Prep: 15-20 minutes Deep Fry: 2-5 minutes each

A long time ago, Arby’s used to sell a loaded potato hash brown where you got two in an order and ranch to dip it in. I believe they only sell a hash brown now but man did I love the loaded ones. I was thinking about it this weekend and so this experiment was born. This recipe makes barely 2 hash browns.

Ingredients

• 2 medium sized golden or russet potatoes

• 2 strips of bacon

• 1/8 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

• 1 green onion diced

• 1 tsp garlic power (or more if you love garlic like me)

• .5 tsp paprika

• .5-1 tsp thyme

• 2 tbls all purpose flour with more on hand just in case

• Vegetable oil to make a deep fryer

• Optional: Ranch dipping sauce or other flavor

Prep

1. Peel the potatoes

2. In a pot of water, add the potatoes and heat to boil

3. Allow to boil for 5-10 minutes so that they become tender but not so soft you would mash them

4. Remove the potatoes and wrap in paper towels to dry and allow to cool so they can be handled later

5. Cook your bacon as you please and break into small pieces

6. Chop your green onion if needed

7. In a bowl, use a grater to grate the potatoes

8. Add the seasonings and flour and mix well, it should be slightly sticky so it can hold it’s shape, the grated potato is likely to be insanely sticky on its own

9. Grab a chuck of the potato mixture and shape to a small bowl shape

10. Fill with bacon, cheese, and green onion

11. Add more potato to close and shape into desired shape, I went like a hamburger

12. Repeat until out of ingredients, literally only made two for me

13. Fill a pot with the veggie oil, enough to cover at least half of your hash browns, heat to about 350 F (177 C) or until a small water droplet pops in it

14. Add the hash brown one at a time and flip to cook both sides to a crispy brown which can take 3-5 minutes

15. Remove and pat with paper towel to remove extra grease

Afterthoughts

While this didn’t look as I wanted, it still tasted great. I think in the future, I might add a flour, egg, and panko crust to get that real outer look for the Arby’s hash brown. This version is lower calorie and easy to make! I enjoyed it immensely and could have fried mine a little longer. The inside was nice and soft and the outside starting to crisp. The taste didn’t match what I remembered but was still really good none the less! An easy snack to make though to make a lot, you’ll need quite a few potatoes.