How to Fry Home Canned Potatoes

 So, you canned potatoes, and now you are wondering what to do with them. I hear this question often. In short you can do almost anything with them, the same as you would fresh potatoes, but we’re going to learn how to fry home canned potatoes. The easiest way to use your cubed canned potatoes is in a soup or stew; that is no problem. You can use them as mashed potatoes; however, they won’t be quite the same…texture or consistency, BUT they will still taste good; it’s just they may be more…paste like as in they’re not as fluffy DEPENDING on the type of potato you canned and how you canned them. I have also found when that using cubed canned potatoes for mashed potatoes, the color tends to be darker as in they’re not as white, but again after further observation, I do not have this problem when I can a certain type of potatoes and follow a certain process. 

This article is going to cover how to fry home canned potatoes. I hear many people say it cannot be done and that the potatoes do not crisp up. I respond by saying, it depends on how you do it. So, let me show you how we fry our home pressure canned potatoes.

The pictures above show a jar of my home pressure canned potatoes that I had cubed up and canned. These were organic white Russet potatoes. Though it’s not recommended, I did can some jars with the skin on; the skins were so very thin I could rub them off with my nail. You can see there’s not much starch in my jar and each cubed potato is still pretty firm; they are not mushy at all. Now let’s see how to fry home canned potatoes. 

How to fry home canned potatoes step 1: dump and drain

Take your jar of canned potatoes and dump it into a strainer basket allowing the liquid to leave the potatoes. You may choose to keep this liquid to use in upcoming soups or pour on your garden or use in breads; if not, simply rinse it down the drain. Quickly rinse off any excess starch from the potatoes. Allow the potatoes to sit in the strainer for a bit while shaking the strainer to shake off any excess water.

How to fry home canned potatoes step 2: pat dry

After the potatoes have sat in the strainer for a bit, dump them out onto a towel or several sheets of paper towels. Use the towel(s) to dry as much as you possibly can of the water off the potatoes. The goal is to have VERY dry potatoes without a drop of water on them. I never achieve this myself as I can’t bring myself to waste that many paper towels, and the idea of having potato starch soaked into my kitchen towels does not appeal to me. However, I do get most of the water off. TIP: The more water you get off, the crispier your potatoes will be. 

How to fry home canned potatoes step 3: oil, dump, don’t touch

Once your potatoes are dried, pour a good amount of oil into your skillet of choice allowing the oil to completely coat the bottom of the skillet and puddle up a bit. I use a well-seasoned cast iron skillet. Many people do not like to use cast iron as cast iron has a tendency to stick, BUT if your cast iron skillet is well-seasoned AND your oil is HOT BEFORE you add the potatoes, they will not stick, assuming your heat is stable. 

I’m just guessing here as I don’t measure out my oil, but I may use about 1/4 c. of oil in my 10″ cast iron skillet. You want a generous amount of oil to coat your skillet and to puddle some. You can use lard, coconut oil, olive oil, and even add in some butter to fry if you like. 

 

It is IMPORTANT that you follow these do nots when frying potatoes.

• do NOT cover the skillet with lid
• do NOT salt the potatoes
• do NOT stir or flip the potatoes

You may be wondering why, and the answers are simple. We want crispy fried potatoes. Whether you are using fresh potatoes to fry or using canned potatoes to fry, follow this method; it works.

Because we want crispy potatoes, covering with a lid would trap steam creating softer potatoes. Salting potatoes causes the potatoes to release more water, again we want to limit the amount of water in the skillet in order to get crispy potatoes. If you like the crunchy brown crispy bottoms on fried potatoes then leave them alone and do not stir or flip them. By leaving them alone, you are allowing the bottom to crisp up and get golden brown.

 

I keep my skillet on a medium heat the entire time including when heating the oil. That’s about a 5.5 on my electric stove. You’ll know when the oil is hot when it starts shimmering or dancing a bit or you could place one potato in the oil, and if it starts frying, the oil is hot enough for you to add the batch of potatoes.

 

Place the potatoes in a single layer, try not to overcrowd them. I find a 1 quart jar of home canned cubed potatoes is plenty for my 10″ skillet. 

 

Once you have the potatoes spread out evenly in a single layer in the skillet, do NOT touch them. Instead, set the timer for 6-8 minutes. 

How to fry home canned potatoes step 4: flip, wait

When the timer goes off, use a spatula to gently lift a section of the potatoes and look at the underside. If they are brown and crispy enough for you, go ahead and flip them over. If they are not brown or crispy enough for you, let them continue frying for a couple more minutes and check again. 

 

Once you have flipped your potatoes over the first time, let them continue frying on the other side for another 6-8 minutes or so. The time for total cooking depends on your stove. 

 

When the other side is brown and crisp to your liking, go ahead and scoop them out into a dish or plate. Once on the plate, feel free to salt them nicely. You may also choose to add cheese, pepper, garlic, chives, paprika, or cayenne. Serve and enjoy. 

 

Reheating is best done in a toaster oven in order to crisp them back up as the microwave will cause them to not be as crisp.

The Verdict:

My husband likes these fried home pressured canned potatoes. Our youngest says they’re fine, but she prefers fried fresh potatoes. I think they are good. However, it’s important for you to realize that because they were previously pressure canned, their texture has been changed, so they will not fry up in the exact same way as freshly fried potatoes nor will their internal texture be the same. They are good, but they are different. Because these were cubed potatoes, one would call them fried breakfast potatoes instead of the traditional fried sliced potatoes. 

Because the pictures cannot really show you the actual crispness of these potatoes, I did record these potatoes so you can actually HEAR the crispness of THESE potatoes. 

Your Response:

Tell me, have you ever fried home canned potatoes? How did they turn out? If you have never done this or if it didn’t work in the past, will you try again?

Here is my article and video on pressure canning potatoes. I put out a video with tips and tricks about canning potatoes and how to create less starch.

 

Have a blessed day!