Ukrainian Pan Fried Potatoes Recipe
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
These Ukrainian Pan fried potatoes aren’t difficult but there is a trick to getting that crispy crust and tender, buttery interior consistently. Continue reading to see how.
I have officially joined the working world and I’m likin’ it! They gave me my name tag today and I can’t even tell you how official I felt walking through the halls with my very own RN badge. It’s on one of those pull string thingy’s and I can swipe doors with it. Yep, that’s pretty official.
I came home from work today and Vadim (the husband) surprised me with this. Classic. I can’t count how many times we’ve eaten these Ukrainian pan fried potatoes. We just never thought to post the recipe.
My husband is the potato master in our house. See the hunk in the picture below? That’s him (and our son sleeping in his arms). He cooked this, typed out the recipe, edited and uploaded photos and did all the food styling on his own. He’s my hunk. I like him. I love him. I had a baby with him. And, yes, I’m married to him. Wow, I couldn’t ask for a better man.
Ingredients for Fried Potatoes:
4 medium-large potatoes
1/2 of onion (optional)
1 Tbsp of butter
2 Tbsp of Oil (I used Grapeseed Oil)
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
1/4 tsp of pepper or to taste
How to Make Ukrainian Fried Potatoes
1. Peel potatoes and cut them into small wedges/fries, keeping them proportional for even cooking. A Mandoline Slicer
2. Rinse peeled potatoes in water, then lay them out on a cutting board and pat dry with paper towel. This is done to get rid of starch, which will make potatoes more crisp. Patting them dry reduces oil splatter.
3. Dice 1/2 of the onion. Melt 1 Tbsp of butter in the frying pan and saute onion for around 3 min on medium-high heat, stirring frequently.
4. Next, add potatoes and 2 Tbsp of oil, mix everything together. Cover and cook on medium high for around 4-5 min covered until golden. Use a dome-shaped lid for best results.
5. Reduce heat to medium and cook potatoes for approx. 15 min, stirring every 3-4 min.
6. Towards the end of cooking, sprinkle potatoes with salt and pepper (better to under-salt than over-salt :D, speaking from experience ). When potatoes are salted before or during cooking, they release juices and tend to fall apart.
7. Check for doneness by breaking one of the bigger potato slices. It’s done when the potato breaks easily.
* Optional Add-ins: When potatoes are almost finished – you can add eggs, minced garlic, garnish it with dill or parsley. Or just enjoy them with a fresh cucumber…like I did 🙂
Ukrainian Pan Fried Potatoes Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 medium-large potatoes
- 1/2 of onion, optional
- 1 Tbsp of butter
- 2 Tbsp of Oil
- 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/4 tsp of pepper or to taste
Instructions
-
Peel potatoes and cut them into small wedges/fries, keeping them proportional for even cooking.
-
Rinse peeled potatoes in water, then lay them out on a cutting board and pat dry with paper towel.
-
Dice 1/2 of the onion. Melt 1 tbsp of butter in the frying pan and saute onion for around 3 min on medium-high heat, stirring frequently.
-
Next, add potatoes and 2 tbsp of oil, mix everything together. Cover and cook on medium high for around 4-5 min covered until golden. Use a dome-shaped lid for best results.
-
Reduce heat to medium and cook potatoes for approx. 15 min, stirring every 3-4 min.
-
Towards the end of cooking, sprinkle potatoes with salt and pepper.
-
Check for doneness by breaking one of the bigger potato slices. It's done when the potato breaks easily.
Recipe Notes
* Optional Add-ins: When potatoes are almost finished - you can add eggs, minced garlic, garnish it with dill or parsley. Or just enjoy them with a fresh cucumber.
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
This recipe was our weekly meal in the 90-th, when we lived in Ukraine and Russia. As someone mentioned before you need unrefined Sunflower oil and not Olive oil, it will add nutty flavor. In the end, I add fresh minced garlic and dill with parsley. Thank you for reminding me about this recipe, this is what we’ll have tonight.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me. Mila!
Hello! Is it necessary to peel the potatoes? I often see fries with peels on.
Thanks for so many great recipes!
Hi Tracy, it depends on your personal preference but both ways work!
These are the best thank you so much for your website. I find myself on here every other day. And I hope your family is safe. I am so sorry for what is going on in this crazy world.
Aww! That’s just awesome! Thank you so much for stopping by, Nanette!
Just made these glorious potatoes. So delicious. I love being Ukrainian, but this potato obsession is seriously troubling!! Thank you, Natasha for another winner!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it Christina!
Just a small note – to get authentic taste you may want to use sunflower oil (ideally unrefined) as opposite to Olive oil or Canola oil.
Hi Alex, thank you for the tip! We don’t usually cook with sunflower oil because it has a low smoke point, but we sure love it on salads for that authentic flavor you are referring to – I know exactly what you mean! 🙂
Can these be used for french fries with ketchup?
Hi Ellie, these look a little like fries and are great with ketchup but it is easiest to eat these with a fork since they are pan fried and stick together much more than fries would.
Hi Natasha
I made this and it was super delicious, not to mention easy. My husband loved it. I added minced garlic and eggs towards the end. Will serve it with cucumber or dill next time. Thanks.
Sofia, thank you for the great review and great job on improvising :).
I love potatoes any way shape or form and if I could, I would eat them for every meal of the day, every day! Yes, that’s how much I love potatoes…especially fried potatoes. Fried potatoes are my dad’s specialty! We make them slightly different though. We cut them into thin rounds and fry the potatoes first and once they start to get a bit color on them, I add sliced onions (i cut onions in thin half rounds) and then finish frying like that. However, my VERY favorite is to either add some cut up bacon or Canadian bacon (I think it’s slightly healthier). My dad even added ground beef at some point and it come out delicious as well! My favorite side dish with them is Russian sour sauerkraut!
Olga, thank you for sharing your version of making these potatoes, I will definitely give them a try :).
YES potatoes
the onions are not gona get burned cooking the whole time w potatoes? i usually always add them like the last 10 min of cooking
Adding butter to the skillet prevents them from burning vs using oil. You can also saute them separately and add them 5 min before potatoes are done. Hope this helps :).
Do you cook with the lid covered for the whole time, or just the first 5 minutes??
Keep them covered the whole time, except to stir.
Hey Natasha your recipes are incredible!!you have actually inspired to begin cooking(which i have long put off -.-;;)thank you so much for posting all these fantastic recipes im so glad i found your site 🙂
Aww thanks. I’m glad to be a source of motivation 🙂
Natasha.. Thank you so much for those amazing recipes… I am so happy to find your blog…
Now after 12 years of marriage i am cooking things my husband actually likes 🙂
You made me smile Hord, welcome to the site 🙂
Wow I never new what made my potatoes to break and yes I always put salt in the beginning so I don’t forget later. Will try it tonight. Thank you guys. And Natasha congrants on your new job, good luck and don’t work too much!!!
Thank you Lilya.
To be clear, kraut is delishous, but I prefer plain cabbage with crispy potatoe. Kraut with sausages is very good. (Okay, now I’m done posting!)
mmmm Kraut with sausages. I’ll definitely try your method with cabbage next time. Thank you so much for sharing! Oh and don’t stop posting; I love hearing from you! 🙂
Natasha,
Congrats on your badge! Way to be.
Vadim sounds like a noble man. You are a darling family together.
This receipt is classic. We like it with bit of cabbage fried with the onion, then set aside and added back in right befor serving. Sometimes we add a bit of shriachi sauce at the table. (Korean friend taught us this)
I like it with cucumber in cream salat.
Be well,
Jen
You’re so sweet Jen. Thank you! My husband also likes your comment very much 🙂 Cabbage sounds like a good add-in. Is it just regular cabbage or sour cabbage like a sauerkraut?
Fresh cabbage….never tried kraut. Separate it out to add in with crispy potatoe at the end, so potatoe stays crisp. 🙂
My husband is the fried potato maker in our household too! 🙂 It’s actually the only thing he knows how to make besides boiling pelmeni! He lived off of those two foods before I moved in with him when he was in university! Ahaha! 🙂
These look good. I wonder if they would taste as good baked? That’s sweet of your husband to make these for you. My husbands made fried potaotes (cubed) once…Let’s just say that it was his first (and last) time in the kitchen:)))
Oh, how sad 🙁 Well, the important thing is, he tried 🙂 I’d probably cut them a little thicker as wedges for baking. My husband makes some really good baked potato wedges. We have it on our to-do list.
Lovely! I used to eat these all the time as a kid but my metabolism is not what it used to be LOL! I only probably have these yummies once year now 🙁
Love when hubbies help out in kitchen!
Congratulations on your new job, Natasha! These potatoes are great. I make them at least once a week, even my hubby (he’s Indian) likes them:)
Is it similar to anything in Indian cuisine? I would love to explore more Indian food. Have any favorite recipes?
There are potato dishes in Indian cuisine but nothing like these. They are usually cubes and are cooked with cauliflower or eggplant with spices. I love Indian food and make it regularly. My favorite is chicken curry with naan (Indian bread), dishes with lentils and chickpeas.
MMm I love eggplant and cauliflower; sounds like a nice combination!
congratulations for the badge ! And yes the potatoes are looking yum… ! cant wait to try it… !
Thanks Sonia 🙂
Congratulation Natasha with your new job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We love this classic Russian potatoes:) My husbands favorite meal.
I nominated you with One Lovely Blog Award:))) Check it out http://leascooking.blogspot.com/2012/07/vegetable-stir-fry-noddles.html
Thank you Lea. No more school, yeah…at least for now 🙂
Natasha, my dad has always been the master of these. Mom could never them the same! Congratulations again on getting DA badge ;). Glad you can finally start reaping the fruits of your labor.
Thank you very much Zhenya. Hard work paid off and now I get to wear “DA badge” 🙂
Yum! We make these all the time too – a quick, hearty meal! Thanks for the tip about salting them at the very end – very helpful! No wonder mine end up falling apart and some pieces looking like mashed potatoes – lol
Fried potatoes never get old 🙂
It’s interesting how our Slavic men are so good at cooking potatoes. We just came back from a Church camp and there was a men competition on how to peel and cut potatoes for pan frying; we were all surprised how all of them were so good at it. You could tell they peeled and fried potatoes before!!!
Ohhh..potatoes look really good; good job Vadim 🙂
This dish is one of our family favorites too. My husband loves to make it on Saturdays when I am off from cooking 🙂
That’s an awesome idea!!! I love it! I will borrow it for our church camp! Who won?
All of them were super good, but an older man won. More experience i guess….
gonna try this weekend
Love this barabolya…..growing up in a Ukrainian background we had these potatoes almost nightly with onions and all. My summer favorite were the potatoes like this with the tomato/cucumber salad and sometimes sour cream with the salad. My husband being Turkish also makes these potatoes, but puts yogurt mixed with garlic on top before he starts to eat it…that is how the Turks eat it.
Congratulations on your new job and career.
Iryna 🙂
Thank you very much Iryna :). Tomato/cucumber salad is an ideal side dish to go along with these potatoes. I might try that topping 🙂
Will definitely try your way of frying potatoes.
I never rinsed and dried cut potatoes before frying them. I am sure that these are delicious.
Thanks, Vadim and Natasha 🙂
Its a little extra step, but makes a difference at the end :).
I definitely think so. From what you write about your husband, they seem to have similar personalities too:).
Oh, boy! These potatoes have probably graced the table of every Slavic family at one time or another! This is the comfort food of our heritage:). Great job, Vadim. This is one of the meals that my husband makes too.
We make these potatoes all the time. We like ours with onions too, and you’re definitely right about adding the salt at the very end, otherwise they are so limp. Yum. It’s perfect for a quick dinner option and tastes great too.
Our husbands would probably get along 🙂 they are both talented in the kitchen!