Breakfast Potatoes with Peppers and Onions, Inspired by Keke's
Crisp, golden potato rounds with soft onion and green pepper: boiled first, then browned hard in a skillet, in the style of a Florida breakfast cafe's breakfast potatoes. Inspired by, not official.
Edited by JP Lambiase
Change the estimate
Swaps change the price only: cook any meat to its own safe temperature. Where these numbers come from
Inspired by Keke's Breakfast Cafe. Not an official Keke's recipe, and nothing here claims to reproduce theirs. Keke's has not published how it makes its potatoes, and we found no recipe that cites the restaurant. What is on record: Mashed reports that the chain opened in the Millenia area of Orlando in 2006, was bought by Denny's in 2022, and uses fresh potatoes, not frozen, that staff boil, slice and griddle from 50-pound bags; the same article says a Gainesville Sun critic found the home fries golden and crunchy. A regular's report, which fits Mashed's word "sliced", says the potatoes come as round slices, not cubes. Some customer reviews online mention onions and peppers in the mix and a loaded version with bacon and cheese, but we have not seen an official ingredient list. That is all we know: the round cut, and that they are boiled and griddled, but no seasoning blend, no oil, no thickness, no times. So this is a standard diner breakfast potato written to that description. The potatoes are sliced into rounds and boiled first so they cook through and roughen on the surface, then browned hard in a skillet, and the onion and green pepper are cooked on the side and stirred in at the end.
🎬 The full story: How to Make Potato Pancakes 10 Different Ways (One Has No Flour and No Egg)
🇺🇸 This one is American
Crisp, golden potato rounds with soft onion and green pepper: boiled first, then browned hard in a skillet, in the style of a Florida breakfast cafe's breakfast potatoes. Inspired by, not official.
🕎 The original
The Eastern European original is grated potato and onion, squeezed dry, bound with egg and a little matzo meal or flour, and fried in oil for Hanukkah. See the Classic Potato Latkes recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
Baking soda in the water
It makes the boiling water alkaline, which roughs up the potato's surface into a starchy layer that fries into a crisp crust. Cook's Illustrated and Savory Experiments both use it.
Boiled, then dried
The potatoes finish cooking in the water, so the skillet only has to brown them, and letting the slices dry spread out lets surface moisture escape so they sizzle instead of steaming.
Thin rounds
A 1/4-inch slice has two wide flat faces against the pan, so more of every potato browns than with cubes.
Onion and pepper cooked apart
They soften and sweeten without releasing steam onto the potatoes, and go back in only at the end.
🧰 You'll need 7 items
Everything the steps call for. Tick off what you have before you start.
Pans and pots
Tools
Step by step
- Step 1
Melt 1 tbsp butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Cook the onion and green pepper, stirring now and then, 7 to 8 minutes, until soft and starting to brown at the edges. Scrape into a bowl and wipe out the pan.
- Step 2
Bring the water and baking soda to a boil in a large pot. Add the potato rounds, return to a boil, then simmer 2 to 3 minutes, until the slices are just tender at the edges but still hold their shape. Drain gently.
- Step 3
Spread the slices in a single layer on a clean dish towel or a rimmed baking sheet and let them dry and steam off for 3 to 5 minutes, until the surface looks dry and slightly chalky. Don't pile them up; hot slices tear.
- Step 4
Heat 1 tbsp of the oil and 1 tbsp of the remaining butter in the skillet over medium-high heat until the butter foams. Lay half the slices in a single layer, slightly overlapping if you must, and leave them alone for 4 to 5 minutes, until the underside is golden brown.
- Step 5
Flip the slices with a thin spatula and cook 3 to 4 minutes more, until the second side is golden and crisp. Move them to a plate, add the rest of the oil and butter, and brown the second batch the same way.
✓ What it should look like - Step 6
Return all the slices to the skillet with the onion and pepper, the garlic salt, the table salt and black pepper to taste. Toss gently for 1 minute to reheat. Serve hot.
Breakfast Potatoes with Peppers and Onions, Inspired by Keke's
Serves 4 · about 35 potato rounds · 55 min total
Potatoes
- 1 1/2 lb Yukon Gold potatoes (about 4 medium), scrubbed and sliced crosswise into 1/4-inch rounds
- 5 cups water
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
Onion and pepper
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced (about 1 cup)
- 1 small green bell pepper, diced (about 1/2 cup)
Browning
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp butter
To season
- 1/2 tsp garlic salt
- 1/2 tsp table salt
- Black pepper, to taste
Equipment: Rimmed baking sheet, Large pot, 12-inch skillet, Chef's knife and cutting board, Measuring cups and spoons, Mixing bowls, Spatula
Method
- Melt 1 tbsp butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Cook the onion and green pepper, stirring now and then, 7 to 8 minutes, until soft and starting to brown at the edges. Scrape into a bowl and wipe out the pan.
- Bring the water and baking soda to a boil in a large pot. Add the potato rounds, return to a boil, then simmer 2 to 3 minutes, until the slices are just tender at the edges but still hold their shape. Drain gently.
- Spread the slices in a single layer on a clean dish towel or a rimmed baking sheet and let them dry and steam off for 3 to 5 minutes, until the surface looks dry and slightly chalky. Don't pile them up; hot slices tear.
- Heat 1 tbsp of the oil and 1 tbsp of the remaining butter in the skillet over medium-high heat until the butter foams. Lay half the slices in a single layer, slightly overlapping if you must, and leave them alone for 4 to 5 minutes, until the underside is golden brown.
- Flip the slices with a thin spatula and cook 3 to 4 minutes more, until the second side is golden and crisp. Move them to a plate, add the rest of the oil and butter, and brown the second batch the same way.
- Return all the slices to the skillet with the onion and pepper, the garlic salt, the table salt and black pepper to taste. Toss gently for 1 minute to reheat. Serve hot.
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen (Cook's Country), "Short-Order Home Fries" (May 9, 2013), for the amounts, the onion cooked apart and the skillet browning. The boil-first step follows Cook's Illustrated, "Home Fries" (January 1, 2013), which boils diced russets in water with a little baking soda and dries them in the pot: and Savory Experiments, "Crispy Home Fries (Diner-Style, Skillet Method)". What is known about the restaurant comes from Mashed, "The Untold Truth of Keke's Breakfast Cafe". Our changes: the potatoes are cut into 1/4-inch rounds, not the 3/4-inch pieces in America's Test Kitchen's recipe, because Mashed says the restaurant slices its potatoes and a regular says they are rounds; Yukon Gold potatoes are boiled with baking soda instead of microwaved, because the restaurant reportedly boils its potatoes; green bell pepper cooks with the onion; the oil and butter mix, the thickness, the boil time, the browning times and the seasoning are ours, written for a 12-inch skillet. America's Test Kitchen. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
Tips
- Make it loaded: top with 4 slices of crumbled cooked bacon and 1/2 cup shredded cheddar after step 6, cover the pan for 1 minute so the cheese melts, and serve. The bacon and cheese are not counted in the calories.
- A pinch of cayenne with the seasoning gives a little heat; Cook's Illustrated adds a pinch to its home fries.
- Leave the slices alone for the first 4 to 5 minutes. The crust forms only where a slice sits against the hot pan.
- A nonstick or cast iron skillet both work. Brown in batches so the slices stay in one layer; crowding makes them steam.
- Slice evenly: a mandoline or a sharp chef's knife and a steady hand, and keep every round close to 1/4 inch so they cook at the same pace.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Keke's cooks its potatoes from fresh, not frozen. Documented: Mashed says staff boil, slice and griddle them from 50-pound bags.
- Keke's slices its potatoes and boils them before griddling. Documented: Mashed says staff boil, slice and griddle them, and a regular's report says they are round slices, not cubes. The slice thickness, the boil time, the seasoning and the fat are not published.
- Keke's potatoes include peppers and onions. Folklore: repeated in customer reviews; we found no official ingredient list.
- This is the real Keke's recipe. Folklore: it is a home version inspired by the style, not official.
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