How to Make Potato Latkes

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How to Make Potato Latkes

Daniel Raffel

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Step 1 of 24

Get a sack of potatoes.

Step 2 of 24

Peel the potatoes.

Step 3 of 24

Submerse the potatoes in cold water with a little bit of lemon juice until ready to shred them. A bucket or large bowl works great. As you can see in the picture I use homemade lemon ice cubes.

Step 4 of 24

Peel the skins off the onions and cut of the tops and bottoms.

Step 5 of 24

Cut the onions into quarter sections so that they will fit in a Cuisinart. Set them aside.

Step 6 of 24

If your potatoes are too big to fit in your Cuisinart you'll also need to quarter them too. You'll want to grate them immediately so they don't turn reddish color.

Step 7 of 24

Put the potatoes and onions in the Cuisinart. Use the grater attachment.

Step 8 of 24

Thoroughly mix in lemon juice to your potato mixture so that the potatoes don't turn red.

Step 9 of 24

Crack two eggs in a small bowl.

Step 10 of 24

Whisk eggs with a fork.

Step 11 of 24

Add flour and eggs to your latke mixture.

Step 12 of 24

Season with salt and pepper.

Step 13 of 24

Thoroughly mix the egg, flour, potatoes and onions. It's easiest to dive in and use your hands.

Step 14 of 24

Squeeze the potato and onion mixture into small hamburger patty sized latkes. Set aside so they are ready for frying.

Step 15 of 24

Fill your frying pan with about 1 to 1.5 inches of vegetable oil. Then heat the oil to approximately 365 degrees. Be careful not to over heat your oil.

Step 16 of 24

If you have a fan over your stove this is a good time to turn it on.

Step 17 of 24

Add your latkes when the oil has reached 365 degrees. I sprinkle a tiny amount of water on the oil and look for a small reaction. You can try putting in a small latke and if it gets brown it's ready.

Step 18 of 24

When the oil is ready carefully add the latkes.

Step 19 of 24

Carefully flip them over when they are a nice golden color on the bottom. Then continue to cook until the other side is golden.

Step 20 of 24

When the latkes are golden brown on both sides carefully remove them from the oil and put them on a baking sheet lined with paper towels.

Step 21 of 24

Let the oil drain briefly.

Step 22 of 24

While they're still warm season with salt.

Step 23 of 24

If you're not serving the latkes immediately you can rest them on their side in a pan with paper towels underneath. This will keep them crisp. Don't stack and don't refrigerate!

Step 24 of 24

Latkes are generally served with sour cream and apple sauce. They taste best fresh out of the frying pan so enjoy them as soon as possible.

You're Done

Check out other guides by this author!

Daniel Raffel

San Francisco, CA

snapguide.com

Building tools to inspire more makers. I work on Snapguide.

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George Murray

Cincinnati, OH

Sara Paul Raffel

San Francisco, Californi...

Edwin Tofslie

Hood River, OR

Can Duruk

San Francisco, CA, USA

Michael Eyal Sharon

San Francisco

Rahul Malik

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Brookline

Liz Lufkin

Daniel Raffel

San Francisco, CA

Steve Krulewitz

Potrero Hill, SF

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Los Angeles, California

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Bay Area, CA

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Tel Aviv, Israel

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Houston, Texas

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Dublin, Ireland

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San Francisco, CA

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Mala Bhargava

New Delhi, India

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Hamish McKenzie

Potatoes

Eggs

Salt

Pepper

Vegetable oil

Onions

Lemon juice

1 Bowl

Paper towels

1 Peeler

Flour

Love the tut! I think I'll try them in coconut oil.

Jason Hodge 5 months ago

Are the eggs necessary? We don't eat them.😊

🐯CreatingManiac 🐯 5 months ago

Anyone have proportions for the ingredients ?

Mike Gorlin 5 months ago

Heaven!!!! I'm in love!!!

Michael Mundy 5 months ago

I recommend dipping the latkes in sour cream with chopped chives and some salt. The best!

Noam Hod 5 months ago

Nice Taste muz b... I muz try Thks!

Azra Abdul Aziz 5 months ago

is this like a hashbrown?

Stephany Ruchti 5 months ago

My grandmother makes these with carrots and sometimes, there is shrimp inside.

Donut Pastry 5 months ago

Those look amazing!

Anna Rebel 5 months ago

Yuuuuuummmm x

Mickey Ralph last year

I 'Latkes' a lot ;))

Ken Maslin last year

This is a beautiful guide! They turned out so nice!

Aki Cloherty last year

Oh baby, where's the peeler?

Wade Reynolds last year

Look good; you made me hungry.

Raymond Bernritter last year

Excellent

Juank Nieto last year

nice

Jim Aragorn last year

Excellent!

Samz Ota last year

After I grate the potatoes I squeeze out any excess liquid and let it sit. The liquid will separate into water and potato starch. I drain off the water and add the starch back into the potato mixture. I also like to sprinkle mine with some fresh green onions/chives before serving. Mazes Tov on the giant batch of latkes!!!

David Liepman last year

very good,it seems very delicioud.

Yuan hang last year

Looks soooo good!!

Zac Archuleta last year

Any suggestions for replacing the eggs?

Joe Bughunter last year

Looking forward to trying this.

Jerad Hill last year

Great.

Janis Maffei Byrne last year

Extra, fantastic

Mour Diagne last year

I am going to make these thank you very much

Colby Grillone Nina Figueroa last year

Really like this!) in russia it s called "draniki")

Nikita Georgeous last year

Yumm

Karl Parker last year

I really want to make these now, thank you for sharing

Denise Thomas last year

Looks soo yummy ... Thanks, cause I'm gonna chow down ASAP..

Derik Bohannon last year

Can't wait to try this

Steve Shaw last year

These look just like my mom's! I swear I could smell them in those last few pix... I'm hungry now :-). Well done!

Sandi Masori last year

They look nice and lacy!

Burt Heacock last year

I squeeze out the starchy liquid before making patties to fry

Ronna Witus last year

I've made latke before and these look beautiful compared to mine!! Thanks for the technique tips!

Kimmy Maher last year

I only use olive oil, even (or should I say especially) for frying

Lucas G last year

Looks fattening and delicious! Can you indicate roughly the proportion of flour needed in this mix? And when you blend it, is it totally smooth?

Mala Bhargava last year

I'm definitely gonna try this out this weekend 😊

Steven Ramkumar last year

@Irene You can certainly bake them but they won't taste as good. You can also pan fry them in less oil but I'd suggest using around 1/4" of oil (still a lot). You just want to make sure the potato cooks thoroughly.

Daniel Raffel (author) last year

Looks delicious! Is it also possible to make these without frying them in oil? For example, how about frying them on a griddle?

Irene Au last year

Now you have no reason not to. Granted, this is the industrial approach.

Daniel Raffel (author) last year

This is making me hungry! I've never made latkes properly but have always wanted to.

Greg Cohn last year

@Liz I use vegetable oil and am not partial to a particular brand. Since I use so much of it when making latkes I tend to buy a giant container at a place like Costco. I should have made a guide showing how I get rid of this much oil and recycle it!

Daniel Raffel (author) last year

Love the tip about stacking them on their sides. Do you have a preference for any particular kind of oil?

Liz Lufkin last year

This time around I made around 100! It was for a party with around 65 guests.

Daniel Raffel (author) last year

How many latkes did your batch make?

Vivian Chow last year

So much work! But so delicious.

Daniel Raffel (author) last year

Will make these.

Edwin Tofslie last year

That looks more like a tomato. Maybe you meant .

Can Duruk last year

I want to make these and home made apple sauce. ?

George Murray last year

Be first to comment on Step 1.

Be first to comment on Step 2.

Its to keep the potatoes from browning, similar to the way how submerging a peeled apple in salt water prevents it from browning

Emerson W 5 months ago

Is there an answer to this question above?

Danielle C. 7 months ago

Do the lemon juice ice cubes help the process? Or is it just a convenient way to store lemon juice?

Eric Goldberg last year

Be first to comment on Step 4.

Be first to comment on Step 5.

Be first to comment on Step 6.

You can use a standard grater will just take longer and you'll probably cut some finger tips!

Daniel Raffel (author) last year

How do you do this without a food processor?

George Murray last year

Here iv also added sprite

Jessi Briel last year

Does the lemon juice effect the taste at all?

Tracey Vincent last year

Be first to comment on Step 9.

Be first to comment on Step 10.

I eyeball the amount flour. I know there is enough when the potatoes can be squeezed together and hold their shape. I fry a test latke to see if it holds. In this recipe I used used several cups but it will vary.

Daniel Raffel (author) 5 months ago

Exactly?

Asli V 5 months ago

Dude! How much flour?!?

Heather W 5 months ago

Ludmilla Rodrigues last year

How much flour is needed?

Farah Vazeer last year

How much flour do we add?

Sara Madi last year

Be first to comment on Step 12.

Be first to comment on Step 13.

Be first to comment on Step 14.

Can you lightly spray with olive oil and bake instead?

Renee Vee last year

I tend to eyeball it by waiting and watching then splashing some water. That's not a very solid technique. If I wasn't cheap I'd probably buy a digital infrared thermometer. That's probably the best bet. After a quick look on amazon I'm seeing them for $17! Guess they've come down in price a lot lately.

Daniel Raffel (author) last year

Actually check out Step #17!

Can Duruk last year