Transform Bland Breakfast Potatoes With These 14 Seasonings

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

A master of potatoes can create incredible textures. Fried and crispy on the outside with fluffy, custardy interiors are the hallmarks of a perfect breakfast potato. And while there are many varieties of the spud to choose from that will provide different textures, if you aren't flavoring your home fries, you're missing out. Potatoes' mild, starchy flavor is a perfect vehicle for seasoning, and we've picked 14 that are a must-try.

Before you add any fun flavors, you want to ensure the potatoes are properly seasoned with salt. Boiling them in salt water before frying makes all the other flavors you add come through clearly. Make the water taste like the ocean to get your potatoes to be properly seasoned all the way through. You can't oversalt the pot; the potato will absorb as much salt as it can, and the rest stays in the water at the end. You can move beyond salt, too. In fact, our tip of boiling potatoes in broth before mashing them works well before frying them, too. Doing so allows you to beat up the edges a bit, giving more surface area for the oil to fry and crisp up. Once the potatoes are ready to fry, it's time to decide on your seasoning.

Za'atar can refer to both a spice blend and an herb. The herb on its own is a hyssop thyme with a floral, piney taste that comes from the mountains of Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine. The blend is made with za'atar, sumac, toasted sesame seeds, and salt for an addictive herbaceous, nutty, and sour mix of flavors. Often in the U.S., the name refers to the spice blend. Dust the mixture onto your potatoes with a drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon for a bright side dish to your eggs.

Give your potatoes a tart zing with the dark red spice sumac. Often sprinkled on top of hummus or baba ganoush, sumac is popular in the eastern Mediterranean, from Lebanon to Greece. It can even be found next to the salt in place of pepper in some areas. Made from a dried fruit that is related to cashews, sumac is slightly sour, woodsy, and a little salty. This complex spice goes well on a potato on its own, or combined with other flavors. Add a squeeze of lemon for some extra deliciousness.

Sweet, funky, with a low, slow burn, gochujang is a versatile Korean paste to easily add flavor to anything. Add it to marinades, sauces, and condiments whenever they could use an extra umph. Breakfast potatoes with this paste will be more assertive, depending on the spice level you bought, which may be what you need to wake up after a late night. Melt some butter, mix in gochujang, and fry up some potatoes in the resulting mixture for a bit of an indulgent dish. To learn more about the paste, read our guide to gochujang.

Transport yourself to a cabin out in the woods with the fireplace roaring by adding smoked paprika. The powder is made from a variety of sweet and spicy peppers, which are then roasted over an open fire to give it a smoky earthiness. You don't need to add much else; the paprika's depth on its own is enough to carry a potato alongside an omelet or egg scramble. Read our guide for more on what exactly paprika is and how it's made.

Coriander has an earthy, citrusy flavor that will brighten up your breakfast. The spice is the seed of the cilantro plant; some parts of the world refer to the whole plant as coriander. Here, we're just referring to the dried seed. Buy it whole and grind it before using it to keep it fresh and ensure the full flavor pops in your potatoes. Before serving, add a squeeze of lemon to highlight the citrus taste, and sprinkle with fresh cilantro to bring in herbaceousness.

Toast a bit of whole cumin before grinding, and the aroma is unforgettable. Nutty, earthy, and savory, the spice will elevate any potato. Cumin-flavored potatoes are popular in Indian and Chinese cuisines, but they go well as a side to eggs, any style. Fry the whole seeds in some oil for about 30 seconds before adding them to the dish to get the full fragrance, then coat the potatoes with freshly ground cumin so the whole potato is covered in the flavor.

Garam masala has no fixed recipe. The spice mix translates to "hot blend," but really it's more a blend of warming spices rather than spicy heat. Often you will find nutmeg, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, anise, cardamom, and black pepper, but every region, home, and brand will make it different. Our recipe for delicious Bombay potatoes uses the mix to give the onions, tomatoes, and other spices like turmeric and mustard seeds a depth of flavor. Bombay potatoes with scrambled eggs and a paratha are a tasty way to expand your morning beyond the standard eggs and bacon.

Zest your starch with a lemon pepper seasoning mix. The crave-worthy blend of lemon zest, pepper, and salt (and sometimes garlic and onion) isn't just for chicken wings at night. Lemon pepper potatoes will get you looking forward to an early morning. Lawry's is a classic, but lemon pepper seasoning is quick and easy to make at home, especially if you save your lemon peels after you use them in other dishes throughout the year.

If you're tempted to eat Cool Ranch Doritos for breakfast, this may be the tip for you. Ranch seasoning can be used for more than just making dressings, dips, or tortilla chips. In fact, we found 28 different ways to use ranch seasoning, and that's just a start. Toss your fresh fried potatoes in the mixture before serving for breakfast to have a tangy, creamy, and herbaceous addition to your plate. Cook them in butter to bring out even more creaminess.

Start your day with a buzz by seasoning your potatoes with Sichuan peppercorns. Add some chiles for a classic mala heat to clear out your sinuses. Mala is a seasoning so spicy that the name translates to a straightforward "numbing spicy," which describes what it does accurately. Sichuan peppercorns are a cornerstone of Chinese cuisine, coming from the Sichuan province. The spice is made from the berries of the prickly ash tree, laid out in the sun to dry. This pepper is sure to make your taters and tongue tingle.

Bringing the heat from Japan, shichimi togarashi (sometimes called nanami togarashi) is a spice mix of seven (shichi or nana in Japanese) spices. Togarashi means chili pepper, so there will be some heat in the mix. Like garam masala, no two recipes are alike, but often you'll see a citrus peel, sesame seeds, seaweed, and other spices to go with the red chili. Spicy, tangy, nutty, and savory, the blend aims to hit all the parts of the tongue. Toss the seasoning in with the potatoes ahead of time, or sprinkle it on after. You can find this in many Asian markets.

Anyone who has eaten at an Ethiopian restaurant has berbere to thank for any red on their fingers. A spice blend with heat, sweetness, earthiness, complexity, and aromatics, berbere is different from cook to cook. Chili, fenugreek, and ginger are often the cornerstones of the mix, with classic warming spices like cardamom or cinnamon, coriander, and cumin, along with some East African spices less known outside of the region: korarima, ajwain, and long pepper. This will get your breakfast potatoes as far away from bland as you can get.

If you're looking for a calmer (less spicy) but still flavorful seasoning mix, use Herbs de Provence. A blend from the Provence region of France, it's traditionally made with thyme, tarragon, basil, rosemary, marjoram, oregano, bay leaf, and savory (an aromatic relative of mint). In the U.S., some companies and recipes add lavender for a floral note to the mix. Altogether, the herbs bring a piney, peppery, savory, and sweet flavor profile to your potatoes. To learn more about the seasoning, read our guide to Herbs de Provence.

A blend of nuts and spices, dukkah (or duqqa) originates from Egypt but is popular throughout the Arabic-speaking world. The name is an Egyptian Arabic word that means "to pound." Like most spice blends, recipes vary. Often nuts like almonds, pistachios, peanuts, and hazelnuts are pounded down with sesame seeds, cumin, coriander, and peppercorns. This gives your potatoes a nutty and warm flavor with a crunchy crust. Dukkah is often compared to Za'atar, but there are plenty of differences between the two that we go into in our guide on the subject.