Potato Pancakes

Comforting classic potato pancakes made with a simple combination of potatoes, onions, eggs, and four. You can flavor potato pancakes with a little garlic, herbs, and scallions. Potato pancakes are pan-fried to a golden perfection, creating crispy texture outside and soft on the inside. Serve them with sour cream or applesauce. 

Don’t miss my other breakfast classics and make sure to check out The Best French Toast recipe, Homemade Waffles recipe, and learn how to make Crepes.

POTATO PANCAKES

Classic potato pancakes make a wonderful comforting weekend breakfast. Every time I make them, my husband says he is transformed back to his childhood. I have the same reaction and while he likes his potato pancakes with applesauce, I love them with sour cream. 

It might be a cultural thing because until I met him, I’ve never heard of eating potato pancake with applesauce. In Russia, we always had them with sour cream and fresh dill weed. Potatoes and dill weed in general go so well together, I always add it to my potato dishes.

Basic potato pancakes are made with a simple combination of potatoes, onion, eggs, and flour. It’s also seasoned with salt and pepper. But why not add some more flavor and throw in garlic powder, herbs, scallions, or even some paprika.

While I like to just a hint of dill weed and garlic powder, you may want to play around with other herbs and spices. You can even create several batches at a time and freeze them to be easily reheated through the week.

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HOW TO MAKE POTATO PANCAKES

To make potato pancakes, you can use either a food processor or a box grater. Choose either tool, depending on what kind of texture is desired and how much work you want to put into preparing the batter.

A box grater can be used several different ways depending on the texture that you want. Use the large grater side with the widest holes if you want more of a shredded potato look. Although, the onion will still need to be done on a fine side. 

To achieve a finer texture, use small shredding holes. Small shredding side can be used for both, potatoes and onion.

If you want the finest texture, use the rough side with holes that stick out. Those will create the finest texture and smaller pieces of potatoes and onions. Be careful using this side because those little spikes can be sharp.

Making Potato Pancakes Using Box Grater:

Once you’ve decided on the texture and which side of the grater to use, peel and grate potatoes and onions. Transfer grated potato and onion mixture into a fine strainer and set it over a mixing bowl. This way, all the liquid will drain into the bowl. (If the grated potatoes and onion mixture is fine, place it into either a mesh vegetable bag or doubled cheese cloth first, and then into the fine strainer.)

Press on the mixture to get the liquid out. The goal is to get most of the liquid out. 

Once the liquid has been strained out, discard the liquid out of the bowl carefully. NOTE: you will see accumulation of white powdery stuff in the bottom of the bowl, that is starch. Don’t discard starch, you will need to mix it into the pancake batter. Drain off the liquid but not the starch.

Add squeezed potatoes and onions to the bowl with starch and add eggs, flour, salt, garlic powder, and herbs. Mix everything well. 

Pour oil into a wide cooking pan to fill it only about 1/4 inch full. Preheat oil to 350°. Depending on the stove, set the heat to medium or medium-low.

NOTE: the batter will be soft but you should still be able to form patties. This potato batter is not sticky and a formed patty will be able to slide off the hand easily. Do be careful when placing patties into hot oil. 

Form patties out of the dough that are about 1/2 inch thick. Add patties to hot oil and fry for about 3-4 minutes on each side, until golden-brown. Time will vary depending on the size of the patties, so try to make them all the same size.

Making Potato Pancakes Using Food Processor:

Using a food processor to make the potato pancakes is fast and easy. Blending in the food processor will yield a fine texture of the potatoes and onions, but you can also use the shred attachment if that texture is desired.

Peel potatoes and onions and cut each into quarter. Place vegetables into the food processor and pulse until there are no more chunks. NOTE: depending on the size of the food processor, you may need to blend it in batches. 

Transfer potato and onion mixture into either a mesh vegetable bag or doubled cheese cloth first and into a fine strainer. Set the strainer over a mixing bowl. This way, all the liquid will drain into the bowl. Squeeze out the liquid well. 

Follow the rest of the steps the same as above to prepare potato pancakes.

WHAT TO SERVE WITH POTATO PANCAKES

The most traditional and classic ways to serve potato pancakes is topped with applesauce or sour cream. 

Sour cream can be flavored with different herbs to compliment the flavors of the pancakes. 

Top off each pancake with a dollop of sour cream, shredded cheese, and bacon for a hearty brunch option.

Potato pancakes compliment a classic breakfast of eggs, bacon, and sausage very well.

If you want to get adventurous, try dipping potato pancakes into ranch dressing.

For more brunch ideas, top off potato pancakes with lox, chicken, or cheese.

HOW TO FREEZE POTATO PANCAKES

To freeze potato pancakes, cool them first to room temperature. Place them on a cutting board covered with parchment paper in one layer and freeze for about 2 hours. 

Once potato pancakes are frozen, transfer them into a large zip-lock freezer bag. Get all the air out of the bag and seal. 

Label the bag and freeze for up to 3 months.

Potato pancakes can also be portioned into several smaller freezer bags. Portioning them will make it easier to defrost and reheat one serving at a time.

To thaw frozen potato pancakes, pull the bag out of the freezer into the refrigerator and slaw-thaw overnight. 

To reheat them, you can simply place them on a plate and reheat in the microwave, covered with the plate cover.

If you want to recreate a little crunch on the outside, reheat them in the cooking pan covered with a lid, over medium heat. Use non-stick pan that way no additional oil will be needed. 

SOME MORE RECIPES TO TRY:

Salmon Patties

Ham and Cheese Mashed Potato Cakes

Corn Fritters

Zucchini Fritters

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Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles on March 4, 2011.