Roast Beef Hash is better than corned beef hash - it's made from leftovers, and comes together in just 30 minutes. Savory and hearty, it's comfort food at its best.
Roast Beef Hash at a Glance
- ⏱ Prep Time: 5 minutes
- 🔥 Cook Time: 25 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 30 minutes
- 👪 Serves: 4
- 🍽️ Calories: 381
- 🥔 Main Ingredients: Leftover roast beef, potatoes, onion, red bell pepper
- 👌 Why You'll Love It: Leftover roast beef and potatoes transform into a savory complete meal in just 30 minutes.
SUMMARIZE & SAVE THIS RECIPE ON
While I like corned beef hash, it is incredibly salty and tends to be greasy when you get it at a diner or from a can. Onions and peppers add flavor, and minimal stirring means lots of flavor develops as the hash browns on the bottom. My recipe for it turns a breakfast side dish into a complete meal.
This recipe came together when I had leftover roast beef that I wanted to use up. While this recipe is seasoned simply with salt and pepper, it's versatile - you can make it Latin-inspired, use barbecue seasoning, stir in gravy, or use other seasoned beef, like leftovers from my Slow Cooker Barbacoa.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
You'll love Roast Beef Hash because:
- 🥩 Leftover beef and potatoes transform into a complete meal in just 30 minutes - no can required.
- 🍳 Using cast iron and hardly stirring create great flavor, making the dish much better than you'd expect from plain leftovers.
- 🌶️ Unlike corned beef hash, this is customizable - season it with barbecue seasoning, Latin spices, or even leftover gravy.
Key Ingredients
Beef: Must be already cooked for this dish to cook quickly. Chop the beef into bite-sized pieces. You can still add it if it's wet with cooking liquid; however, including the liquid will make the hash take longer to brown.
Potatoes: I typically use white or yellow potatoes as I prefer their starchiness, which combines with the water or broth to keep the hash from drying out. Leftover potatoes work great. Uncooked potatoes take too long to cook in this dish, so cook raw potatoes beforehand; I have instructions in my Baked Potato and Bacon Soup.
Onion and peppers: Cooking them until translucent and starting to brown gives lots of flavor - especially important if your beef and potatoes aren't highly seasoned. You can swap one for the other, but don't omit them entirely.
Water, broth, or cooking liquid: Necessary to provide moisture to an otherwise lean meal. Cooking liquid from leftover roast is ideal for flavor - if using it or broth, cut back on the salt dramatically.
Salt: Essential if using water and if your beef or potatoes aren't highly seasoned already - for instance, spicy leftover barbacoa and its cooking liquid won't need much additional seasoning. When using lightly seasoned beef, unseasoned potatoes, and water, ¾ teaspoon table salt was the perfect amount to get the dish to pop.
Tips for Making Great Hash
Hash is old-fashioned comfort food, but there's a trick to cooking it well - and it doesn't include lots of oil.
🍳 Use a heavy skillet that you can't scratch up - I prefer cast iron.
🥄 Don't stir as if you're making a whirlpool - instead flip the food from top to bottom using a flipping spatula. This keeps browned bits together and keeps the potatoes from becoming mushy.
🫗 Add liquid at the end, but not before - it provides flavor and keeps the hash from being dry, while making it easier to scrape up all the browned bits.
How to Make Roast Beef Hash
One: Heat vegetable oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet. Add onion and red pepper, spread into a single layer, and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 7-10 minutes without stirring, until onion is translucent and vegetables are starting to brown.
Two: Stir in potatoes and beef, and season again with salt and pepper. Let cook for 5 minutes without stirring to allow the bottom to start to brown.
Check a section of the hash. Let it cook for a few more minutes if it hasn't started to brown. Browning takes longer if your beef or potatoes include cooking liquid.
Three: Pour over the water, which should sizzle once it hits the hot pan. Scrape up the browned bits on bottom, flipping them to the top. If they don't scrape up easily, add water, a tablespoon at a time, until they do.
Four: Sprinkle with more salt and pepper, and flip and stir. Cook until there's no water on bottom, but the hash still looks moist. Taste it and adjust the seasonings if needed.
Serving and Storage
Serve hash immediately. I typically serve homestyle dishes like this with a simply cooked vegetable like green beans or leafy greens. I usually divide it into four servings, although three may be better if you don't have a vegetable alongside it.
Leftovers are good for 2-3 days in the refrigerator. Sprinkle the hash with water before microwaving to keep it from drying out when you reheat it.
Roast Beef Hash FAQs
No. Corned beef hash uses corned beef, which is cured and heavily salted, while roast beef hash uses leftover roast beef and is less salty. While corned beef hash will taste just like corned beef, roast beef hash can be adapted to have barbecue or Latin flavors, for instance, depending on your preference.
Use bite-sized pieces of cooked beef roast. Most recently I used leftover eye of round roast, and have used London Broil-cut beef in the past. Lean cuts work since the starch from the potatoes, when combined with water or broth, keep moisture in the hash when it cooks.
No, uncooked potatoes will take too long to cook in this roast beef hash. Specifically, you'll want the starchiness of softly cooked potatoes to hold moisture in the dish. For a hash recipe that uses raw potatoes, however, check out my Breakfast Sausage Hash.
Hearty Weeknight Meals
Here's some other recipes I turn to for weeknights when I want something meaty and satisfying.
I hope this becomes a recipe you'll return to. If you try it, a star rating below helps others find it - and I'd love to hear how yours turns out in the comments! 💕 Questions or trouble? Drop a note, and I'll do my best to help.
📖 Recipe
Roast Beef Hash
Equipment
- 12-inch cast iron skillet (affiliate link)
Ingredients
- 20 ounces potatoes (cooked and roughly chopped)
- 16 ounces roast beef (fully cooked and chopped)
- 1 red bell pepper (8 ounces; chopped)
- 1 onion (8 ounces; chopped)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- ½ cup water or broth (8 ounces)
- ¾ teaspoon salt (divided)
- black pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- Heat vegetable oil in a heavy (or cast iron) skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and red bell pepper, and spread into a single layer. Season with pepper and ¼ teaspoon salt. Let cook 7 minutes without stirring, until the onions are turning translucent and the vegetables are starting to brown. Stir and cook a few more minutes if necessary.
- Stir in potatoes and beef. Season with pepper and another ¼ teaspoon salt. Let cook without stirring for 5 minutes to brown the bottom.
- Check the bottom of a section of the hash to see if it's browned. If it hasn't browned much, smooth it back and cook for another 3-5 minutes before checking another section. Beef that includes a lot of liquid will make the hash take longer to brown on bottom.
- Once some of the hash has browned, pour over the water, which will sizzle when it hits the pan. Flip sections of the hash to get the browned bits on bottom to the top. Browned bits should scrape up easily; if not, add a tablespoon of water one at a time until they do.
- Sprinkle with pepper and the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt and give everything another stir. Cook until there's no water on bottom, but the hash still looks moist. Serve immediately.
Leona Konkel says
While I don't often make roasts, I love turning any kind of leftover beef into this hash. It's savory and pleases everyone - including my 11 year old. I hope you love it too. I'd love to hear how yours turns out!
Karen Middleton says
I love that this involves leftovers. So thrifty and resourceful! I made it using some brisket from the prior Friday. Instead of microwaving the potatoes, I diced them and cooked them in the pot while sausage cooked for the other hash.
Leona Konkel says
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
janebkrn says
My Aunt Liz used to make this and I loved it. There was nothing fancy though - just meat and potatoes, maybe some onion. She had one if those old hamburger grinders that she put everything in so it was all diced the same little size. Some people would put ketchup on it. It could also have other firm chopped vegetables like carrots or parsnips. Yes it can be salty. It was funny because Liz was known for her unoriginal bland food, but everybody liked this.