Keto Hash Browns — Finnish Style

Hash browns are known all over the world. There are numerous variations of this satiating meal. In Finland, we call hash browns “pyttipannu.” As you can expect, the traditional recipe includes potatoes. However, I created a super low-carb version of the dish — it has about one 10th of the carbs of the traditional version! Read on to find the secrets to one of the most satisfying meals that make a fabulous breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Did I mention that you need only 3 ingredients plus salt and pepper?

How to make these Keto Hash Browns — Finnish Style

Preparing this dish is super easy. As I said, you need only 3 ingredients and seasonings (just salt and pepper if you don’t want to go fancy — if you want to go fancy, be sure to check my tips for variations section further below).

So, this is a very easy recipe to make and a foolproof meal also for those who don’t have special cooking skills.

Let’s take a look at how to prepare these fabulous keto hash browns:

Take 1 lb (450 g) daikon radish. Daikon is the ultimate keto replacement for high-carb potatoes.

Peel it. I use a cheese slicer. It makes the best-ever peeler for veggies!

Cut into about 1/2-inch (1.3 cm) cubes.

Here we go.

Heat a skillet over medium-low heat. Add a generous amount of butter (I have about 3 tablespoons here.) Heat the butter until sizzling hot.

Add the daikon cubes.

Add also 1 small chopped yellow onion. (I have frozen chopped onion here to make things easy and effortless.)

Mix well.

Cook, covered, for about 20 minutes, until the daikon is tender. Mix a few times during cooking.

Once the daikon is tender, add 8 oz (230 g) cubed ham or sausage of your choice.

Stir until well combined and heat until the ham is hot all over.

Season with salt…

…and pepper to taste.

Serve, preferably with a fried egg on top.

Yum!

How I came up with this 3-ingredient keto recipe

The credit for the idea of the base ingredient in this dish (and the potato replacement), daikon radish, goes to my long-time follower, Gladys from Canada. Over the years, she has sent me numerous tips, tricks, and recipe ideas. Last year, she gave me many tips on using daikon in the place of potatoes.

However, here in Finland, daikon is usually sold in tiny pieces, weighing about 4—8 oz (100—200 g), so I simply should have bought many of them, which would have easily become pretty expensive.

But, a couple of weeks ago, I found huge, whole daikons in a large grocery store near here. Of course, I immediately bought one not only out of curiosity, but also because I finally wanted to experiment how well daikon works as a keto potato replacement. This daikon weighs a whopping 3.3 lbs (1.5 kg).

After buying the daikon, I was about to ask Gladys what to do with it. However, even before writing to her, I got an email from her listing numerous ways of how to use daikon and what to make from it! Call it great timing or telepathy! I was super thankful and decided to prepare rösti with daikon at first.

I used to love rösti in my high-carb times. After starting keto about 15 years ago, I’ve been searching for potato alternatives for rösti. Still, I’ve never been satisfied with any low-carb veggie in rösti. Well, I hadn’t tried out daikon, so I certainly wanted to try it now when I found this whole huge daikon.

My rösti experiment turned out nice, and despite the daikon lacking starch that potatoes have, which makes the traditional rösti hold well together, my daikon rösti was also holding well together, thanks to other ingredients I had used in the batter.

I still did another rösti experiment using our Ketokamu baking mix, and the rösti turned out even better! I was happy to post the recipe to my Finnish keto baking group.

I did some further experiments with the huge daikon I had bought, plus I ate it simply raw. I love the phenomenally crunchy texture and the neutral taste of daikon.

Well, soon I was running out of daikon, so I bought another one. This beauty weighs 3.75 lbs (1.7 kg)!

Now, I wanted to make Finnish-style hash browns with daikon. I also had bought ham (with as little food additives as possible) since Finnish hash browns, “pyttipannu,” contain ham. Often Finns use leftover Christmas ham to hash browns.

In addition to cubed daikon and ham, I needed chopped onion. I simply took ready frozen chopped onion as it’s so handy. I always have some in my freezer!

I eyeballed the measures and fried the daikon cubes and the onion in a generous amount of butter for about 20 minutes. Then, I added cubed ham and cooked until it was hot. Finally, I seasoned the dish with unrefined sea salt and pepper.

Oh boy, the hash browns were extremely delicious and tasty — no need to experiment more! The meal was exceptionally satisfying, too. It kept me satiated the rest of the day!

Here’s the recipe for you to enjoy:

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3-Ingredient Keto Hash Browns — Finnish Style

Yield: 2

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Hash browns are known all over the world. There are numerous variations of this satiating meal. In Finland, we call hash browns “pyttipannu.” As you can expect, the traditional recipe includes potatoes. However, I created a super low-carb version of the dish — it has about one 10th of the carbs of the traditional version! Read on to find the secrets to one of the most satisfying meals that make a fabulous breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Did I mention that you need only 3 ingredients plus salt and pepper?

Print

Ingredients

• 1 lb = 450 g daikon radish
• 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
• 8 oz = 230 g ham or sausage of your choice, cubed
• natural salt and pepper to taste
• plenty of butter for frying

Instructions

1. Peel the daikon and cut into 1/2-inch (1.3 cm) cubes.
2. Heat a skillet over medium-low heat.
3. Add butter to the skillet and heat it until sizzling hot.
4. Add the daikon cubes and the onion. Mix well.
5. Cook, covered, for about 20 minutes, until the daikon is tender. Mix a few times during cooking.
6. Once the daikon is tender, add the ham or sausage and stir until well combined and the sausage is hot all over.
7. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
8. Serve, preferably with a fried egg on top.
   

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Tips for variations

Cannot find daikon? Use radishes instead. They lend pretty color, too! Jicama is another low-carb option but it’s pretty rare. I’ve seen it here in Finland only once!

To make this dish even more satisfying, add some heavy cream. Actually, there is a Finnish variation on the hash browns with added cream. Highly recommended!

Another way to add taste and raise the satisfaction level is to sprinkle shredded cheese (like Cheddar or Parmesan) on top of the dish before serving. The cheese will melt wonderfully and make the dish a real delight!

This meal is a perfect way to use any cooked leftover meat you happen to have lurking in your fridge. Instead of meat, use cooked chicken or fish.

You can season these hash browns in various ways. If you love garlic, add a couple of sliced garlic cloves with the onion and cook until soft. Fiery spices like red pepper flakes and sriracha sauce go well with this hearty dish.

Feel free to add other veggies to this dish. For example, red bell pepper lends both taste and color. Green bell pepper is even lower in carbs, so it’s a great option, too.

Instead of yellow onion, use spring onion or red onion. Leek has the lowest carb count of all onion varieties, and it’s a perfect match for this dish.

Fresh herbs lend a wonderful taste. My favorites with this dish are thyme and oregano. Also, basil makes a great combination. Add the fresh herbs on top of the ready meal right before serving.

General prattling

It was a busy week with many cooking experiments and producing lots of content. I created a super rehydrating nohito (alcohol-free mojito) with our Ketokamu Ellu electrolyte powder for our followers. The drink became really delicious and refreshing!

Next Friday, I will be speaking at the Biohacker Summit in Helsinki. The topic of my speech is “Keto Diets for Longevity.” I’m going to talk about clean keto and its health benefits. The presentation slides have to be ready on Tuesday, so I have to hurry with them a bit.

For my linguistic work, I was working on the Chichewa language. It’s an interesting Bantu language and phonetically quite complex.

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