When I saw the recipe for potato packets on Pioneer Woman’s site, I was very saddened. Why didn’t I think of this?? It’s so simple: Place potatoes in an aluminum foil packet and bake. Sheesh.

But now that I have the knowledge powers, we will never again be without a quick and easy potato side again.

Here’s what you need:

Barbeque Potato Packets
adapted from Pioneer Woman

2 small-medium potatoes, diced
1/2 onion
2 hot dogs (of the beef, turkey, or tofu/soy version)
3 tbsp barbeque sauce + 1 tbsp soy sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: 1 tsp paprika or cayenne pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Dice your onion.

2. Dice your potatoes into approximately 1″ cubes.

3. Slice your dogs.

4. Combine the barbeque sauce with the soy sauce.

5. Take a piece of foil and pile on your ingredients.

6. Drizzle with the sauce. And don’t worry, the sauce will get well distributed during the baking process.

7. Add on your spices. I used paprika, salt and pepper on mine and salt, pepper and cayenne pepper on Neil’s.

8. Wrap up your packets and place on a baking sheet or pan.

9. Bake for 40-45 minutes.

10. Remove and eat quickly. But not too quickly for the insides of the packets get very very hot. Safety first!

I wanted something fried and delicious the other day and these babies were born. We were also super hungry and these were super yummy so I don’t have any “done” pictures of these. You’ll have to make them and see for yourself.

You can make them like so:

Potato Cakes
adapted from Ryan Detzel

1/2 medium onion, diced
2 scallions
2 medium to large potatoes, grated
1 carrot
2 eggs
1/2 cup bread crumbs
Salt and Pepper to taste
Optional: 1/4 of an 8oz package of cream cheese

1. Start by dicing your onion. Dice it well so you don’t have huge chunks in your final cakes. Don’t know how to dice an onion without crying all over everything? Here’s how you do it!

2. Chop up two scallions.

3. Take your two potatoes and peel and grate them.

4. Place the grated potatoes onto a clean towel.

5. Grate the carrots and add them to the potatoes as they hang out on the towel.

6. Over the sink, squeeeeeeze out all the juices. It was gross so I didn’t take an “after” picture. Just trust me on this one.

7. Add the potatoes and carrots to the onions and scallions in a bowl. Squeezing the juices out ensures that you’ll have crispy cakes and not smooshy patties.

8. Add the eggs and breadcrumbs. Salt and pepper to your liking. I added some cream cheese to my mixture because it just seemed like such a good idea. All creamy and potato-y and wonderful.

9. Add some canola oil to the bottom of a saucepan and turn on the heat to medium-high. Drop in the cakes a spoonful at a time and flip when it’s nice and browned on the bottom.

10. Set the cakes on a paper towel-lined plate and enjoy!