The Pioneer Woman's Best Potato Recipes

Potatoes are one of the most versatile vegetables in the kitchen, and in the hands of someone as skilled in Southern comfort food as Ree Drummond, there are more uses than you could even imagine. Check out these recipes for our favorite potato-forward dishes from Food Network's The Pioneer Woman.

We're kicking things off with a tasty hack. Potato salad without having to peel and cook potatoes? Yes, please! For this simple dish, blanch a bag of frozen hash browns, add a few extra ingredients (mayonnaise, relish, mustard, vinegar, paprika, celery, eggs, green onions and dill) and, voilà, your potato salad is served.

Just when you think you've tasted every possible spin on mashed potatoes, Ree introduces a simple twist that takes the indulgence one step further. The roasted garlic promises a rich sweetness, while cream cheese delivers a subtle tang.

Everyone loves a good plate of nachos. Crispy tortilla chips piled high with melted cheese and all the accouterments you could ask for. As usual, though, Ree likes to put a unique spin on a classic dish, and these Potato Nachos are no different, swapping chips for crispy spuds. Hitting all the regular nacho cravings but in a totally new way, these potato rounds are loaded with crispy bacon, melted cheese, scallions, salsa and sour cream.

Potato salad without having to peel and cook potatoes? Yes, please! For this simple dish, blanch a bag of frozen hash browns, add a few extra ingredients (mayonnaise, relish, mustard, vinegar, paprika, celery, eggs, green onions and dill) and, voilà, your potato salad is served.

Burger and fries, please. It’s no surprise that it's one of the most common orders in the US. But have you ever seen the two combined? These Waffle Fry Sliders flip a burger and fries on its head. Stacked with mini patties, melty cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles and a creamy ketchup-mayo spread, these bite-sized sliders turn waffle fries into the perfect bun-less burger bite.

The key to achieving over-the-top flavor in Ree's five-star potatoes is brushing the seasoned butter-chive combination deep into the slits between the spud slices.

OK, we’ll say it: Bacon just makes everything better. And that sentiment is especially true when it’s wrapped around these bite-sized baby potatoes. Sprinkled with barbecue seasoning and baked until crisp, then topped with parsley and served with ranch or blue cheese dressing, these crispy treats are the perfect poppable appetizer.

Bite-sized breakfast bites? Sign us up! For these Baked Eggs in Hash Brown Cups, Ree presses grated baked potatoes into muffin tins to form crispy little nests, then cracks an egg inside and bakes until set for the perfect grab-and-go breakfast.

The Pioneer Woman is up to her old tricks again, turning a classic ingredient like pasta noodles on its head and, boy, are we thankful she did! Spiralized sweet potatoes take the place of pasta, tossed with sauteed mushrooms, greens and crispy bacon, then finished with a Parmesan-egg mixture for a cozy carbonara twist.

While these Crispy Potato Balls take a bit of time and a little extra skill to complete, they are 100% worth the effort. Mashed potatoes mixed with Parmesan, mozzarella, parsley and a touch of flour get rolled into golf ball-sized bites, coated in breadcrumbs, then fried until golden for a crunchy shell and cheesy potato goodness inside.

Hearty and comforting, this cheesy potato casserole boasts subtle tang thanks to the addition of rich sour cream. Follow Ree's lead and blanket the potatoes with a layer of crushed potato chips before baking to guarantee a crispy texture in each bite.

If you have leftover mashed potatoes in your fridge and you’re not sure whether to toss ’em or eat ’em, we’ve got the perfect idea. These delicious Potato Dumplings are as simple as tucking creamy mashed potatoes into wonton wrappers and boiling until tender.

We know what you’re thinking: Potato chips and chocolate chip cookies are better off left as separate snacks. But what if they’re not? We don’t deny they’re both delicious on their own, but combined, they may be even better. Butter, sugar and vanilla cookie dough mixed with chocolate chips and crushed potato chips, then baked for the perfect salty-sweet treat.

Ree makes a smashed potato mixture featuring crispy bacon bits, fresh green onions and plenty of gooey cheddar to fill up her hollowed-out potato halves.

For this hearty skillet, Ree cooks sausage, bacon and onion together, then adds tender potatoes before folding in eggs, half-and-half, cheese and green onions for a rich, comforting dish you’ll want to eat every weekend.

This recipe uses the most neglected part of the potato, the skin, and creates a simple snack that tastes anything but leftover. Tossed with butter, oil, salt, pepper, paprika and oregano then roasted until golden and crisp, these seasoned skins are finished with fresh chives and sea salt.

Not your everyday baked potatoes, these super-stuffed spuds are blanketed in a two-cheese sauce studded with broccoli and finished with crispy fried onions for a textured bite.

Featured in Food Network Magazine, these easy-to-make fries get their craveable taste and texture from a two-part cooking process, once to cook the potatoes and another to turn them golden brown and crispy.

Quick, easy, hearty and delicious, Ree’s Sausage, Pepper and Potato Skillet delivers comfort in every bite. Tender potatoes, sweet onions, mixed peppers, smoky kielbasa and a few splashes of beer come together with wilted kale and fresh herbs for a cozy skillet dinner you can serve straight from the pan.

While you may already have a back-pocket mashed potato recipe ready to go, Ree's top-rated recipe here will quickly replace that one. Her secret ingredient? Cream cheese, which offers a subtle tangy bite to these buttery beauties.

Every comfort meal needs a nice piece of bread to go with it. And while that may be true, these sweet potato rolls can stand completely on their own. Ree blends the sweet potato into a soft dough and bakes the rolls until golden, then finishes them with melted butter, sage and sea salt.

A classic with a twist. Spice up your kettle chips with garlic salt, paprika and a pinch of cayenne for a quick, simple and delicious snack.

The bacon in Ree's creamy soup does double duty: Not only do crispy bacon pieces dot the soup upon serving, but the bacon fat adds a smoky flavor base to the rest of the broth, which she builds with starchy russet spuds. Keep this recipe in mind for when you need a make-ahead meal idea; Ree notes that it can be frozen for later as well.

"Creamy, dreamy and divine" is how Ree describes this cheesy, comforting casserole.

Trust us, you’ve never seen potato pancakes like this before. For these Loaded Potato Pancakes, Ree crisps up seasoned hash browns in a skillet, sprinkles them with cheddar cheese and then finishes each one with sour cream, green onions and a boatload of crunchy bacon.

Yes, you read that correctly. Homemade Tater Tots are indeed possible, and they're shockingly simple to make with just a handful of ingredients. After boiling and processing the potatoes, combine them with an egg and flour, then form them into tots and fry. You can even prep them ahead of time and keep them in the refrigerator for later when a Tater Tot craving strikes.

Ree rounds out her wake-up-worthy hash with fresh peppers and squash, then finishes each plate with a fried egg. Perhaps best of all is that this dish can be on the table in just 30 quick minutes, making for a fuss-free morning meal.

While we highlighted the “Perfect French Fries” earlier in this gallery, this french fry dish is so much more than potatoes soaked, dried, fried, drained and fried again. These take your average fry to a whole new level. Hand-cut potatoes double-fried for extra crunch, then piled high with warm chorizo queso, fresh guacamole, sour cream, cilantro and pimentos.

Layered with a creamy sauce and plenty of gooey Monterey Jack cheese, this big-batch casserole is studded with diced ham for added heft. The secret to this recipe is slicing the potatoes really thinly so they turn out tender; Ree notes that if you don't have a mandoline to slice the potatoes, an especially sharp knife will do the job too.

When cooking with potatoes, it’s important to use every part, even the bits you’d usually throw out. Don’t let those skins go to waste. Scoop out baked potatoes, bake the skins until crisp, then fill them with seasoned beef, melted cheddar, shredded lettuce and pickles for the perfect burger-and-fries bite in one.