Mexican Hash Brown Stack
Mexican Hash Brown Stack – crispy potato topped with sunny-side eggs, sliced avocado, homemade pico de gallo, and crumbled queso fresco cheese!
Confession. I had the hardest time naming this recipe. I stared at my computer for an inordinate amount of time (consulted several family members) and still struggled to name this–in fact, I actually changed the name yet again just before publishing this post.
As strange as it sounds, sometimes that is the hardest part of creating a recipe. When you don’t know what to call something (so that it actually makes sense to people?), but the dish is straight-forward and logical.
Apparently Mexican hash brown stack won. It’s a little long and I’ve come to realize I don’t like the word ‘stack’, but it really does the best job of describing this dish. A crispy hash brown base topped with sunny-side eggs, homemade pico de gallo, sliced avocado, and queso fresco!
Breakfast, or better yet, breakfast-for-dinner is served.
This recipe was loosely inspired by a smoked salmon potato tartine that I shared almost two years ago (i.e. don’t look at the pictures).
Though that recipe is equally as delicious in its own way, albeit very different, the two recipes do share something in common: a crispy potato base. In culinary school, we came to know this as a pommes darphin, but in reality, it is very similar to a large, round crispy hash brown.
Have you ever met a person that doesn’t like crispy hash browns? Of course not! Everyone (or anyone worth trusting) loves a good hash brown. There are a few tricks to achieving a good hash brown base for this dish:
- Grate the potato very quickly (as it will oxidize immediately) and work with just one potato (aka. one hash brown) at a time.
- Do not soak the potato in water. You want to remove the excess moisture from the grated potato, but not the starch–as it will allow you to create a pancake-like hash brown that holds together.
- Use a neutral, high-smoke point oil, such as grapeseed, safflower, or canola–or better yet, clarified butter–to cook the potato.
- Watch the pan carefully, adjust the heat as necessary throughout the cooking process, and flip gently.
- To keep the potatoes warm and crisp, hold them in a 275 degree oven (on a rack set on top of a baking sheet) as you prepare the rest of the recipe. No one likes a cold hash brown.
The hash brown base is the most technical aspect of this recipe. The rest comes together very quickly and is very straight-forward! Although you could easily buy a fresh pico de gallo from the store, you’d be surprised just how easy it is to make from scratch.
It takes just 10 minutes or so, tastes infinitely better, and if you’re anything like me during the summer months, you already have fresh tomatoes lying around on your kitchen countertop.
My only request is that you use fresh pico de gallo–and not jarred salsa—for this recipe. It’s a must!
The next step? Cook up the eggs! I topped the hash brown base with sunny-side eggs, but feel free to prepare them as you like. Easy over, fried, or poached would work just as well!
Assemble.
Devour.
Repeat.
Mexican Hash Brown Stack
Ingredients
Pico de Gallo:
- 2-3 medium vine-ripened tomatoes (8 ounces), cored, de-seeded and diced
- 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion (roughly 1/4 medium onion)
- 1/4 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon finely diced jalapeno pepper (de-seeded and ribs removed)
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice (half a juicy lime)
- kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Potato Tartine:
- ~1 lb – 1.25 lbs russet potatoes (roughly 1 small russet potato per serving)
- kosher salt
- freshly ground pepper
- neutral-flavored oil, for cooking (canola, safflower, or grapeseed)
Toppings:
- 2 – 4 whole large eggs (1-2 per serving, depending on preference)
- 1/2 ripe avocado, thinly sliced
- 2 ounces queso fresco cheese, crumbled
- fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish
Instructions
- Prepare Pico de Gallo: Combine the ingredients in a small bowl, stir, and allow to sit out at room temperature as you prepare the rest of the recipe.
- Prepare Potato Tartine: Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. To reduce oxidizing, peel, grate, and cook one potato at a time. Using a large box grater, grate the potato lengthwise into a large bowl. Place the pile of grated potato into the center of a clean kitchen towel. Wrap up the grated potato and twist tightly into a ball. Squeeze the pile of grated potato over the sink to remove any excess moisture and starch–repeating several times as necessary. Place the grated potato into a clean, dry bowl and season lightly with salt and pepper.
- Heat a tablespoon of oil in a 8-inch non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the grated potato and shape roughly, using a spatula, into a large circle. Press on the mixture with the back of a spatula to compact it, and cook gently for 8-10 minutes or until the bottom is golden brown and crisp.
- Flip the potato carefully and cook for another 8-10 minutes, adding additional oil as necessary, or until both sides are golden and crisp. Place on a cooling rack (set on top of a baking sheet) and keep warm in the oven as you prepare the remaining potato tartine and toppings.
- Prepare Toppings: Heat a small non-stick skillet over low heat, grease with a small amount of butter or oil, and crack the eggs (ensuring that the yolk does not break). Cook as desired, or until the eggs until the whites are firm and the yolks are still runny. Remove from heat immediately.
- Assemble: Remove the potato tartines from the oven, and serve. Top with 1 or 2 sunny-side eggs, a generous spoonful of pico de gallo, sliced avocado, crumbled queso fresco cheese, and garnish with fresh cilantro. Serve immediately.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 2 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 887Total Fat: 42gSaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 24gCholesterol: 424mgSodium: 1109mgCarbohydrates: 94gFiber: 15gSugar: 12gProtein: 37g
I could eat this all day, every day.
I think that’s the perfect name!! Though those pictures are tempting me more than enough!
Thanks Sues! I still think it needs a bit of work, but glad you like it! 😉
This looks delicious! It’s the kind of breakfast I make for my boyfriend on Saturday mornings. BTW, the smoked salmon potato tartine is how I found your blog in the first place 🙂
Really?! That’s too funny! I love that tartine!
These photos…so stunning!! I love how vibrant the colors are. I wish I lived nearby so I could have some of this for breakfast 😉
Thanks so much Julie! Wish you lived closer too (too bad that was true for a very long time…–> UGH!). Ha!
Hi Laura, this is my new week-end breakfast, love it!!
Wonderful! Let me know if you try it! 🙂
This is my kind of breakfast (or dinner!) I am totally in love!
oooh girl, this looks fantastic!!! i’m gonna have to make this for dinner this week. we have so much cilantro in our garden!
Oooh, I wish I had cilantro growing (on my balcony–maybe I can do something about that though now that I have one!).
I think I need this in my life. Pronto.
I like your thinking! 🙂
OMG I want this immediately! What a creative and delicious looking recipe 🙂 Anything involving hash browns, eggs, and avocado is TOTALLY up my alley!
Thank you so much Liz! I’m a sucker for hash browns, and all of those things too, so it only seemed right that I combined them all into a dish.
That egg though!! 🙂
Could literally eat this every day!!
Thanks Tieghan!!
That hash brown pancake…I really can’t think of anything better. Love that you topped it with these fresh Mexican flavors!
Thanks Joanne! 🙂
I want you to make this for me. Seriously it looks so good and I’m already wanting to go back to Chicago.
YES, COME BACK!!! 🙂
This looks totally delicious and something i would never think of making but would love to have for Sunday breakfast! Yum!
Not going to lie… this might be the most beautiful breakfast these little eyes ever did see. Love the technical tips about how to fry the hashbrowns! Hope you’re enjoying Chicago 🙂
OMG this is like my Saturday morning dream come true! GET IN MY BELLY. Woop!
I think Mexican hash brown stack is the perfect name! The colors of this dish are incredible – I’m so in love with all the photos! (And the crispy hash browns….:)
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These photos are so vibrant + beautiful, xo!!!
Uhhh, yeah. I need all of this. Hash browns are my favourite breakfast dish and the fact that you’ve jazzed them up with all these beautiful add-ins makes them a meal in itself! Beautiful photography, too 🙂
Love hash browns, I didn’t know, that is really easy to make them!
Love your pics! Love the name, I just made some this morning but I called them huevos rancheros in a hash! Lol
Cheers… Gina
I can see how this recipe was hard to name. But I am loving the look of it! This looks like what I want for breakfast/brunch every day!
I was not hungry when I came to this page. Now I want to go make this right away. It looks delicious. The pics are great and have my mouth watering.
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This is so colorful and beautiful!! I love hash browns and avocados — cannot wait to make this for my fam.