I love this easy golden brown and crispy potato pancake recipe! It’s loaded with spices, simple, and makes the perfect side for breakfast or brunch. Our recipe makes one large pancake you can cut into wedges when serving.
There is a lot of variety when it comes to potato pancakes, but this one is one of my favorites. We skip the eggs and flour and simply pack grated potato tossed with spices into a skillet with butter and cook until it’s golden and crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.
I love serving this cut into wedges, with scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, or with cream cheese and smoked salmon. It’s also lovely with a spoonful of ricotta or cottage cheese and fresh tomatoes!
Key Ingredients
- Potatoes: I peel my potatoes, and I love Yukon Gold or Russets for this. They tend to discolor a bit less than red potatoes. If your potatoes begin to brown as you grate them, don’t worry! You won’t be able to tell once they are cooked.
- Spices: Potatoes are a blank canvas, so I toss them with a variety of spices. I combine salt, pepper, paprika (sweet, not smoked), garlic powder, and thyme.
- Butter and Olive Oil: I love the flavor of butter with the potatoes, so I use a little in the potato pancake mixture. Then, I cook the pancake in more butter and olive oil to get that crisp exterior.
- Chives: These are optional, but I love scattering fresh herbs, especially chives, over the pancake for serving. Green onions or fresh dill are also excellent.
How to Make Potato Pancakes
Potatoes naturally hold a lot of moisture, hindering that perfect golden brown crust. To achieve potato pancake perfection, grab a clean dish towel and wring out your freshly grated potatoes. I’m always amazed at how much liquid comes out! Don’t worry if your potatoes turn red or brown after grating (that’s just oxidation and won’t affect the taste).
Now toss them with melted butter, garlic powder, dried thyme, and sweet paprika. This adds flavor and gives your potato pancakes a beautiful golden hue. Season with salt and pepper, and you’re ready to cook!
Melt some butter and olive oil in a hot frying pan, then press the potato mixture down firmly to form a big skillet-sized pancake. Cook until the bottom is golden brown and crispy, about 6 minutes.
Now for the flip! Place a baking sheet over the pan and invert the pan in one smooth motion. Your potato pancake will land on the baking sheet, making it easy to cook the other side.
Add more butter and oil to the pan, then slide the pancake back in. Don’t worry if it loses its shape a little. Just use a spatula to gently press it back together. Cook until the second side is golden brown and crispy, and you are ready to enjoy!
Easy Potato Pancakes
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
This lightly spiced potato pancake would be perfect for breakfast or brunch. You will need to peel and grate 1 pound of potatoes for this. We love to serve a wedge of the potato pancake with eggs or bacon, but also serve them as the main event with a small scoop of ricotta cheese and fresh cherry tomatoes. Thinly sliced red onions, capers, smoked salmon and creme fraiche or sour cream would be delicious, too.
You Will Need
1 pound Yukon Gold or Russet potatoes
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped chives
Directions
1Peel the potatoes and coarsely grate them using a box grater. Add them to a clean dishcloth and squeeze dry. Transfer the potatoes to a clean, large bowl.
2Heat a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of butter and allow it to melt. Remove the pan from the heat.
3Add the melted tablespoon of butter to the potatoes along with the salt, paprika, garlic powder, and thyme. Toss well.
4Place the skillet back onto the heat and add 1 more tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Let it melt, and then add the potatoes. Use a spatula to press the potatoes down firmly. Cook until golden brown on one side, about 6 minutes.
5Place a baking sheet over the skillet and, in one motion, carefully invert so that the potatoes fall away from the pan and onto the baking sheet.
6Add the final tablespoon of butter plus 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet. Let melt, then slide potatoes back into the pan so that the uncooked side is facing down.
7Use a spatula to press down and cook until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Slide onto a cutting board, cool for 5 minutes, then cut into wedges. Serve with chives scattered on top.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
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Try adding an egg and a few table spoons of flour to make real potato pancakes. To get more surface area crispy I like to cook mine as silver dollar size instead of one large congealed mass.
brilliant ,I added sweet potato as well and added chilli ….yummo
Ooo, sounds delicious!
Really enjoyed making this for the first time last night. Here in Israel, we’re celebrating Shavuot where the holiday centers around dairy and veggie meals. This was the perfect addition to our Friday night meal. Thanks for the tip on flipping the pancake. I found that the bottom of my cheesecake pan was the perfect fit and used it instead of the baking pan.
Super site! Will be checking out other recipes.
Cheers,
Susie
So happy it turned out for you!
That potato pancake looks nice and golden brown, crispy and good!
Thanks, Kevin!
Delicious! I LOVE potato pancakes, and this one sounds fantastic!
after you squeeze out all the moisture, you’ll find a lot of potato starch in that water at the bottom of the bowl that is very useful to add back to the potatoes as the pancake will get much firmer. Also, as I can see, your potatoes got blackened, so you can use a little bit of lemon juice to preserve the nice white color of the potatoes. And lastly, not all potatoes are suitable for pancakes, only the ones that are rich in starch. Unfortunately, to the best to my knowledge they are not very popular in western countries..
greetings from Lithuania, where potato pancakes are extremely popular 😉
Hi Egie — Thanks for all the info! We used a red potatoes and never peeled them, so the color you see is actually just the skin pigment. (We hate peeling). Awesome tip about the starch — We’ll give you suggestion of adding it back to the potatoes next time we make potato pancakes.
Think I will try squeezing my frozen hashbrowns. They so often stick to the pan.
Click and print.
J&A — Do you have a potato pancake recipe using sweet potato? Can it be done? Can you create one? Something with some savory to cut the sweet? Just asking. We eat a lot of sweet potato in our house. They are so good for you. I like to adapt.
Hi Elen, No, but we’ll give it a try 🙂
This looks great, thanks for the tip about drying out the potato. I’ve made potato cakes before and gave up because they didn’t turn out very well. I’m going to make these soon.
Yumm these look awesome! Great flipping technique too…I totally would have tried to flip it with a spatula and wound up with awkward broken pieces!