I Tried 6 Popular Fast Food Breakfast Potatoes—This One Reigns Supreme

I truly believe that the best way to judge a diner is by their breakfast potatoes. So simple, so cheap to make, and yet so easy to mess up. Now, I know that personal preferences run rampant—we all have a cut or potato variety we love, expect a certain level of crispiness, or like peppers and onions thrown in—but there are a few universal truths when it comes to a well-executed hash brown. It should be at least a little crispy, plenty salty, and greasy enough to add flavor and texture without weighing it down (or worse, leaving you with a dreaded oily aftertaste).

Previously, I tried out a whole host (alright, six) fast food breakfast sandwiches. I had a great time! But what I didn’t tell you was that at the same time, I was testing out those chains’ hash brown options as well. While the sandwiches came in lots of different forms, there really weren’t many options when it came to the side order of spuds. There was one hash brown on offer, and that’s what I tested.

But within those orders, there was a surprising mix of different styles. For the sake of fairness, I ate them without ketchup or added salt (please clap). And no, the top sandwich did not walk away with the top hash brown—get ready to make more than one drive-thru stop. So here they are, six fast-food hash browns.

The Best Fast Food Breakfast Potatoes, Ranked

6. Dunkin’ Hash Browns

I want to applaud these hashbrowns for swinging for the fences. There was seasoning! The ingredient list includes: Garlic Powder, Spices (oooooo mysterious), Dehydrated Parsley, and Onion Powder. All good things, but the overall taste was that of onion breath. The texture was a little mushy but that could be a matter of getting what tasted like an older batch. I think I would skip these in an order and swap in a donut.

5. Burger King Hash Browns

Where Dunkin’ bet big and fell short, Burger King just served up the most middle-of-the-road, nothing note-worthy hash brown. Reminiscent of school cafeteria hash browns, the texture was almost crispy and the flavor was that of potato. They would probably be fine with extra salt and dipped in ketchup, but on their own—just not worth the chew.

4. Chick-fil-A Hash Browns

These Chick-fil-A potatoes were like the mature cousin of the Burger King hashbrown—no seasoning, no extra special tricks in the frying or the shape, just a regular, tasty hash brown. They were crispier on the outside and fluffier on the inside than previously tested hash browns and there was a nice saltiness to them. They were good on their own but knowing what I know about Chick-fil-A’s sauce game, I think I would happily swing by for just hash browns and a variety of dipping options. 

3. White Castle Hash Brown Nibblers

Now things are getting a little more exciting, at least when it comes to product naming. I would say White Castle just barely eeked out over Chick-fil-A. It had all of the same merits—good texture, good taste, not trying to do anything fancy—they just felt a little lighter. Not lighter as in healthier (I probably consumed a liter of canola oil during this test) but less dense. That made it feel like I could eat them without feeling bloated and weighed down in the morning.

2. Wendy’s Seasoned Potatoes

Call me a liar, call me a cheat, I’d do it again because these wedges are fantastic. They are very obviously and admittedly (Wendy’s throws down the gauntlet on their website) not your average hash brown. They don’t offer a more traditional hash brown, so if you want breakfast potatoes at Wendy’s, this is what you have to get—and I would strongly recommend getting them.

Seasoned well and evenly, crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside, these potato wedges are a treat. Totally fine, in fact maybe even better, without ketchup, they stand up on their own merit as a hearty side. I think if someone fed them to me on a plate I wouldn’t know they were from a fast food chain at all. I’m tempted to draw some sort of life lesson out of Wendy’s stepping outside of the box, but we are just talking about hash browns here, no need to get too poetic.

1. McDonald’s Hash Brown Patty

The one and only. The iconic. The salty and shapely McDonald’s hash brown patty. You really can’t argue with this one. It’s just different enough in shape and portability to stand out but oh so classic in basically every other way, it’s hard to beat. With the perfect outside texture, just the thinnest hint of chewiness, excellent salt levels, and a hint of something special (black pepper extract? Natural beef flavor?) it is the quintessential fast food breakfast hash brown.

The McDonald’s hash brown patty does what others fail to do—it basically begs you to add it to your breakfast sandwich. It won’t be messy or slip around, it’s the perfect size. Don’t want to put all of it on the sandwich? Break it down. It’s shareable and stackable but won’t fill you up too much if you eat an entire one on its own. Sometimes things are popular for a reason, and the McDonald’s hash brown has remained largely unchanged since 1977 because Mickey D’s knows when it has a good thing going.