Chorizo and Cheese Hash Browns

Breakfast | American

Prep time: 20 min Cook time: 50 min Servings: 6

These aren’t your average hash browns. Crispy on the outside, cheesy in the middle, and loaded with chorizo.

I bake the potatoes for this recipe rather than boiling them, and that decision shapes the whole dish. Boiling saturates the potato with water, which you then have to squeeze out before getting any crispness at all. Baking does the opposite. It draws moisture out and leaves you with a drier, denser flesh that grates cleanly and binds well. Once grated and mixed with cornflour, melted butter, garlic powder and chorizo, the mixture comes together like a rough dough. A slice of mozzarella goes into the centre of each one before forming, which melts during frying into that stretchy, molten core.

Note: allow extra time for the potatoes to cool before peeling the skin, and then again before grating. Then allow for freezing time before deep frying the hash browns.

The frying is done in two stages. The first fry at 140°C is a gentle cook-through, not about colour or crust. At that temperature the oil sets the structure and cooks the potato all the way in without aggressively browning the outside. After that they go back onto the tray to chill and firm up again before the second fry at 180°C, which is where the deep golden crust develops. Before any of that happens, the shaped patties go into the freezer for 30 minutes. That brief freeze firms up the exterior and gives each patty the structural rigidity to survive the first fry without falling apart.

Ingredient Notes

Potatoes: You want a high-starch, floury variety here. Sebago and Russet are my go-to choices in Australia, but King Edward, Maris Piper and Idaho all work well. High-starch potatoes have a lower water content and bind together well once grated, without needing a lot of extra help. Low-starch waxy varieties like Desiree, Dutch Cream or Kipfler hold too much water and won’t give you the same crisp, well-bound result.

Cornflour: Cornflour does two things here. It absorbs residual moisture from the grated potato and acts as a binder that helps the mixture hold its shape during frying. I prefer it over plain flour because cornflour contains no gluten, which means the texture stays lighter and crispier. Plain flour introduces gluten development, which can make the hash brown slightly chewy. It also keeps the recipe gluten free as written.

Chorizo: Use a Spanish-style cured chorizo here, not a fresh or raw sausage. Cured chorizo is already cooked and just needs to render its fat during frying, which distributes that smoky paprika and pork flavour through the hash brown. A raw sausage won’t cook properly in the time available and the texture won’t work. If you can’t find chorizo, diced ham or a smoked Kransky is a solid substitute. Avoid anything with a high water content, as it will prevent crisping.

Equipment

Chopping board
Chef’s knife
Fork
Oven tray
Baking paper
Large bowl
Box grater
Deep frying pan or heavy-based saucepan
Kitchen thermometer
Tongs
Wire rack

Ingredients

6 medium floury potatoes (Sebago, Russet), cleaned
40g (¼ cup) cornflour (corn starch)
sea salt and white pepper
50g butter, melted
1 tsp garlic powder
1 chorizo sausage, finely diced
60g mozzarella
neutral oil, for deep frying

Directions

Cook the potatoes
Preheat the oven to 200°C fan forced (390°F).
Place potatoes on an oven tray lined with baking paper. Prick several times with a fork then bake for 35 minutes, until almost tender.
Set aside until cool enough to handle.
Prep the hash browns
Slice the potatoes into quarters and scoop out the flesh in a large chunk. Chill until very cold. Reserve the potato skins for another use.
Grate the potatoes into a large bowl. Mix in the cornflour, butter, garlic powder and chorizo. Season well with salt and pepper.
Mix well until the potatoes come together like a dough.
Slice mozzarella into 6 pieces, approximately 3cm x 6cm x ½ cm.
Divide potato mixture into 6 portions and form into balls. Divide each into 2 and flatten 1 portion out in the palm of your hand, then top with a piece of cheese and cover with the other potato portion.
Mould into an oval shape and flatten to 3cm high, smoothing the edges. Transfer to a lined tray and freeze for 30 minutes.
Cook and serve
Heat the oil in a deep frying pan to 140°C (285°F).
Gently lower the hash browns in batches into the oil and cook for 3 minutes. Carefully transfer back to the tray and chill again until very cold.
Increase oil temperature to 180°C (355°F). Cook hash browns again, in batches, for 5 minutes, turning to brown evenly, until very crisp and dark golden.
Drain on a wire rack over a tray, season with salt and serve.

Recipe notes

Chef Tips

Chill the potato before grating

The method calls for chilling the scooped potato flesh until very cold before grating. Don’t skip this. Warm potato flesh is sticky and soft and grates into a gluey, clumped mass that doesn’t mix evenly. Cold potato grates cleanly into separate shreds, which means the cornflour, butter and chorizo distribute evenly through the mixture and you get a consistent result in every hash brown.

Freeze before the first fry

The 30-minute freeze before the first fry is what holds the hash browns together during cooking. Without it, the patty can start to loosen as the fat heats up and you’ll lose the shape. Freezing firms the exterior and gives each patty enough structural integrity to survive that gentle first fry at 140°C. Don’t try to shortcut this by using the fridge. A fridge-cold patty isn’t the same as a frozen one.

Storage

Cooked hash browns keep in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days. To reheat, place them on a wire rack over an oven tray at 200°C for 10 to 12 minutes. The wire rack lets hot air circulate underneath so they crisp back up rather than going soggy. You can also freeze the shaped, uncooked hash browns before the first fry for up to 3 months. Cook straight from frozen, adding about 2 minutes to the initial fry time.

FAQs

Can I make these ahead of time? Yes, and I’d actually encourage it. Shape the hash browns and freeze them on a lined tray before frying. Once frozen solid, transfer to a zip-lock bag and store for up to 3 months. Cook them straight from the freezer when you’re ready, no need to thaw first. Just add a couple of extra minutes to the first fry time.

How spicy are they? It depends on the chorizo. Spanish cured chorizo varies quite a bit in heat level between brands. Some are mild with just a background of paprika and pork; others have a real kick. Taste your chorizo before mixing it in and you’ll have a good read on where the heat is heading. If you want to keep it mild, a smoked Kransky or diced ham gives similar richness without the spice.

Can I make these vegetarian or gluten free? For a vegetarian version, swap the chorizo for diced smoked mushroom, a vegetarian sausage alternative, or just leave it out and increase the garlic powder slightly for more depth. As written, these are gluten free because cornflour contains no gluten. If you’re cooking for someone with coeliac disease, check the chorizo label as some brands use wheat-based fillers.