• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

FatFree Vegan Kitchen

Simply delicious oil-free vegan recipes

  • Recipe Index
    • Recipes by Category
    • Recipes by Tag
    • Recipe Box
  • About Me
    • Press
  • NewsBites
  • Shop!
  • Website

Oil-Free Waffle Iron Hash Browns

August 18, 2014 By Susan Voisin 49 Comments
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Privacy Policy.

Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, these waffle iron hash browns contain one ingredient: potatoes!

Oil-Free Waffle Iron Hash Browns

For years, my daughter’s favorite after-school snack was Ore-Ida hash brown potato patties. They were made of shredded potatoes with no oil added, and it was a tight squeeze, but two of them fit in our little Foreman grill (they often came out fused together in one mega-patty). They were a healthy treat for a growing girl with a large appetite, one that she learned to make herself, with a little supervision. But then there came a day when our local grocery stores stopped carrying them, and eventually, I learned, the company stopped making them completely.

I hadn’t thought about them in years until I started seeing photos of potatoes cooked on waffle irons in the McDougall Friends group on Facebook. Most of these were whole, pre-cooked potatoes, smashed and browned between the plates of a waffle iron. So I decided to see if I could make shredded hash brown patties using the waffle iron. I did a Google search, of course, but every one of the top search results for “waffle iron hash browns” used oil. I knew from our Ore-Ida experience that they didn’t need oil in order to get crispy on the outside while tender on the inside, so I decided to give a fat-free version a try. And they were great!

Since this is a one-ingredient recipe that requires few words to explain, I thought I’d give it to you in pictures:

Red Potatoes

I started with 4 small red potatoes, weighing about 5 ounces total, which I washed well and dried. I began heating my George Foreman Next Grilleration on high. This large Foreman grill has removable plates so that you can switch between a grill set-up and a waffle iron. I used the waffle iron plates and wiped them a few drops of oil on a paper towel (most of the oil stayed on the paper towel). Any waffle iron should do, and if you know for sure that yours won’t stick, you can skip the oiling. I found out the hard way that oiling is necessary for mine.

Shredded Potatoes

While the waffle iron was heating, I shredded the potatoes in my food processor. It took 5 seconds.

I piled the potatoes in two circles on the Foreman’s large waffle iron grill. If you are using a regular waffle iron, just spread them evenly over the whole surface. Close the waffle iron. If yours has a temperature control, turn down the heat to between medium and high. If there’s no temp control, don’t worry about it. Set your timer for 15 minutes.

Fat-Free Waffle Iron Hash Browns

Open the waffle iron slowly, checking to see that the potatoes aren’t sticking to the top. If they aren’t quite brown enough, close the iron and give it a few more minutes. Remove from the grill and serve with your choice of condiments.

After I made the first batch, my daughter came in for a sample and pronounced them a winner. Then she quickly made–and devoured–a couple more.

Then I tried to get fancy and made a batch with red pepper and red onion–that’s them you see on the grill in the photo above. Unfortunately, that batch was not a success. It took so long to cook on the inside that it burned on the outside; and then to make matters worse, it stuck to the waffle iron so badly that it had to be soaked for an hour to get all the pieces off (I hadn’t oiled the grill) . If I ever try that again, I will blot the vegetables with a kitchen towel to absorb the excess moisture. 

Fat-Free Waffle Iron Hash Browns

This spud’s for you!

Please pin and share.

Oil-Free Waffle Iron Hash Browns: Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, these waffle iron hash browns contain one ingredient: potatoes! Easy, whole food plant based breakfast! #vegan #wfpb

Filed Under: Breakfasts, Family Favorites, Recipes, Side Dishes, Snacks, Vegetables Tagged With: Eat-to-Live, Gluten-free, Potato Recipes, Ridiculously Easy, Soy-free

Get NewsBites!

Sign up for our newsletter to receive new recipes & tips by email!

Privacy Policy
Previous Post: « Date-Sweetened Vegan Zucchini Brownies with Chocolate-Peanut Butter Frosting
Next Post: Vidalia Onion Stir-fry Sauce »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Nicola

    September 18, 2018 at 3:45 pm

    Brilliant! Didn’t use any oil, but took a bit longer to cook. This will be a new favorite!

    Reply
  2. Eric L.

    October 26, 2019 at 11:02 am

    So simple, yet genius!
    I have 5 kids and it seems like they are hungry about all the time! They will love this for a between meal snack.
    Also can’t wait to try the tofu on the waffle iron.
    Thanks for no oil / super low oil recipes!

    Reply
  3. malou

    January 5, 2021 at 7:41 am

    Hey!
    Made these for lunch and i loved them. Didn’t add anything besides a little oil on the maker to not make it stick but the oil was kind of left on the iron. No salt. Just a little garlic powder on the veggies i had for sides. The trick really is to have the iron on high and cook them for 15-20 minutes until crispy and brown. So so good!

    Reply
  4. Rachel

    March 19, 2023 at 7:21 pm

    It worked great but each one took 25 minutes in my Belgian waffle maker. So it would be hard to make a large quantity for a meal.

    Reply
« Older Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Welcome to My Kitchen!

Susan VoisinI'm Susan Voisin, and I love creating delicious whole foods plant-based dishes with no added oil. Be sure to follow me on Facebook and Instagram.
  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Find It Fast

  • Instant Pot Recipes
  • Ridiculously Easy Recipes
  • Weight Watchers Recipes
  • Recipes by Tag (ingredient, gluten-free, etc.)
  • Complete Recipe Index

Find a Recipe

Allergens

All of my recipes are vegan, dairy-free, and fish free. To find recipes free of other allergens, click on an icon below.

Gluten FreeNut FreeSugar FreeSoy Free

Footer

Fall Favorites

Pasta Fagioli with Cranberry Beans and Kale

Pasta Fagioli with Cranberry Beans and Kale

Vegan Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Vegan Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Spaghetti Squash Pesto Lasagna

Spaghetti Squash Pesto Lasagna

Lentil Soup with Coriander and Cumin from FatFree Vegan Kitchen

Lentil Soup with Coriander and Cumin

See More Fall Favorites

  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Photos, original recipes, and text © Susan Voisin. All rights reserved. Do not republish content without permission.

Nutritional information is approximate and is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate. This site has no affiliation with Weight Watchers™️ and cannot guarantee accuracy of Points™️.

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Copyright © 2023 · Susan Voisin · Privacy Policy· Log in