This Single Pantry Staple Is the Secret to Better Breakfast Potatoes

A good breakfast potato should be soft on the inside, crispy on the outside, with a subtle infusion of flavor. At their best, they’re the star of the brunch spread. But there’s lots of room for error: a soggy hash brown or bland home fry can end up witheringly untouched on the brunch table. One easy one-ingredient hack I’ve found to achieve potato perfection every time: boxed pancake mix.

How I Discovered Boxed Pancake Mix Was a Fried Potatoes Secret Ingredient

During our freshman year of college, my friend Laura kept a box of dry pancake mix on hand in her dorm room at all times. “This is how I’m going to make friends,” she’d announced to me during orientation week. It worked. On weekends, after we’d get home from nights out, she’d post up in the dorm kitchen and make a messy stack of pancakes to share with anyone who stumbled in, enticed by the smell of maple syrup wafting down the hall.

We went to school in a small town where all the restaurants closed by 10 pm, so when it came to late-night eats, we were on our own. They say necessity is the mother of invention: It wasn’t long before Laura’s boxed pancake mix had become a midnight snack staple. I remember making deep-fried Oreos coated in pancake batter. In a pinch, we once made a batch of something like brownies with pancake mix and cocoa powder. Boxed pancake mix started to feel like a miracle ingredient: What couldn’t it do?

A year or so after I graduated from college, I found myself scrambling to host an impromptu sleepover-turned-brunch for a group of friends—a situation I’d only ever encountered in Magic Bullet infomercials. I’d just returned from a few weeks of traveling, and my kitchen was alarmingly empty, but I did have a few pantry staples on hand, including my beloved boxed pancake mix (old habits die hard). Why not? I figured, and coated a bowl of breakfast potatoes in pancake mix before frying them up. What I got were perfectly crispy potatoes with a hint of sweetness. 

How to Use Boxed Pancake Mix for Fried Potatoes 

This is a great hack because it ensures two things at once: subtle flavor and crispiness. Here’s how I do it: After cutting potatoes into wedges or cubes, boil them in a pot with one healthy pinch of salt and another of baking soda. (The baking soda brings up the alkalinity of the water, which breaks down the edges of the potatoes and primes them for peak crisp.) Boil just until they’re fork-tender, then strain and let cool for a few minutes.

Transfer the potatoes to a bowl. Toss with just enough boxed pancake mix to robustly coat the surface of each wedge. Coat the bottom of a large pan with a neutral oil and heat until it’s glistening, then add the potatoes and shallow fry until they’re crispy. Remove the potatoes from the pan with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate with a paper towel to drain excess oil. After plating these, sprinkle with flaky salt and drizzle with maple syrup. They’re a perfect marriage of sweet and savory… all thanks to one little secret pantry ingredient.