homestyle diners. With key differences in thickness, texture, and flavor, the debate is usually a matter of personal preference. Opinions get just as heated as the frying pan, but when it comes to pairing potatoes with fried eggs, there's only one winner: home fries. 

Breaking into a gorgeous, golden yolk is like breaking the breakfast dam, and home fries welcome the flood. Their pillowy potato centers are the perfect vehicle to sop up runny yolk for a flavorful bite. Still rooting for hash browns? Then let's break down this breakfast potato debacle.

Hash browns and home fries are both fried breakfast potatoes, but that's where the similarities end. Hash browns are thinly sliced shreds of potato packed together and fried until crunchy. Typically served in one compact heap, they have a crispy, consistent texture throughout. Hash browns are designed for maximum crunch — the oil-heavy frying process creates a crust around the potato, giving hash browns their signature texture. But when paired with ooey-gooey over easy eggs, the crispy crust doesn't absorb runny yolk.

Home fries, on the other hand, are thick cuts of potato, cooked until tender, then fried for a golden brown, crispy outside. Unlike hash browns, they come in distinctive shapes and have a soft, chewy interior that characterizes them as a cousin of the French fry. The soft slabs of potato provide the perfect amount of starch to absorb the yellow sop.