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Potato Pancakes

Updated July 2, 2025 / By Holly Erickson & Natalie Mortimer

Rich with onions and fried to a perfectly crisp golden brown, our potato pancake recipe was handed down from Natalie’s grandma and we’re thrilled to share it with you.

homemade potato pancakes on a plate topped with a dollop of sour cream

A Classic Potato Pancake Recipe

We’re excited to share yet another lovely recipe from Natalie’s family today—her grandma's potato latkes recipe! She was Polish, and called them simply potato pancakes or sometimes “poletskis”. We call them delicious! Pan-fried to a perfect golden-brown, with just the right hit of onion, they’re a simple treat to make again and again. Serving them with applesauce and sour cream is the most classic choice, but Grandma Blanche served them with cottage cheese, and so we always include it in our potato pancake garnish spread, too. If you’re in a potato mood, but want something more dinner-time friendly, try our Pierogi!

potatoes, onions, flour, salt, pepper and eggs in bowls on the counter to make homemade latkes
eggs, flour, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl
eggs, flour, salt, pepper, onions and potatoes in a mixing bowl for homemade potato pancakes
eggs, flour, salt, pepper, onions and potatoes in a mixing bowl for latkes recipe

What Are Latkes?

Latke is the Yiddish word for potato pancakes, and many Jewish people enjoy them during Hanukkah, but it seems that tradition may be relatively recent. They’re popular in our homes pretty much year round! They’re a bit different from hash browns in that hash browns don’t usually have onion (or at least as much onion), and they’re usually pan fried in just a bit of oil while potato pancakes are essentially almost deep-fried in quite a bit more oil (or sometimes chicken fat).

homemade potato pancakes being fried in a skillet
homemade latkes  on a cooling rack

How To Make Potato Pancakes

Potato pancakes are not an exact science—this is grandma food at its finest, so some of the technique is really about feel and preference. As you make these over the years—and if you make them once, you’ll make them again and again because they’re just that good—you’ll find what feels right to you. You’ll see in the recipe that we tell you to add a little flour if the potato pancake mixture seems a little looser than it should be and how to test the oil to see if it’s ready to fry the pancakes. All of this “by feel” stuff has a bit of a learning curve, but it is also fundamentally very simple. Here’s a quick step-by-step breakdown of how to make our potato pancake recipe:

  1. Grate the potato and onion. The grating attachment of your food processor will make short work of this. You can grate the onion and potato together—supposedly the onion will help to keep the potato from browning quite so quickly.

  2. Wring out the grated onions and potatoes. Get as much liquid out as you can! You can use a kitchen towel for this in a pinch, but a jelly bag, cheesecloth or a nut bag is best.

  3. Put the onions and potatoes in a bowl with eggs, flour, salt and pepper and stir it all together to make a potato pancake batter of sorts.

  4. Fry the potato pancakes! You'll use a small spoonful of the batter to test the oil to see if it's ready. Carefully drop the batter into the oil when you think it might be hot enough—-if it immediately sizzles, the oil is ready. If the oil starts to smoke, or the pancakes are burning, turn the heat down slightly and wait a few minutes, then test it again. Fry them for about 3 minutes per side, but watch for crispness and color (you want them to be beautifully golden brown).

  5. Serve!

homemade potato pancakes on a plate topped with a dollop of sour cream

What To Serve With the Best Ever Potato Pancakes

You can eat these just as they are, but it’s nice to offer at least one (ideally more!) thing along with them. We usually opt for traditional accompaniments, like:

  • Sour cream

  • Applesauce

  • Cottage cheese (a tradition in our home, at least!)

homemade latkes on a plate topped with a dollop of sour cream

Tools You’ll Need

More Potato Recipes To Try

homemade potato pancakes on a plate topped with a dollop of sour cream

We Love These A Lat(ke)

And we hope you do too! Every recipe we share is special, but none more so than beloved family recipes and this one truly means a lot to us. Make it, love it, make it yours. And when you do, share a photo and tell us all about it, OK? Tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper so that we can see your stuff! Happy eating!

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Potato Pancakes Recipe

  • Serves:  5
  • Yields:  10 latkes
  • Prep Time:  20 min
  • Cook Time:  20 min

Description

Rich with onions and fried to a perfectly crisp golden brown, our potato pancake recipe was handed down from Natalie’s grandma and we’re thrilled to share it with you.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups peeled and grated russet potatoes, (about 4 potatoes)
  • 1 cup grated onion, (from 1 large onion)
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • 4 to 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
  • Vegetable oil, for frying

For serving (optional)

  • Cottage cheese
  • Sour cream
  • Applesauce

Method

  1. Place the grated potatoes and onions in a clean kitchen towel or nut bag. Hold over the sink and wring out as much liquid as possible. Open the towel to loosen, then wring out once more. 

  2. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, 4 tablespoons of flour, salt, and pepper. Add the potato and onion mixture and mix with a wooden spoon until well combined and thick. If the mixture is too runny, add the remaining flour 1 teaspoon at a time until the mixture thickens.

  3. Set a cooling rack inside a rimmed sheet pan. 

  4. Pour ¼ inch vegetable oil into a large skillet and heat over medium heat. Once the oil is glistening, working in batches, carefully add ¼-cup scoops of the potato mixture to the pan, gently pressing each one down to flatten slightly. Cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer the latkes to the cooling rack. You may need to stir the mixture between batches. 

  5. Serve immediately with cottage cheese, sour cream, and/or applesauce alongside, if desired. 

Nutrition Info

  • Per Serving
  • Amount
  • Calories 309
  • Protein 7 g
  • Carbohydrates 35 g
  • Total Fat 17 g
  • Dietary Fiber 3 g
  • Cholesterol 93 mg
  • Sodium 597 mg
  • Total Sugars 3 g

Potato Pancakes

Questions & Reviews

Rated 5 stars by 8 readers

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  • Milania

    Can these be fried in olive oil instead of vegetable oil? If not, what other substitutions are there?

    Yes, just keep in mind that extra-virgin olive oil has a lower smoke point than vegetable oil, so it can burn at higher temperatures. To avoid this, use light olive oil (which has a higher smoke point) or cook the pancakes over medium to medium-high heat. Avocado oil is another alternative to vegetable oil that has a higher smoke point. Hope you enjoy!

  • Clifford

    Would the recipe work with sweet potato's?

    It might not be a perfectly even swap. Sweet potatoes are softer and moister than regular potatoes, so you might need to drain or squeeze out excess moisture after grating them but the flour might need adjusted as well. Since we haven't tried it with sweet potatoes we can't give you a definitive yes or no.

  • Ron

    If I don't have kosher salt will regular table salt suffice?

    Sure!

  • Donna

    Can these be made a day ahead and reheated in the oven?

    Sure!

  • Patricia

    Can I make the batter ahead of time and fry them later in the day?

    The potatoes might brown if you do it to far ahead of time.

  • Emily

    Have you ever tried making in the in a deep fryer vs a skillet?

    We haven't!

  • Vicky

    Can these be frozen and heated up for another time?

    absolutely! Potato pancakes can be frozen for up to 2 months. First flash freeze by laying flat on baking sheet and placing in freezer for 30 minutes, and then transfer to a freezer-safe ziptop bag. Reheat in oven directly from frozen for 15 to 20 minutes at 400 degrees F.

  • Janet

    I have Celiac disease & must eat gluten-free. Can I use gluten-free flour with good results?
    Thank you

    We haven't tested these with gluten free flour but imagine it will work fine. Hope you enjoy Janet!

  • Janet

    Can you make these ahead of time and freeze them? Then defrost and bake again to warm them up? Do you think they would taste just as good??? Thanks

    We haven't tried freezing these but think it would work. They won't be ask crispy reheating them from frozen.

  • Mona

    How do you store left over potato pancakes, and how to best reheat them?

    Store them in a sealed container in the fridge. Heating them in the oven will probably taste best. You could heat them on 375F for about 10 minutes. Hope you enjoy Mona!

  • TRACI

    Good

    Thanks Traci!

  • Jennifer

    Fantastic! Well worth the labor that went into it.

    Thank you! We are so glad you loved it!

  • Catherine

    So delicious and simple. I used simply potatoes hashbrowns and vadalia onion. What a treat.

    Thanks Catherine, we are so happy you loved it!

  • Chuck

    Thanks, They are the closest to mom's I have been able to make. I think shredding the onion & potato together was great. Warming up the leftovers is easy in the non stick skillet with a burger press on top. A microwave reheat on these is inadequate.
    Chuck

    Thanks Chuck, glad you loved them!

  • Patricia

    Excellent and authentic recipe. I had a Polish grandma too.

    Awww, love polish grandmas! Glad you liked this one Patricia!

  • Julie

    OMG these were soooo good. Use a food processor to speed the process. Looking forward to more MP recipes and my new recipe book.

    Thank you Julie, so happy you loved these. Hope you enjoy the book!

  • Jenn

    I had some potatoes I needed to use and I'm so glad I found this recipe, the whole family loved these!

    Thanks Jenn!