This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Potato Roesti is delicious with eggs for breakfast, or served as a side dish for any meal.
Potato Roesti (or rösti or röschti) is a classic Swiss potato side dish that resembles a giant hash brown.
Shredded potatoes are lightly seasoned, then fried in butter in a shallow, wide, slope-sided non-stick pan. (This is the pan we used.) You will be frying both sides of your Potato Roesti – and the recipe below gives you some pointers about using a dinner plate to easily flip your roesti halfway through the cooking process.
We highly recommend using a ‘waxy’ potato for this recipe, such as new reds. Other types of potatoes including Yukon Gold or Russet potatoes are very starchy and your Potato Roesti will not retain its shape as you flip it.
Once done, the potatoes fry up crispy and golden on the outside, while the inside is soft and creamy – then, your Potato Roesti is slid out of the pan onto a serving plate.
We garnished our Potato Roesti with chopped chives, fresh lemon zest (a wonderful bright contrast to the buttery potatoes), plus a dollop of sour cream on top.
You can serve this easy side dish in wedges, or just break into it and serve each portion more free-form with a spoon.
Potato Roesti is a delicious side dish for just about any meal – and it looks very impressive as it is served. (You don’t have to tell anyone how easy it is to make!) This dish is also delicious served for breakfast with poached or sunny-side-up fried eggs as well.
And, while we’ve kept this Potato Roesti recipe simple and traditional today – you can also add other toppings like bacon or cheese on top. (We even saw a stuffed potato roesti featured on the Food Network where they layered pulled pork in between two roesti layers – it looked fantastic!)
You may enjoy these other potato recipes:
- Crispy Creamy Potato Pancakes
- Potatoes O’Brien
- Pepper Jack Potato Pancakes
- Summer Salad with Goat Cheese-Filled Potato Cakes
- Corned Beef Breakfast Hash
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
Potato Roesti
Ingredients
2 pounds new red potatoes (buy medium to large size potoatos, not the small reds) (*also see Note below)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
4 tablespoons butter, divided
Zest of one lemon, as a topping
Fresh chopped chives, as a topping
Sour cream, as a topping
Instructions
Place a large pot of salted water on to boil and add the whole skin-on potatoes.
This next step is important. You’ll only want to cook then 20 – 30 minutes depending on the potato size. Slide a fork into each potato. The outside should be soft but the center still firm. They will cook further after shredding. If you cook them too long, they will be difficult to shred and fry so again, the centers should be firm, almost hard. I took mine out, one at a time, as each wase done. All of my medium-sized potatoes were done in 20 minutes.
Once done, drain and fill the pot with potatoes and cold water. Drain and fill again with more cold water and move the pot to your counter.
Pull one potato out at a time onto your cutting board and with a sharp knife, drag the blade edge along the skin and it will peel right off. Do this for all of the potatoes. Discard skins.
Using a box grater on the large holes, shred all of the potatoes onto the cutting board then sprinkle on the salt, pepper and garlic powder. Gently toss with a fork a few times to incorporate the seasonings.
This next step is equally important. Choose a nonstick skillet approximately 10” across and a dinner plate or other round plate that when inverted will fit just inside the rim of the pan. This will be used to flip the Roesti once it is cooked on one side. Do not choose a plate larger than the pan opening as it will be very hard to invert.
Place the pan on a medium heat burner and melt two tablespoons of the butter until frothy and just starting to brown.
Add the shredded potatoes and use a small spatula to shape into a neat circle, slightly domed in the center.
Turn the burner to medium low to low and cover the pan with a lid and set timer for ten minutes.
Spray the plate with pan spray so that the potato slides off easy.
After ten minutes, place the prepared plate inverted over the potatoes. Lift the pan off by the handle and place your hand over the plate. Quickly but carefully flip the pan over while holding the plate in place. Lift the pan off and the cooked side of the potatoes will be facing up on the plate.
Add the remaining butter back to the pan over medium heat and once frothy and starting to brown, slide the Roesti off of the plate and into the pan so that the uncooked side is down.
Cover and cook for ten more minutes over medium low to low heat.
After ten minutes, slide the Roesti out of the pan and onto your serving plate. Zest one whole lemon over the top and sprinkle a few teaspoons of chopped chives over as well. Finally place a large dollop of sour cream in the center and serve.
To serve, cut into wedges and serve with a pie server. Serve extra sour cream on the side.
Last Step! Please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Notes
*We highly recommend using a ‘waxy’ potato for this recipe, as new reds. Other types of potatoes including Yukon Gold or Russet potatoes are very starchy and your Potato Roesti will not retain its shape as you flip it.
Love your recipes. Plan to begin trying them this week , especially the Italian recipes.
Thanks Amelia! We’re glad you found us – and hope you love the recipes!