4-5: Potatoes O’Brien

It’s been a while since I’ve covered anything breakfast-related, so let’s dig into 4-5: Potatoes O’Brien to change that. I’ve heard of Potatoes O’Brien before (and you may have as well)–you can even buy them frozen from the grocery store. Here’s how to make them at home on your own, since takeout/delivery/eating in can be a bit hit-or-miss these days.

I suppose eggs might fall under the category of meat or poultry, but it seems to be the go-to accompaniment for this dish. As you can see from the header image, I served mine with a homemade breakfast sandwich which also made a good option. Who needs those big breakfast guys anyway?


Per the TIPS, there’s finally a use for Cheddar cheese soup–you could also use it for 13-1: Broccoli with Cheese Sauce as well. I was always intrigued by it as a kid, but it always seemed way too indulgent to just…eat on its own out of the can.


Ingredients. I was a tad short on onions, so I used shallots instead. I was also lacking green chiles, but had a jalapeño, so we’ll go with that. And of course, swapped the dairy options for dairy free (even had DF whipping cream).


Potatoes are peeled and diced.


Shallots and jalapeño are also diced up.


Going with the old standard half-hotel pan as my dish (they’re indestructible). They’re finally starting to get that nice “used” patina on them–I always feel bad desecrating the new ones, but have no problem beating the heck out of a nicely seasoned one.


Layering in the cheese and veggies.


Poured in the half-and-half and whipping cream.


Sprinkled with cheese and breadcrumbs as instructed.


After removing from the oven. Since I used fake cheese it didn’t melt that well, but the rest looks pretty good.


Final plate, along with my breakfast sandwich (it was “breakfast for dinner”). Looks like greasy diner food to me, which is some of my favorite type of food.

Grade: A-