Experience the legendary crispy goodness of authentic Jojo potatoes, the iconic Pacific Northwest side dish that combines the best of fried chicken coating with perfectly seasoned potato wedges. These aren’t your ordinary potato wedges – they’re coated in a specially seasoned flour and buttermilk batter that creates an incredibly crunchy exterior while keeping the potato interior fluffy and tender.
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JoJo Potatoes
Forget fries or regular old potato wedges. Jojo potatoes, sometimes known as Jojo fries, are an iconic West Coast side dish particularly popular in the Pacific Northwest.
What sets them apart is the crunchy, battered coating of seasoned flour and buttermilk, much like you’d see on fried chicken or chicken fried steak. The result is a deliciously crispy, hearty side that goes with just about anything.
Why This is the Best Recipe for Jojo Potato Wedges
In the original Jojo potatoes recipe, the spuds were prepared using a pressure fryer, a unique device that cooks food quickly at higher temperatures to help it develop a crisp outside while remaining tender and moist inside. However, this recipe allows you to enjoy these mouthwatering delights with an ordinary deep-frying setup.Â
This Jojo recipe is also highly customizable based on the spices and seasonings added to the flour coating. Try dried oregano, basil, and thyme for an Italian flair. A dash of cayenne or chili powder can add heat or smokiness to the mix.
Ingredients for Jo-Jo Potatoes
- Russet potatoes – Medium-sized for the perfect starch content and wedge proportions
- All-purpose flour – Creates the base for the crispy coating that makes Jojos famous
- Ground black pepper – Adds essential warmth and depth to the seasoned coating
- Salt – Enhances all flavors and creates the perfect seasoning balance
- Garlic salt – Provides savory complexity that elevates the overall taste profile
- Buttermilk – Creates the signature tangy flavor and helps develop the crunchy coating
- Vegetable oil – For deep frying to achieve the golden, crispy exterior
Medium-sized russets are the ideal potatoes for Jojos, such as those found in bags sold at grocery stores. Not only do they have the right starch and moisture content for perfect frying, but they also easily cut up into properly sized wedges.
Equipment Note
While deep frying can be done in any sufficiently sized pot on the stove, I use a T-Fal fryer, which is great because it has a lid and allows for easy oil filtration. This keeps it from burning or adding off flavors to your food.
How to Make Jo Jo Potatoes
- Wash potatoes and cut them into quarters (or eights, if they’re large), placing them into a bowl of cold water afterward to soak and prevent browning.
- Prepare the seasoned flour: combine flour, salt, black pepper, and garlic salt in a medium bowl and mix.
- Pour buttermilk into another medium bowl.
- Remove potato wedges from the water and toss them in the seasoned flour.
- Shake off the excess and dip into the buttermilk, followed by another dip in the seasoned flour.
- Shake off the excess once again and lay them on a wire rack. Let them rest for at least five minutes before frying.
- Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Add the battered potatoes to the oil and cook in small batches. Remove them when they’re golden brown.
- Drain the cooked potatoes on a clean wire rack.
How to Serve Jojo Potatoes
How can you make these delicious potatoes even better? Plenty of sauces, of course. Serve Jojo potatoes with:
- Ketchup
- Ranch dressing
- Canes dipping sauce
- Outback Steakhouse Bloomin Onion sauce
What Goes Well with Jojo Potatoes?
There’s no doubt fried chicken is the classic pairing for Jojos. But fried fish works equally well, as do all sorts of sandwiches and burgers. They can even provide the perfect starchy side for grilled or broiled steaks or pork chops.
Storage & Reheating Instructions
- Refrigerator Storage: Store cooked Jojos in airtight containers for up to 5 days in refrigerator
- Freezing Note: Not recommended as coating loses crispiness when frozen and thawed
- Optimal Reheating: Bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes or air fry at 350°F for 6-8 minutes to restore crispiness
- Avoid Microwaving: Microwave reheating results in soggy coating and poor texture
Love Potatoes? Check out these other great ways to enjoy potatoes
- Best of all Potato Soup Recipes
- Best of all, Roasted Red Potato Recipes
- TGI Fridays Appetizers – Potato Skins
- Roasted Potatoes with Onion Soup
- Mashed Potatoes Recipe
- Cheesy Potatoes with Shredded Hash Browns
- Warm German Potato Salad
- Cheesy Au Gratin Potatoes
More Fried Vegetable Side Dishes
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Jojo Potatoes Recipe (Crispy Battered Potato Wedges)
Ingredients
- 4 to 6 medium russet potatoes (4 inches long)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
- 2 cups buttermilk
- oil for frying
Instructions
- Wash potatoes, and cut them into quarters. Place potato quarters into a bowl of water.
- Prepare seasoned flour by combining 2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon garlic salt together in a bowl.
- Place 2 cups of buttermilk in another bowl.
- Batter potatoes by placing them in the seasoned flour, shake off excess flour. Place potatoes into the buttermilk, and coat the potatoes well. Place potatoes back into the seasoned flour and coat well. Shake off excess flour.
- Place the potatoes on a wire rack to rest for about 5 minutes before cooking.
- Preheat oil in a deep fryer to 350°F.
- Cook potatoes for 8 to 12 minutes or until they are brown, and they float. Drain on a clean wire rack.
They are a little messy to make, but so worth it. their amazing
The best Jojo potato I’ve ever known, it’s great
I used to eat them in New Haven; when did Chucky’s let the secret recipe out of the bag?
Thanks for this idea. We love our potatoes, so this gives me another choice..
Looks so delicious and I love anything crispy!
I cannot wait to try this recipe. I love potatoes.
Still a common “mom & pop” restaurant dish in the South, but when did Mojos become “Jojos?”
Not sure why the name change, when I looked online, for a lot of sites “mojos”, tended to be the round shaped ones, and Jojos were the quartered potatoes. I have always known them as Mojos as well. I opted for the name change because that’s what I saw online the most.
I was wondering the same thing. Those potatoes are delicious!!
So great question, I think you could do a battered potato in the air fryer, I don’t think this is the right batter. I think you could do a nice panko dusting. I don’t think this would work well because I don’t think the flour would brown properly.
It might work if you refrigerate them for 30 minutes after battering them before you spray the potatoes with cooking spray. You can then put them in the oven or air fryer and they will not come out white but brown.
These look so good but am wondering if they could be fried in an air fryer.
I have tried this with pork cutlets before, and I wasn’t satisfied with the results. I think a coating that was already cooked like cracker crumbs, panko crumbs, or even a nut based crumb would work better.