Can You Cook Hash Brown Patties In The Microwave?

Quick answer: Yes! 

Recently I picked up some frozen hash brown patties at the store and when I went to cook them, I noticed the only cooking method given was in the oven or toaster oven. This method required preheating the oven, cooking the patty for about 7 minutes on one side, flipping it, and then cooking for another 8 minutes on the other side. I don't mind a little cooking but I'm not going to wait for the oven to preheat and then spend another 15 minutes cooking for one hash brown.

So first I decided to try cooking it in a frying pan. I figured it would be a little more efficient and maybe a bit faster. The frying pan method worked ok but the patty was sticking to the pan and started to fall apart when trying to move it or flip it. I added a little oil which helped a bit but the hash brown already has oil so it didn't seem to make much sense to add even more oil. Overall the result was messy and still took a long time to make.

Finally I decided to see if there were any instructions online for microwaving frozen hash browns. Surprisingly it was difficult to find instructions or recommendations for this. So I decided to just try it out to see what would happen.

I started with 1 patty on a regular plate and put it in the microwave. I wasn't sure how it would react so I started with time increments of 20 seconds.

First 20, so far so good. Not much change. Another 20 seconds, starting to warm up. Another 20 seconds, getting hotter and starting to sizzle a bit. The instructions on the box say it should be heated to at least 165 degrees so I put it in for another 20 seconds just to be safe which came to about 1:20 total.

So what was the result? Pretty good! The hash brown did not stick to the plate thankfully. It also did not splatter or make a mess in the microwave. It heated up just fine in a short amount of time. It was not exactly crispy like it would be if you cooked it in an oven, but it still had some crunch and tasted just fine with the microwave cooking method.

So can you cook hash brown patties in the microwave? The answer is yes! Microwave cooking times can vary so you may have to test out a few different times to get it to how you want it. Just make sure it is hot enough all the way through.

After seeing how easy this method was, I will be cooking them in the microwave from now on. Waiting a little over a minute is a lot better than waiting for an oven to preheat and then cooking for 15 minutes!