Oil-Free Hash Brown Throwdown: Skillet vs. Air Fryer vs. Griddler

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MEET THE KROCKS: We are a married couple who started on a life-changing whole food, plant-based weight loss journey in June 2018. To date, we have lost over 260 pounds combined and we aren’t done yet! Read Our Story

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As you may remember, we started our “diet” with two weeks of eating nothing but plain baked potatoes. Since then, we have adopted a whole food, plant-based lifestyle and lost over 260 pounds combined!

For a while after the two weeks of potatoes, neither of us wanted to see another potato again! However, time heals all wounds, and eventually Brian was the first to want potatoes (just not PLAIN). I took a bit longer to come around. One day last week, Brian was talking about wanting to make hash browns. I always assumed this couldn’t be done without oil, butter, etc. to make them crispy. So we set off on a mission to figure out the best way to make them oil-free, but still crispy and delicious!

Thus began our “Hash Brown Throwdown”! We picked three cooking methods (non-stick skillet, air fryer & griddler) and filmed our first attempt at each one. Check out the video above for a play-by-play of all the action. We also included details on each cooking method below. Which method claimed victory? Keep reading or watch the video to find out!

Prepping Your Potatoes

All of the potatoes can be prepped in the same way. We used pre-shredded frozen potatoes, but you can buy fresh potatoes and shred them yourself if desired.

For each method, we weighed out two servings of frozen potatoes (approximately 2 cups or 170g). If you are using a fresh potato, 1 medium Russet should give you about the same amount.

If you are using a fresh potato, you’ll want to shred your potato into a bowl of cold water. Then stir until the water becomes cloudy and drain. Repeat with fresh cold water until the water is clear. Strain, pat dry with a paper or tea towel and squeeze out any excess liquid.

You can season your potatoes with whatever you like. We used just a dash of salt, some smoked paprika and freshly ground pepper.

We made all of these oil-free hash browns for the first time in the video, so there was a bit of trial and error involved. Below you will find a basic outline of what we did, but this is not an exact science 🙂

The most important thing to note is that none of these methods required any oil!

Method #1: Non-Stick Skillet

First we heated up the non-stick skillet on medium. Then we placed the shredded potatoes in the skillet and pressed them down into an even layer so they had good contact with the surface.

We cooked uncovered for 8 minutes and then flipped the hash browns. We continued cooking, flipping occasionally, for an additional 10-12 minutes.

Method #2: Air Fryer

We started out with the air fryer pre-heated to 400 degrees and put 15 minutes on the timer. After about 8 minutes, we stirred to prevent sticking. They looked pretty done by this point, but the ones in the middle were still “raw” looking, so we kept going. After another 3 minutes, we checked them again and they were burnt.

We had just enough of our frozen hash browns left to make another batch, so we prepped them and tried again! This time, we pre-heated the air fryer to 375 and put 10 minutes on the timer. After 6 minutes, we shook them up. We checked them again after the full 10 minutes had passed and noticed they again looked golden brown around the edges but not done in the middle. We added 3 more minutes to the timer (for 13 minutes total) and they were ready to go!

Check out the “Featured Products” section at the bottom of this post for more information about the air fryer we used.

Method #3: Griddler

We have had this Cuisinart Griddler for about 8 years. It can be used in a bunch of different ways. The grill plates have two sides, one with a flat surface and one with a grill surface. For the hash browns, we decided to use the flat sides and turn the “Selector” button to “Grill/Panini.” We pre-heated with the “Grill/Panini” knob set to the lowest end of High. After 5 minutes, we checked them and decided to adjust down to Medium heat because it looked like they might burn on High.

After 15 minutes total, we flipped them and cooked for another 5 minutes, for 20 minutes total cooking time. Then they were ready!

Check out the “Featured Products” section at the bottom of this post for more information about the Cuisinart Griddler.

The Taste Test: Which Method Won?

Third Place: Skillet

The skillet hash browns were tasty, but not crispy. They were definitely the softest of the three. If you like crispy hash browns, this may not be the best method.

Second Place: Air Fryer

Of all three methods, this one has the most room for error. I think if we played around with the temperature/time we could find a perfect ratio, but for this test, we ended up with one burnt batch and another batch that was unevenly cooked – parts were too crispy and other parts were soft. We will keep experimenting and update if we can find the right method. Let us know below if you have any ideas!

WINNER: Griddler

The Griddler proved to the be easiest, no fuss method. The result was evenly cooked hash browns with the perfect balance of a crispy exterior and tender interior. You can’t beat that!

What is your favorite way to make oil-free hash browns?
Let us know in the comment section below!

Featured Products:

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Anolon Advanced 8 Inch Skillet
Cuisinart 5-in-1 Griddler
NuWave Brio Air Fryer
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