Crispy Potato and Bacon Hash Recipe for Breakfast or Brunch

This is an easy breakfast-for-dinner style meal: a seasoned potato hash with crispy bacon, served with baked beans boosted by smoked paprika, a touch of white pepper and melted cheese. It’s perfect for a comforting weeknight dinner or a relaxed weekend brunch.

A black plate with potato and bacon hash, roast potatoes, and chopped spring onions on one side, and baked beans topped with grated cheddar cheese on the other. A fork and extra garnish are nearby.

Nicky’s Notes

This recipe began as a lazy Sunday brunch and quickly became a go-to weeknight dinner.

It’s quick, filling and always popular. I love the contrast between golden, crisped potato edges and salty bacon, paired with creamy, spiced beans finished with melting cheese.

It’s simple and pantry-friendly — bacon in the fridge and beans and potatoes in the cupboard are all you need. Comfort food made easy.

Nicky’s Notes
📋 Ingredients for Potato Hash
Abbreviated Recipe
Recipe Tips
📺 Watch how to make it
Potato & Bacon Hash Recipe
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📋 Ingredients for Potato Hash

Full recipe with quantities and step-by-step method in the recipe card below.

A wooden surface with labelled ingredients: potatoes, baked beans, cornflour, spring onions, onion, bacon, mixed cheese, smoked paprika, white pepper, garlic powder, oil, salt and pepper.

Ingredient Swaps and Substitutions

Seasonings: If you don’t have smoked paprika, use a pinch of chilli powder or a fajita spice blend.
Potatoes: Maris Piper, Yukon Gold or other all-purpose varieties work well. Tinned potatoes can be used — just drain and pat dry before frying.
Bacon: Replace streaky bacon with lardons, pancetta or turkey bacon. For a vegetarian option, try plant-based bacon or sautéed mushrooms.
Cheese: The recipe uses a mix of red Leicester, Cheddar and mozzarella; swap for all Cheddar or another melting cheese if that’s what you have.

Abbreviated Recipe

Parboil diced potatoes, crisp the bacon, then pan-fry the potatoes in bacon fat with onion and seasonings until golden. Chop the bacon and return it to the pan. Warm baked beans with smoked paprika and white pepper, stir in half the cheese, and serve the beans beside the hash, topping them with the remaining cheese and chopped spring onions.

Recipe Tips

Don’t overcrowd the pan. Spread the potatoes in a single layer and leave them for 3–4 minutes before turning to build a deep golden crust. Crowding causes steaming, not crisping.
Shortcut: The recipe works well with tinned potatoes — drain, halve and add to the pan without boiling.

Crispy-edged, fluffy-centred potatoes meet salty, smoky bacon and creamy, lightly spiced cheesy beans. This potato and bacon hash is cosy, savoury and satisfying.

A plate of seasoned potato and bacon hash with crispy bacon and chopped spring onions, served with baked beans topped with grated cheese.

📺 Watch how to make it

A black plate with baked beans topped with grated cheese on one side and a hearty potato and bacon hash with potatoes, bacon pieces, and chopped spring onions on the other.

Potato & Bacon Hash Recipe

By Nicky Corbishley

A simple seasoned potato hash with crispy bacon, served with baked beans that are lifted by smoked paprika, white pepper and melting cheese.

Prep Time:10 mins

Cook Time:20 mins

Total Time:30 mins

Servings: 4

Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Dinner

Cuisine: British

Ingredients

Potatoes

500 g (1.1 lbs) potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1.5 cm cubes
2 tablespoons oil (I use avocado oil)
8 rashers streaky bacon
1 small onion, chopped into small chunks
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon garlic powder

Cheesy beans

2 x 400 g (14 oz) tins baked beans in tomato sauce
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
⅛ teaspoon white pepper
100 g (1 packed cup) grated mixed cheese (red Leicester, Cheddar and mozzarella)

To Serve

A good pinch of black pepper
2 spring onions (scallions), finely chopped

Instructions

Place the chopped potatoes in a pan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, then drain.
Meanwhile, heat ½ tablespoon of the oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Fry the bacon for about 5 minutes, turning once, until crisp. Remove and set aside on a board.
Add the remaining 1½ tablespoons of oil to the pan you used for the bacon and heat over medium.
Add the drained potatoes in a single layer and cook for 4–5 minutes without moving them too much so they brown. Flip and cook the other side as needed.
While the potatoes cook, warm the baked beans with smoked paprika and white pepper in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce to very low to keep warm.
Turn the potatoes, add the onion, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Cook, turning occasionally, for about 5 minutes until the onions soften.
Chop the bacon into small pieces and stir into the potatoes. Cook another 1–2 minutes to heat through, then remove from the heat.
Stir half the grated cheese into the warm beans until slightly melted, then turn off the heat.
Divide the hash between four plates, spoon the beans alongside and sprinkle the remaining cheese over the beans.
Finish with a pinch of black pepper and the chopped spring onions, then serve.

Notes

Tip: The recipe works well with tinned potatoes — drain, halve and fry without boiling.

Nutritional information is calculated automatically and will vary depending on the ingredients you use.

Nutrition

Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should be used as an approximation.

This potato and bacon hash recipe was first posted in November 2025.

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