Sage Browned Butter Home Fries
Browned Butter Sage Home Fries, a twist on a classic home fry recipe, make any brunch feel fancier. Brown the butter with fresh sage leaves in a skillet before adding diced potatoes and cook until the potatoes are fork tender with crispy edges. This 6-ingredient side dish is hearty and can be made in advance as a part of a holiday brunch or breakfast spread. This recipe feeds 4, but can easily be doubled.
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2026 Update: This recipe was originally shared in November 2017. The recipe and post include new photos, as well as more tips and tricks. I hope you love these home fries!
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Years ago, I developed this recipe as a pure comfort food in reaction to an incredibly stressful month, which included an ER visit with my oldest child (who ended up being totally fine) and an ongoing ear infection plus strep throat for me.
November 2017 was not my best month, and I wanted to dive straight into this bowl of home fries and eat my feelings.
Turns out, a bowl of potatoes still warms my heart, and I wanted to share this revamped recipe with y’all today.
This recipe is made completely on the stovetop, so if you are looking for an oven home fry recipe, this one’s not for you.
Why I love this recipe:
The idea behind these home fries was simple: I love browned butter, I love sage and I love them together. And I certainly love potatoes, so why not throw them all into one pan and let ‘em mingle and become delicious for a Thanksgiving (or holiday!) brunch side?
The end result is spectacular.
You’ve got delightfully crispy exteriors on the home fries. The interiors of each potato are soft and pillowy. They’re also seasoned perfectly with a combination of salt, pepper, and Creole seasoning. And then you have the fact that they were cooked in a sage butter, so those flavors permeate the potatoes too.
I ended up serving them with my Hearty Holiday Quiche, though you can certainly pair them with whatever you’re serving at brunch. They’d pair beautifully with those Cranberry Cinnamon Rolls, too, adding a nice savory element to the table.
Basically, these home fries serve as the perfect accompaniment to whatever you’ve got on your brunch table. And I have a feeling your guests will gobble ‘em up, assuming they’re potato people. 😉
More brunch recipes for sharing: Crustless Cottage Cheese Quiche | Summer Fruit Salad | Breakfast Apple Crisp | Cinnamon Sugar Biscuits | Sausage Brunch Salad
What you need to make this recipe:
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- Vegetable peeler
- Sharp knife and wooden cutting board
- Nonstick skillet
- Wooden spoon
Let’s talk ingredients!
In addition to the tools above, you’re going to need some ingredients to make this recipe, too! Chances are, you might already have some of them in your fridge or pantry. Scroll down to the recipe card for the full measurements and instructions.
Here are the ingredients you need to get from the store:
- Russet potatoes — these are the best potatoes for homemade home fries because they are starchier than a gold potato or a fingerling. Since they also have less moisture, they crisp up nicely on the exterior while still staying soft on the inside.
- Unsalted butter — you can’t get brown butter without real butter. I prefer to use unsalted butter in recipes like this so that I can add salt on my own. If you only have salted butter, feel free to use that, but go light on the salt at first when you are seasoning the potatoes so that they are not oversalted.
- Fresh sage leaves — these make the potatoes taste incredible and perfect for fall. If you do not have fresh sage leaves, I suppose you can skip this, but to me, they make this recipe special.
- Seasonings — we use a combination of kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper and salt-free Creole seasoning to give these breakfast potatoes some serious flavor.
Variations on this recipe:
Add in some veggies. Traditional home fry recipes typically call for diced onions, and those would be great to add here. Add them with the butter and sage so they can cook down a little bit before you add the potatoes.
Drizzle in a little oil. I do not recommend replacing the butter with oil (because it doesn’t brown!), but you can drizzle a little olive oil or avocado oil into the butter for a little extra fat to prevent the potatoes from sticking.
Add diced bacon. If you like a little meat with your home fries, adding diced bacon to the butter and sage mixture is a great idea. Just be sure to remove it from the skillet and drain before adding the potatoes. Use it as a garnish.
How to make Home Fries with Browned Butter and Sage
Prep the potatoes. Scrub them well, then peel them with a vegetable peeler. Use a sharp knife to dice them into 1/2-inch cubes.
Brown the butter, crisp the sage. Add the butter to your skillet and immediately add the fresh sage leaves to it. Warm over medium heat. The butter will melt and begin to brown as the sage leaves begin to crisp up. Break them into smaller pieces with the back of a wooden spoon.
Cook the potatoes. Season with kosher salt, black pepper, and the salt-free Creole seasoning.
Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally so that they do not stick to the bottom of the pan. I try to keep the potatoes in a single layer so they can all cook evenly.
Cook them until the exteriors of the potatoes are golden brown and the interiors are soft and fluffy.
DID YOU KNOW?
To test if the potatoes are ready, you need to simply poke them with a fork. If the potato is soft enough and the fork slides in easily, the potatoes are done. If it is hard to poke the potatoes with a fork, they need to cook for longer. (When they are done, this is called “fork tender.”)
Serve warm in a large bowl with additional crispy sage, and enjoy!
how to store:
Let the home fries cool completely before transferring to a storage container. Refrigerate for 2-3 days.
How to reheat: warm in a skillet over medium-low heat until the home fries have crisped back up. If you reheat them in the microwave, they will be soggy.
Erin’s Easy Entertaining Tips
While I love a good home fry, when I am out of the house, making home fries at home feels special.
If I were serving this to share, here are a few things I might do…
- Double or triple the recipe so you’ve got enough.
- Cook ’em early. Make them in 1-2 days in advance, cool completely and store in the fridge. Reheat in a skillet just before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, there is not. Home fries are diced potatoes that are pan-fried until crispy, and that’s exactly what these are. The browned butter and crispy sage are bonus flavorings. Some recipes call them sage potatoes, while others call them home fries. Either way, you’re making the same dish.
Yes, you can make these up to a couple of days in advance. However, the potatoes will soften as they sit in the refrigerator, so you will need to add them to a skillet and quickly sear them off until crispy before you serve them.
I personally like russet potatoes because they are starchier than other potatoes. They also have less liquid in them, so they are a good candidate for crisping up on the exterior while staying nice and soft on the interior. A gold potato or something similar can become mushy in a cooking situation like this.
Now who wants some home fries for their holiday brunch?
Scroll on down to learn just how easy these beauties are to make!
Sage Browned Butter Homemade Home Fries
Video
EQUIPMENT
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Ingredients
- 3 small russet potatoes scrubbed, peeled and cut into ½” cubes (about 3 ½ cups when cut)
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 bunch fresh sage about 20 leaves
- ¾ teaspoons kosher salt
- ¾ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon Tony Chachere’s Salt-Free Creole Seasoning
Instructions
- Scrub and peel the 3 small russet potatoes. Use a sharp knife to dice into ½” cubes. (You'll have about 3 ½ cups when the potatoes are diced.)
- Heat 5 tablespoons unsalted butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 1 bunch fresh sage, and let the two cook.
- When the sage begins to crisp up and the butter begins browning, break the sage into tiny bits.
- Add the diced potatoes to the skillet, along with ¾ teaspoons kosher salt, ¾ teaspoon black pepper and ½ teaspoon Tony Chachere’s Salt-Free Creole Seasoning.
- Cook the potatoes over medium heat, moving them occasionally so they all are able to brown in the browned butter mixture. This should take 20-30 minutes, depending on the heat and your stovetop.
- Serve warm with additional crispy sage, and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
About the Author:
Erin Parker is the recipe developer, food photographer and founder of The Speckled Palate, where she shares recipes, many Southern and Louisiana-inspired, and easy, low-key entertaining ideas since 2011. Whether you’re searching for a weeknight dinner or a party menu, Erin’s recipes are made for sharing with the people you love. Learn more about Erin and learn more about TSP.
YUM. I love me some home fries – especially homemade! I can’t wait to make these. Maybe for the Friday after Thanksgiving for brunch??! Yes.
Who doesn’t like potatoes? No one I know! These are great for brunches, lunches and dinners!
Oh no! I hope you get feeling better soon! We love eating these types of potatoes with our breakfasts on the weekends!
I bet this makes your kitchen smell amazing!
So much flavor with so few ingredients!!! Love it!! I also love potatoes! So what a perfect recipe! Breakfast, lunch or dinner!! YUM!
So easy yet so delicious. Perfect for any meal of day. Yumm..