Latkes (potato pancakes) - Recipes - Home Cooks Classroom (2024)

Latkes are easily my all-time favorite Jewish dish. I mean its shredded potatoes and onion, lightly coated in a batter, and fried until golden and crispy, WHATS NOT TO LIKE! And luckily making them at home is a simple and straightforward process.

Tips, Tricks & Suggestions

• Latkes are commonly served with either some sour cream, or homemade apple sauce served on top. However, the potential topping for latkes are endless. You can use meats like lox or pastrami, vegetables like radish or cucumbers, and just about any type of sauce. It’s really up to you and your own creativity! 🙂
• Some people recommend frying your latkes in a mixture of oil, and schmaltz (rendered chicken fat). However, finding schmaltz can be difficult so I recommend that you stick with regular old oil. That being said if you do use schmaltz make sure that you inform your guests, as mixing animal fats with dairy isn’t kosher.
• While you can make latkes with just about any type of potato, I highly recommend that you use russet potatoes. They are high in starch which means they are better at binding together, and it results in a crispier exterior.
• Can you bake latkes? Yes! Just line a baking sheet with parchment paper and smoosh the latkes directly on the parchment paper. Then simply spray them liberally with some oil like pam. And finally, bake them in a 400 degrees Fahrenheit (205 Celsius) oven for roughly 10 minutes each side.

Latkes Recipe

Prep time: 7 minutes

Cook time: 8 minutes

Servings: 6

Ingredients

4 Large russet potatoes, or 1 ½ pounds of other potatoes

1 Medium-sized yellow onion

4 Large eggs

½ Cup of unseasoned bread crumbs

1 Teaspoon of salt

Vegetable or canola oil for frying

Instructions

1. Prep the potatoes and onion: Peel the potatoes, and remove the skin off of the onion. Then use either a box grater or food processor with a shredder attachment to grate the potatoes and onion.

2. Remove the excess liquid from the potatoes and onion: Get out a clean kitchen towel and place about half of the grated potatoes and onions in the middle of it. Pull the corners of the towel over the grated potatoes/onion, and squeeze it over your kitchen sink to remove all of the excess liquid. Make sure that you squeeze out as much liquid as you can, so really put your muscles into it. Transfer these dried potatoes/onion to a large mixing bowl and repeat this process with the remaining potatoes/onion.

3. Add the eggs, bread crumbs, and salt to the mixing bowl and use your hands to combine everything together.

4. Get out a large skillet and pour enough oil in it so that it has a depth of about ¼ to ½ inch. Place this over medium heat and let it get hot for a couple of minutes.

5. Fry up the latkes: Grab some of the latke mixture and form it into a ball. The size of the ball, and thus the latkes is entirely up to you, mine are about the size of a tennis ball. Then place the balls into the hot oil and use a spatula to smoosh them down so that they are roughly ½ inch thick. We don’t want to overcrowd the pan, so most likely you will have to cook these in batches. Let the latkes fry for about 3 to 4 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown up. Then use the spatula and carefully flip each latke. Let them fry on the other side for another 3 to 4 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack. Repeat these steps until all of the latkes are cooked.

6. Sprinkle each latke with some salt, and serve them with whatever topping you prefer. Enjoy!