By popular demand, this reader-favorite recipe made it into my debut cookbook, German Kitchen-Classic Dishes!
What are German Fried Potatoes (Bratkartoffeln)?
Bratkartoffeln means translated to “fried potatoes”. Other descriptions for these German fried potatoes would be “German home fries” or “German skillet potatoes”. These are pan-fried boiled potatoes usually accompanied by onions, bacon (“speck” in German) and eggs.
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This dish can be used as a side dish or main course. In restaurants in Germany, they are often served as a side dish alongside Goulash, Schnitzel or other hearty meats.
In German homes, this is a favourite way of using up leftover boiled potatoes. However, it can also be made with raw potatoes.
German Fried Potatoes in a Pan
How to Make Bratkartoffeln (German Fried Potatoes)
There are many ways to make this dish. This is a basic bratkartoffeln recipe, but I will note some recipe ideas for you further on.
Germans will fry their potatoes traditionally in Butterschmalz (clarified butter). I was never able to find it when I lived in England, so I substituted this with oil and butter (although Ghee is similar. It is cooked for longer, so tastes nuttier than Butterschmalz). (I found this brilliant article on how to make clarified butter at home). The advantage of using clarified butter or oil for frying your potatoes is that they can heat up a lot hotter than butter.
Ingredients for 4 people as a side dish
1 onion
150 g / 5 oz smoked bacon
600 g / 21 oz boiled potatoes best boiled the day before – sliced about 0.5 cm
3 tablespoon vegetable oil with 2 tbsp butter
salt
pepper
handful parsley – finely chopped.
Bratkartoffeln Recipe
Cube the onion and the bacon.
Heat 1 tablespoon clarified butter in the frying pan and first start frying the bacon, then add the onion and fry until the onion is translucent. (Make sure that the onion does not burn, as this will leave a bitter taste).
Remove both from the pan and set aside.
Peel the potatoes (optional) and slice into 0.5 cm thick slices. Melt the remaining tablespoons of clarified butter in the pan and fry the potatoes on medium heat until crispy. Do not turn them too soon, give each side about 3-4 minutes before turning. When adding the potatoes to the frying pan, make sure that each potato has space in the pan. This will ensure that they fry evenly. If your pan is too small to fry all the potatoes at once, then fry them in batches.
Do not stir the potatoes but carefully turn them individually.
After approximately 20 minutes add the onions and bacon and fry for a further 2 minutes while carefully turning with a spatula.
Season with salt and pepper. Before serving, mix in the chopped parsley.
How to make German Fried Potatoes – Step by Step instructions
