The Secret Ingredient To Instantly Elevate Your Hash Browns

Hash browns complete any homemade breakfast as a crunchy, hearty, and starchy side dish to complement your eggs, bacon, and other staples for the first meal of the day. There are many tips to perfectly cook hash browns like using the right variety and sticking with a cast iron pan. The use of a single secret ingredient can give your next pan of hash browns next-level flavor with minimal effort: The humble onion.

The trick is to grate your onion and stir it in with the shredded potatoes as it cooks down in the pan. The grated onion will provide the same savory and pungent flavor you expect from the aromatic, but without the need to bite into small pieces. White and yellow onions will also blend in with the potatoes so you won't even notice the ingredient is there — until you take the first bite. It works in the same way as onion powder does, but freshly-grated onions will offer stronger flavor than the spice. The addition of the secret ingredient works for frozen hash browns (defrost them first) as well as homemade batches of the potatoes.

Use one small onion for every two servings of hash browns. First peel the onion and cut it in half, then it's time to grate away. The first option is to use a traditional grater that you might use to shred cheese. Use the side with the small holes, rather than the side that is used to shred the potatoes. Another technique is to pull out the food processor and use that to grate the onion. No matter which option you go with, it's important to drain off any excess water from both ingredients. It's also essential to season the onion and potato mixture with plenty of black pepper and salt.

Whether you want to use freshly-shredded potatoes or the store-bought version, combine the prepared spuds with the grated onion to meld the flavors, then cook according to recipe. Give the onion-infused hash browns even more flavor by saving your bacon grease and using the fat to cook the potatoes. Or you can grate in some fresh garlic, add heat with smoked paprika or cayenne pepper, or sprinkle in some shredded cheddar cheese. And if you prefer a cheesy version of the dish, add grated onion to Tasting Table's cheesy hash brown casserole for more flavor.