TikTok's Viral 15-Hour Potato Recipe Is the Perfect Dinner Side, and It's Easier to Make Than You Think

Food TikTok is packed with plenty of recipes, meal prep hacks and more, and if you're at all familiar with this useful segment of the social media platform you know that dishes that involve potatoes (which live on the aptly named potato TikTok) are especially prevalent. Therefore, it's no surprise that the app that brought us fluffy, caramelized sweet potatoes is now all about something dubbed the 15-hour potato.

As its name suggests, this savory dish takes more than half a day to make. However, aside from the time factor, the viral 15-hour potato is pretty easy to prepare and there's very little work you need to do. The recipe for this carb-loaded creation was first shared late last year by British cookbook author Poppy O'Toole, who goes by @poppycooks on TikTok. However, the recipe didn't truly go viral until O'Toole posted it again a few months ago. That TikTok currently has 18 million views and counting.

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How to Cook TikTok's 15-Hour Potato

The key to the 15-hour potato is thin, compact slices and plenty of resting time in the refrigerator. The use of different oils, salts, and spices while cooking the dish is a great and simple way to change things up based on your preferences.

Thinly slice the potatoes

Per the viral clip, the first step to making a 15-hour potato is to peel and thinly slice approximately six Maris Piper potatoes, which is a popular spud variety across the pond. If you're unable to get your hands on some Maris Pipers, Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes will also do the trick.

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Layer the slices in a loaf pan

Once the potatoes are sliced, place the slices in a bowl and toss them with a few teaspoons of duck fat (enough to coat 'em) and a pinch of salt. Then, line a loaf pan with parchment paper and carefully layer the potato slices on top of each other one at a time, until they are tall and compressed. Place a second piece of parchment paper on top and bake the potatoes in the oven at 250 degrees for three hours—what you're left with is essentially a potato confit.

Set them in the fridge overnight

Once the potatoes have cooled a bit, place some soup cans or other heavy items on top of the loaf pan and put it in the fridge for 12 hours. The goal is for the soup cans to compress the potatoes and keep them nice and tight.

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Fry 'em up

Then, retrieve the potatoes from the refrigerator, remove them from the loaf pan, and slice them horizontally into pieces that are approximately one-inch wide. If you'd rather, you can also slice them into cubes. Fry them in oil at approximately 375 degrees until each piece is golden brown, and sprinkle them with salt.

The result is a thick potato snack that's akin to a French fry, but better. Each piece has numerous layers, meaning it's thicker and crispier than your standard fry on the outside, but still has a soft inside. However, much like French fries, you can eat the 15-hour potato with just about anything, including burgers, steak, and grilled chicken or fish.

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Personalize the potatoes

Since O'Toole first shared her potato creation about a year ago, she has posted several different versions of the 15-hour potato, including a vegetarian take made with vegetable shortening and vegetable stock instead of duck fat. There's also a version with beef fat, as well as one made with smoked salt and roasted garlic paste.