Leftover French Fry Hash

My daughter adores this breakfast skillet.  Actually, it is an any time of day snack and she has taken it for lunch as well.  We always get extra steak fries when we order out from a particular restaurant.  Like... multiple boxes of extras.  They work fantastic for this hash, but any leftover substantial fry will do.  Probably not thin, greasy fast food fries though and no thank you anyway.  I grew up with this kind of hash, made with diced potatoes.  I love the O'Brien style and why not get some good antioxidants from the bell peppers while you're at it? 

 

So this is almost more a formula than a recipe because it depends on how much leftover fries/chips you have, but it can be scaled as much as you like.  Just one container of leftover fries?  Use half an onion and pepper, and maybe, just maybe, a couple fewer slices of bacon.  Kiddo loves this either with a "Papa style" fried egg, (Papa makes the best over easy eggs), or a little squirt of Japanese barbecue sauce, also remarkably delicious.  Kiddo has also developed a love of breakfast sandwiches, so we now have ham steaks in the freezer on the regular.  This would be equally as good with diced ham as bacon, or you can leave the meat out and just use butter and oil.  My mom likes to make hash with leftover roast, chopped.

Leftover French Fry Hash

4 slices thick bacon, chopped
2-3 cups chopped leftover French fries (steak fries work great here, or leftover roasted potatoes too!)
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 small red bell pepper, diced
minced garlic or a spoon of jarlic (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
dash of paprika
avocado oil if not using bacon grease
1 tbsp butter
chopped parsley, chives, or green onions (if you want to get fancy)
 
Cook the bacon in a skillet (cast iron works great for this), over medium low heat until chewy and not yet crisp.  Reserve about 2 tbsp of bacon fat in the skillet and save or discard the rest.  Add the butter and let it come up to a sizzle on medium heat.  

Add the onion and bell pepper and cook and stir until the peppers and tender and the onions have just started to color.  Season with salt and pepper.  

Add the chopped fries and cook, stirring occasionally, until the fries are heated through and there are areas of crispy browning in the fries and onions.  Add the optional garlic/jarlic, and the paprika and cook and stir for another minute.  Taste and season with more salt and pepper if desired.

Serve with a sprinkle of fresh or dried chopped parsley if you can wait that long.

Do you want this to be mostly hands off?  Cook the bacon on a sheet pan at 400ºF until chewy, then add the butter, peppers and onions.  Stir to coat, spread and roast for 15 minutes.  Add the fries and garlic, stir to mix, roast for another 15-20 minutes.  Season and serve!

Sheet pan is more hands off time, but I think
skillet is faster and overall easier!

 

Be sure to check out all the other things to make with French fries:

• Cheesy Bacon Ranch Loaded French Fries from Making Miracles
• Corned Beef Poutine from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Keto Rutabaga French Fries from Sneha's Recipe
• Leftover French Fry Hash from A Messy Kitchen
• Masala Chip Butty from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Lomo Saltado from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Spicy Samurai Fries from Food Lust People Love