I am a sucker for a perfectly crisped potato, either in a diced form or a fried form. This has long been an elusive achievement in my home kitchen. Until I mastered these beef tallow potatoes!
Introducing: the crispiest, most delicious beef tallow potatoes you’ll ever make.
I am fairly new to using beef tallow in cooking. It is exciting to have another application for our home grown beef, using more of the animal, nose to tail!
What is beef tallow, anyway?
Beef tallow is the rendered fat of a beef animal. Tallow is to a cow as lard is to a pig, if that comparison helps. Tallow could also come from lamb or venison, but we will be discussing and using beef tallow here.
The most pure tallow comes from the area surrounding the kidneys. Pure, meaning there isn’t a “beefy” flavor to the rendered finished product. Well-rendered tallow should have almost no scent!
Other terms for beef tallow include the leaf fat, kidney fat and suet.
Here’s what you need to make these beef tallow potatoes:
- Large cast iron skillet (I have a thrifted 12 inch skillet)
- Wooden spatula
- Beef tallow (rendered from our home grown beef!)
- Potatoes (I’ve only tried this recipe with Russet potatoes. I’m sure others would work, too.)
- Real Salt/pepper
- Patience!
The Technique
Peel and dice the potatoes. I like approximately 1 cm by 1 cm cubes works best.
In the meantime, preheat the cast iron skillet on medium high and then melt about 3 tablespoons of beef tallow. This may seem like a lot initially, but it’s important not to skimp on the fat to potatoes ratio. Sometimes, I add more halfway through cooking if things are starting to stick.
You do want the cast iron to be plenty hot when you add the potatoes, but not searing hot.
Add the diced potatoes and stir/flip them around initially to get the potatoes evenly coated in the beef tallow. Then, turn down the heat to medium low. Don’t stir them around at this point!
Uncovered, the potatoes should be gently simmering in the tallow. Not too aggressively such that they will burn! There should be a thin layer of tallow on the entire bottom of the pan.
Next, here comes the patience part!
Let them cook for about 15 minutes, undisturbed and uncovered.
At the end of this time, use a wooden spatula to flip them around. The potatoes should be easy to move and not stuck, lightly golden brown on the cooked side. If they are sticking to the pan, you need more tallow.
If I add more tallow, it’s 1-2 more tablespoons, as needed. The potatoes will absorb the fat, so I do usually need to add more. I also add black pepper at this time.
One of the keys to winning is to not salt the potatoes until the very end.
From here, stir fairly often to brown the potatoes on all sides.
After 30-40 minutes, test the pieces with a fork for check for doneness.
When they are cooked through to your liking, salt to taste.
Then, enjoy with crispy beef tallow potatoes alongside a fabulous grilled ribeye steak!
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Crispy Beef Tallow Potatoes
Equipment
- 1 Cast Iron Skillet or Wok
- 1 Vegetable Peeler
- 1 Chef's Knife
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Wooden Spoon
Ingredients
- 3-4 medium White Potatoes
- 3 tbsp Beef Tallow
- Salt, to taste
- Black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Peel and dice 3-4 medium White Potatoes.
- Melt 3 tbsp Beef Tallow in cast iron skillet (medium to high heat).
- Add diced potatoes to the skillet of melted tallow. Toss until pieces are evenly coated.
- Turn heat down to medium low. Allow potatoes to cook for about 15 minutes, undisturbed and uncovered. Add more tallow if needed to maintain a thin layer in the entire bottom of the pan.
- Toss diced potatoes. They should be easy to move and not stuck to the bottom. Add more tallow, if sticking occurs.
- Continue cooking and tossing until all pieces are golden brown and crispy.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- Remove from heat and enjoy!
