German Fried Potatoes & Onions or Bratkartofflen is the ultimate comfort food. It’s also the perfect side dish for German entrées such as schnitzel and bratwurst. Imagine perfectly cooked potatoes complimented with caramelized onions and crispy bacon. Is your mouth watering yet? I know that mine is!
When I travel to Germany, these potatoes are always at the top of my list of foods that I want to eat. Unfortunately I don’t speak German. However, I’ve learned a few German words including Bratkartofflen. That makes it easy for me to spot these incredible potatoes on menus.
As with a lot of dishes, the Bratkartofflen sometimes referred to as German Fries was brought to America by the German immigrants. However, because Germany was the enemy in World War I, the “German” part of Fries was dropped during the war. That left only Fries or sometimes American Fries. Whatever they’re called these German Fried Potatoes & Onions are addictively delicious.
Ingredients for German Fried Potatoes & Onions:
I made this awesome dish with just a few ingredients: Yukon Gold potatoes, Kosher salt, bacon, onions, and freshly ground black pepper. I could have also used red potatoes in place of the Yukon Gold potatoes.
Making the German Fried Potatoes & Onions:
First, I peeled the potatoes and cut them into 1/2-inch cubes. After rinsing the potatoes, I covered them with water. Then, I added some salt, and brought the potatoes to a boil over medium heat. As soon as the water started boiling, I removed the pan from the heat and throughly drained the potatoes. My goal here was to par-cook the potatoes, leaving them firm so that they would hold their shape later on.
With the potatoes par-cooked, I turned my attention to the rest of the process. First, I cooked the bacon in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat until it was crispy brown. This took about 10 minutes. After removing the bacon to paper towels to drain, I added the onions. I cooked the onions in the bacon grease over medium heat until they were golden brown. This took about 20 minutes.
Once the onions were cooked, I removed them from the skillet with a slotted spoon. Then, I added the potatoes and freshly ground black pepper to the skillet. I increased the heat to medium-high and cooked the potatoes, stirring occasionally until they were golden brown. This took another 15 minutes or so. I returned the onions to the skillet and stirred to combine everything. I kept the heat at medium-high, and cooked the mixture until the onions were well blended and the potatoes were a deep golden brown.
Finally, I crumbled the bacon onto the potatoes and onions, and garnished them with minced parsley.
I served the German Fried Potatoes & Onions with Jaeger Schnitzel (stay tuned!). The potatoes were amazing. Yum!
German Fried Potatoes & Onions or Bratkartofflen is the ultimate comfort food and perfect side dish for German entrées such as schnitzel and bratwurst.
- 1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cubed (about 4 cups) (See Note 1)
- 1/2 Tablespoon Kosher salt
- 4 slices bacon
- 1 1/2 cups chopped onions (1 large onion)
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Tablespoon minced parsley for garnish (optional)
Cover potatoes with water in a medium saucepan. Add salt. Heat over medium heat. As soon a the water starts to boil, remove from heat and drain potatoes.
Cook bacon until crisp in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat, about 10 minutes. Removed from pan; drain on paper towels.
Add onions to skillet; cook until golden brown stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Remove onions from skillet with slotted spoon.
Add potatoes to skillet; increase heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring occasionally until golden brown, about 15 minutes.
Return onions to skillet with potatoes; continue cooking over medium-high heat until potatoes are a deep golden brown, about 5 minutes.
Top with crumbled bacon; stir to combine.
If desired, garnish with minced parsley.
Yield: 6 servings.
- May use red potatoes in place of Yukon Gold potatoes.
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