Celebrate Hanukkah with Crispy Potato Latkes
Make these traditional grated potato latkes for a yummy appetizer or side dish this holiday season.
Potato latke season is here and you’re gonna want a stack of this crispiness. 🤤
Unfamiliar with latkes? Latkes are bundles of grated potato, onions, and a binder such as Matzo or flour fried in a skillet until crispy. They are delicious and will certainly satisfy anyone’s potato obsession. I personally love to try any type of potato dish and love how these turn out by making them at home.
Potato Latkes are a yummy way to incorporate a popular Jewish dish into your holiday season!
They are traditionally served during Hanukkah, which is right around the corner! Hanukkah 2022 will begin Sunday, December 18, and end Monday, December 26.
If you’re curious about the significance of latkes, I found a great article on PBS.org that explains the history of potato latkes in-depth. After reading a ton about latkes, I found there to be many variations and methods including cheese latkes. YUM! 🧀
This recipe is more traditional with a crispy lacey texture from grating the potatoes. After squeezing the moisture out, these potato patties get their crispiness from being pan-fried in oil. The process is a little time intensive, yet the results are so tasty and worth the effort.
Crispy Potato Latkes
yield: 12 SERVINGS
prep time: 30 MINUTES
cook time: 20 MINUTES
total time: 50 MINUTES
Bundles of grated potatoes and onion that are crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes (about 6 medium sized), shredded
- 1 small onion, shredded
- 1 egg
- 3 tablespoons matzo meal
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/2 cup peanut oil (or desired oil for frying)
- sour cream and apple sauce, for serving
Directions
1
Drape a mixing bowl with cotton cheesecloth. Shred or grate the potatoes and onions into the cloth. Squeeze out the moisture very tightly by twisting tightly in a ball. Discard the water.
2
To your onions and potatoes, add an egg, matzo meal, and salt. Mix well.
3
Add enough oil to a large cast iron skillet to cover the bottom. Heat it up to medium. Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop potato mixture. Flatten the latke and place it in the skillet. Fry for about 2-3 minutes until browned and cooked.
4
Place the cooked latkes on a paper towel or on a drying rack stacked on top of a sheet pan to dry. This recipe made 12 latkes for me. If you made them smaller 1/8 of a cup size, you could get around 24.
5
Serve warm with sour cream and applesauce on the side. Enjoy!
Additional Notes
Adapted from MomsDish.com
Tips for making the best potato latkes:
- To shred the potatoes and onion, I used the shredder attachment that came with my mandoline slicer. You can use a box cheese grater or if you have a food processor with the shredder attachment, that would work also.
- Use your favorite baking potato. My family prefers Yukons, so I used that. Russet can certainly be used, too.
- The oil can be catered to your taste as well. Typically canola or peanut oil is used, but I have seen recipes using avocado oil instead.
- Flour or breadcrumbs can be substituted for the matzo meal. Traditionally, the matzo meal is used so that’s what I used for this recipe.
- Getting out the moisture from the potatoes and onions is very important so they will turn out crispy. I draped a bowl with cheesecloth and then squeezed out all the moisture I could. Using a salad spinner seems to also be a popular option.
What a delicious potato side dish!
Honestly, I could probably eat a couple of these as a meal. My family really enjoyed them and I hope yours loves making some too. Both the sour cream and apple sauce are great toppings. I had a couple left over and reheated them in the air fryer for a minute or so and they were still crisp and yum. Enjoy!
Happy Hanukkah to those that celebrate. 🕎
These TikTok famous parmesan roasted potato squares are also crispy potato heaven!
I love latkes, but making a batch for family parties is a big job. I often cook some in advance and freeze them. But, the biggest labor saver I’ve found are the recipes (google them) that use frozen hash browns. I always take a portion of the batter and put it in the food processor, which gives the latkes a more homemade texture. My family gobbles them down so quickly that they never notice the shortcut.
That’s a great tip Deb! Thanks for sharing!
Like Deb I also use frozen hash browns. Huge time saver and no difference in quality. These are always best eaten straight from the frying pan. 🙂
Oh nice! I am going to try it!! thanks Debbie ❤️
Can you use the dehydrated hash browns? I have a few boxes of those and would love to try this!
Ya I would think so! I cruised online for some answers and saw this tip to fill the carton to the fill line with boiling water and let sit for 12 minutes to rehydrate first.
It made me so happy to see this on Hip2Save today 🙂 Thank you for the representation <3 Happy holidays to all.
Oh yay, so glad! Happy Holidays!
Use simply potatoes, it saves time!
Hi, Lisa!! Great tip! Thanks for sharing!
If you want to be a real cheater buy the frozen ones from Trader Joe’s. Pretty darn good in a pinch
Thanks so much for sharing your cheat on these!🥰