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We just finished up an 18-day run of Mary’s Mini and we’ve been eating a TON of hash browns! Brian’s favorite way to cook hash browns is using our Griddler. Many of you have asked us how we do it, so we though we’d put together a little demonstration video! Check it out to see how Brian cooks up our hash browns (and a few extra things).
The instructions below are based on our Cuisinart 5-in-1 Griddler. We are NOT sponsored by Cuisinart – this just happens to be the model we received as a wedding present back in 2011. Honestly, we didn’t use this appliance a lot during the first 7 years of our marriage. It was only after we filmed our oil-free hash brown throwdown video that we realized how great it was for oil-free cooking!
If you have a similar appliance (like a George Foreman grill, panini press, etc.), you should be able to do this, but we aren’t sure what the exact temperature settings would be, so you’ll have to experiment a bit.
A lot of people seem to have issues with their hash browns sticking to the Griddler. While it is not PERFECT every time – if you let them cook for the times listed below, sticking should be minimal. If you raise the Griddler up during cooking, you will notice they stick – but in our experience, once they have cooked for a good 15-20 minutes, they should release. If they are STILL sticking after that, they should come off pretty easily using a spatula.
We have also noticed that more sticking will occur if you clean the plates with soap (or in the dishwasher) between uses. Instead, we like to clean them with wet paper towels while they are still hot. Be CAREFUL when doing this. We use our tongs to move around the damp paper towels and wipe clean.
Check out our Griddler hash brown recipe below and watch the video above for more tips!
Brian's Chili-Spiced Griddler Hash Browns
This is a quick and easy way to cook up oil-free hash browns at home!
Ingredients
- – 350g of frozen hash browns (approx. 4 cups)
- – 2 tsp chili powder
- – 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- – 1/2 tsp onion powder
- – 1/4 tsp salt (OPTIONAL)
Directions
- Make sure you have the flat griddle plates installed. Switch the “Selector” knob on your Griddler to “Grill-Panini” and turn the “Grill-Panini” temperature knob to “Sear.”
- While your Griddler is heating up, weigh out 350g of frozen hash browns. This is the maximum amount we recommend using at one time in order to cook evenly, but you can lower the total amount and seasonings accordingly if desired.
- Add the seasonings to your hash browns and mix. You don’t need to fully defrost them, but the seasoning will stick better if you let them sit out for just a few minutes while the Griddler heats up.
- Once the Griddler is heated up (for our model, a light on the “Grill-Panini” knob turns on when it is ready), add your hash browns and cook on “Sear” for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes on “Sear,” switch the knob down to “High” and cook for another 15 minutes or until your desired crispiness is achieved!
Makes two Jessica servings or one Brian serving. Enjoy!
*SEE RECIPE NOTES & TIPS BELOW FOR MORE INFORMATION
Recipe Notes & Tips:
*We use Mr. Dell’s frozen shredded hash browns because they have nothing added! The only ingredient is potatoes. Check out their product finder to see if they are available near you. A lot of brands have extra stuff added, so be sure to check the labels. If you can’t find one that has JUST potatoes, at least make sure there is no oil added and you should be fine!
*If you want to shred your own potatoes instead of buying frozen, you can! Use a box grater or something similar to shred your potatoes. After shredding, soak them in water for 10 minutes or so. Rinse the shredded potatoes and use a paper or tea towel to squeeze out as much water as you can. Then you can season them and cook! Because they are not frozen, cooking times may vary from the recipe above.
Brian’s Smashed Vegetables
One morning after we made hash browns, Brian threw a few pieces of broccoli and cauliflower on there just for fun. I loved it so much that it has become a staple for us!
We start with fresh, raw veggies (not frozen). He uses the flat griddle plates and “Grill-Panini” on the Selector knob with the temperature set to “High.” The cool thing is, the veggies get grilled and steamed at the same time! Cooking times with vary, but Brian likes to cook for around 10 minutes, pressing down every couple of minutes.
Grilled Red Onions
If you watched our loaded baked potato video, you know that Brian also likes to use the Griddler to grill up red onions. For these, he cuts the onion into approx. 1/4 inch slices using a mandoline slicer. He likes to leave the slices in tact (don’t separate the rings out).
He uses the grill plates for the onions, which will give you those super fancy grill marks! Select “Grill-Panini” on the Selector knob and “Sear” on the temperature knob. Once the grill is heated, carefully place your onion slices on and cook for around 5-10 minutes, until done to your liking. Then you can use tongs to separate the rings and use these to top your favorite dish!
Do You Really Need A Griddler?
There are no fancy gadgets required to eat a whole food, plant-based diet. As you have probably noticed, we have collected a lot of kitchen stuff over the years. 😉 We love testing out new gadgets, but like I said before, this one collected a lot of dust over the years. It was only recently that we started using it at least a few times a week.
Don’t rush out and buy one of these just because it looks cool and shiny. It can be a great tool for oil-free cooking, but it does take up a lot of space. We don’t have the counter space to keep ours out, so a lot of times we forget about it since it is buried away in a cabinet.
Leave us a comment below if you have any other ideas for ways we can use our Griddler!
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I’m definitely leaning toward getting this griddled or something like it. I am missing the ‘crunch’ factor with my veggies. 🤗
I can’t believe we’ve had it for SO long and haven’t been using it! It is one of my favorite appliances now 🙂
Thank you both for sharing this recipe! I am doing Mary’s Mini and it has been a life saver! So easy and such easy clean up. I can’t wait to try the onions on the Griddler. I also tried fresh green beans from Trader Joe’s on the grill side. If you leave them in about 20 minutes they are tender and soooo goood! Season to taste after they are done. ( I rarely liked green beans cooked from fresh or frozen unless they were cooked to death. But these were great!!
Thank you! Awesome tip on the green beans! We have done them in the air fryer too and they turn out delicious. I’ll have to get Brian to try them on the Griddler next time 🙂
Lorie Burton, I love the green bean tip. I’m thinking about other frozen veggies.
Guys,
Your videos are so encouraging and helpful! I am coming up to my 4th month of eating WFPB. I am amazed at how much better I feel. The big challenge is discovering delicious ways to eat WFPB. So many recipes I’ve tried have been just so-so. Eating WFPB is like having to learn how to eat and cook all over again. That’s why your videos are so helpful. It’s like you two are scouts, out there discovering delicious ways to prepare a meal of veggies, and then coming back and reporting in on what you found. Keep up the good work. Your videos make me want to try out that meal idea, which really helps in this reeducation process. Thanks for making them! Plus, I’ve got some weight to lose, and seeing the way you guys are transforming gives me motivation to want to continue with this!
Thanks Bruce! That means a lot! We have done a lot of trial and error over the past year, so we are happy to have a way to share what we have learned and hopefully help out other people on this path!
Got my Griddler today and made some smashed veggies. Wow! Going to try your hashbrowns for dinner. You guys are so inspirational. Thanks!
Thanks Michelle! The smashed veggies are so simple but delicious! Such a fun way to eat your veggies 🙂
I just made the hashbrowns. OMG! I gave them an extra 5 minutes of cooking time and the lid lifted without any sticking. It came off the grill in one beautiful piece. I used a pair of kitchen scissors to cut the sheet into 4th and used them as bread. For me, I used some Trader Joe’s zhough sauce and some non-dairy kefir sour cream I made. For my husband, I gave him some non-dairy kefir sun-dried tomato, garlic, and chive cream cheese I also made with half a mashed avocado. They were both delicious. I can’t wait to do the veggies and maybe serve on smashed cooked creamer potatoes with some sauce or gravy!!!
Great ideas JoAnn! Love the idea of cutting them up and using them as bread 😀
I meant to tell you I used Sprout’s organic home fry frozen potatoes since they have 1 ingredient….organic potato.
Oh Yaay! Great news. There is a Sprouts near me so I can get these too! Thanks so much JoAnn.
Now you have me thinking about using brown rice with the Griddler! I always have rice in the fridge or freezer since I batch cook it in the instant pot. I’m thinking maybe crispy fried rice (using the hash brown technique) and veggies using your veggie technique. Asian, Spanish, Mexican ….? Can you see if Brian might want to take a shot at it?
I did this and it was very good!
Glad to hear it!
Good idea! I will pass this along to Brian 😀
I got my Griddler because of you guys and immediately set about smash grilling all the things. I was skeptical of Brian’s cleaning technique but after about four rounds of smash grilling, it’s cleaned just fine for me.
BTW if you haven’t tried them, smashed Brussel sprouts (I cut them in half before smashing) are absolutely amazing.
We definitely need to try that! Glad to hear it is working out!
Hi. Could you please share recipie for brown rice on griddler?
We can definitely try to figure it out!
Thanks for your griddler recipes. A friend found one for me for $11, $8.50 with senior discount. It works great!
I like making your hash browns recipe and now adding red onion slices (cut the pieces about the same size as the hash brown pieces).
Thanks for sharing your weight lose journey and recipes!
Awesome! What a great deal! Glad you are enjoying it.
Thank you so much for this recipe! I ordered my Griddler back in October 2018 with hash browns browns in mind but my early attempts did not turn out well. We have used the Griddler for other things but I am so happy I will finally be able to enjoy hash browns.
Hi! how can I read the responses to this recipe? Thank you