The Best Crispy Potato Latkes Recipe

Crispy potato latkes topped with cream and roe on a cooling rack.

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5 from 2 votes

The Best Crispy Potato Latkes Recipe

It is finally Hanukkah, and every year we have to celebrate with this crispy potato latke recipe!

Prep Time15

Cook Time30

Total Time45

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: Jewish

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan

Servings:

Author: Lindsey Baruch

Equipment

Cast Iron Skillet

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vinegar
3 medium sized russet potatoes, or 2 large grated, peeled or skin on
1 onion grated
1/4 cup matzo meal
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
salt and pepper to taste
neutral oil for frying
serve with Crème Fraîche or sour cream, salmon roe and chopped chives

Instructions

In a bowl, add water and ice with 1 tablespoon of vinegar. Set a colander inside of the bowl. This will help the potatoes from discoloring and prevent oxidation as you're grating.
Clean and scrub your potatoes. Peel if you prefer! We kept the skin on. Using a box grater or a chop attachment on a food processor, grate your potatoes. Set in your colander, over the bowl of water and ice. Repeat until all your potatoes are grated.
Repeat the same by grating your onions, and adding in the same colander over the ice bath.
When everything is grated, add the mixture in a cheese cloth or towel and squeeze out all the excess moisture until it's pretty dry. This will help the latkes get crispy.
Once it's dry, add in your eggs, baking powder, matzo meal, salt and pepper. Mix well with your hands until fully coasted.
Next, heat up a cast iron with oil until hot. This is a shallow fry, so you don't need to add that much oil here.
Fill a 1/4 cup measuring spoon with the mixture and add it in the hot oil. Then press down with a spatula/fish spatula/burger press until thin (or your desired thickness).
Let your latkes fry on one side until crispy, about 4-5 minutes, then flip and repeat on the other side. Set aside on lined paper towels on a plate. Season with flakey salt when it's out of the heat.
Work in batches and repeat until all your latke mixture is done. Makes about 8-10 latkes.
Top with a spread of Crème Fraîche, then salmon roe and chives (optional). You can also serve alongside sour cream and apple sauce, which is the traditional way to eat latkes. Serve and enjoy!

Notes

Matzo meal swap: If you can’t find matzo meal, you can sub with unseasoned dry breadcrumbs.

Use a neutral oil for shallow frying. Canola, vegetable, and peanut oil work great here. You can also use schmaltz (rendered chicken fat) to fry these latkes. This will give a really nice depth of flavor.

Squeeze it right: Make sure you squeeze out as much liquid as you can from the potatoes. The key is to remove moisture to help the potatoes get nice and crispy when fried.

Nutrition