I won’t lie to you. These are by no means healthy, but oh my goodness are they ever delicious!
There are lots of great things about being of Polish descent (and if you’re curious to learn more about me, head to my About Anna page if you like). But learning how to make delicious food from my mama has got to be one of the greatest perks.
Truthfully, I suspect that my husband may have married me just for perogies, haha! But all joking aside, these are way easier and less time consuming to make, and also hit the spot if you’re craving some filling home-cooked-goodness.
These potato pancakes are always a hit at my house with my husband and kiddo. They’re also great if you have anyone visiting as you can easily scale up and make a ton (accuracy doesn’t matter much so you can eyeball it).
The best part is, you hardly need any ingredients! So they’re great when you don’t have much food or creative energy but want something extra yummy on the weekends for breakfast or lunch. They smell amazing and will make you look like a super impressive cook too.
Here’s What
- 3 larger or 5 small potatoes (I used white)
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 egg
- 1/2 an onion (I used yellow)
- olive oil/vegetable oil for frying
- sour cream and chives in the mixture and/or on the side
- salt and pepper to taste
See? I wasn’t kidding. You don’t need a whole lot for this Polish potato pancake recipe. You can use whatever potatoes and onion you have lying around the house already, the variety doesn’t matter (I used white potatoes and yellow onion here).
Here’s How
1. Peel your potatoes. I like to use at least 3 large ones or 5 small potatoes so that I have some leftovers. If I’m already peeling potatoes, I might as well make more than enough.
2. Grate your potatoes. If your arm gets tired, have whoever is eating these with you help make them! My husband comes in handy for this. Or count it as your workout for the day.
3. Chop a large onion (or two small ones) finely as it will be mixed in with the potatoes. You can also use your food processor for this, or grate them as well (but get ready for waterworks).
4. Add your grated potato and chopped onion together to a large bowl.
5. Drain and excess liquid from the bowl, you may also need to do this throughout the cooking process as water will escape from the potatoes as they sit.
6. Add 1 egg to the mix
7. And chopped chives/green onions to the mix if you have them and want to. Totally optional.
8. Sprinkle in 1/2 cup of flour. I like to add it little by little, coating the mixture with flour as I stir. You want your potato and onion mixture to become thicker and stickier so it creates a nice pancake shape when you’re frying without falling apart.
9. Mix in salt & pepper to taste and stir. You’re done when you’ve got a nice consistency and your potato-onion mixture is thick and sticky so it doesn’t fall apart on the frying pan.
10. Heat a skillet to medium-high with olive oil, vegetable oil, or whatever oil you like. Don’t skimp on the oil (I warned you) and make sure it’s nice and hot before scooping your mix onto the pan.
11. With a large spoon or small ladle, scoop your potato-onion mixture onto the sizzling pan. I like to try and form the mixture into a circle shape quickly, but don’t stress about this. Make sure to relatively flatten your potato pancake so it’s not too thick, that way it cooks evenly.
12. Fry both sides of the pancake until it is a golden-brown colour, like french fries or hash-browns. When flipping, make sure to do so away from your body as to not splash yourself with oil (ouch).
13. While you’re frying, add sour cream to a bowl and cut in some chives (I find it easiest to just snip it in with scissors). You’ll be serving this for dipping on the side.
14. Have a plate ready for your pancakes once they’ve cooked on both sides and are a beautiful golden brown colour. If you find them particularly oily, you can place a piece of paper towel on the plate to absorb the oil, and additionally, dab the pancakes with paper towel if you like on the other side.
That’s all there is to it! Easy-peasy. My toddler son also loves to eat these, so I just cut them up into smaller pieces for him and we all dig in as a family.
Watch the video below to see this recipe in action!
Need more recipe ideas? Try this easy-to-substitute sausage rice casserole recipe into which you can incorporate just about anything you have on hand, or these berry muffins that will make you look like baker extraordinare.
Anna
