How To Cook Canned Corned Beef Hash For Maximum Crispiness

Our issue with canned corn beef hash? It has a texture problem. Fail to heat it up correctly and it's squishy and almost gummy instead of crispy, aromatic, and savory. Luckily, there's a way to get around the ill-fated canned hash. Our advice? Warm it up in a thin layer on a hot skillet before ghosting it for a few minutes.

Spreading your canned corn beef hash onto a hot nonstick skillet in a thin layer maximizes its exposure to the base of the pan and helps it develop a crispy, characterful texture. If you tumble it into a pan with a smaller surface area, the top of the serving won't heat properly, preventing it from getting an even crunch. A well-seasoned cast iron pan is an excellent choice because it retains heat brilliantly, which will elicit a craggier finish. Also, cast iron pans tend to have a wider base with shallow sides.

Feel free to add a glug of oil first if you're worried the beef will stick to the bottom, but there should be enough fat in the can that will melt down as it heats (corned beef is made from a fatty cut of brisket and contains 16 grams of fat per 3 ounces. Once you've pressed your corned beef hash into the pan, you're going to take a breather by leaving it well alone and giving it some space. If you start to stir it immediately, the protein and potatoes won't have enough time to crisp up, so resist the urge to agitate it.

Keep your burner on low to medium heat when crisping up your corned beef hash to prevent the bottom from burning before the potatoes have had enough time to warm through. Once the hash is crispy on one side (this could take anywhere from seven to 10 minutes depending on the size of your skillet and the intensity of your burner), flip it over like an omelet, rather than stirring it, and allow the other side to get crunchy. Then you can slide it onto a plate with a stack of pancakes and top it with a fried egg to turn it into a hefty breakfast.

There are plenty of other ingredients that give corned beef hash a tasty twist too, such as warming paprika, a scattering of sharp cheddar, or a dollop of hot mustard. As long as your hash has that satisfying crunch factor and crispy mouthfeel, you can pair it with heaps of yummy extras. While a can of corned beef hash doesn't hold a candle to a homemade batch of corned beef hash, you can certainly make it taste better by improving its texture and flavor with dried seasonings, herbs, and extra veggies.