I love latkes (potato pancakes). Along with sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts), they are a traditional dish to have on chanukah. It’s classic to make them with regular russet/yellow flesh potatoes but I also like using sweet potatoes for something special. They are so easy to make too.

The actual mixture is just a few ingredients – grated potato, finely chopped onion, egg, salt and pepper. I don’t really have a recipe but I will try to give approximate amounts of each item. So for about 3 cups of grated potato, you want 1/2 cup chopped onion, 1 egg, 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. You can always adjust for your own taste.

A very important note before you mix everything together: rinse your grated potatoes under cold water then squeeze out as much liquid that you can. This will help remove excess starch and get a super crispy latke when frying. Once you’ve done that and mixed the dried potatoes with the other ingredients, you’re ready to fry*.

You have to heat up some oil, just enough to barely cover the bottom of a skillet, over medium heat. Once it is sizzling, you can scoop your potato mixture into small mounds (~1/4 cup) and slightly pat them down to create a nice sized pancake. Now you have to let it sit. Let the potato start to cook (4 minutes) and get beautifully golden brown. If you try to move them too early, they may just fall apart. Once you see the edges are nice and golden, carefully flip the latkes and let the other side cook for another 3 minutes. Remove from pan and place on a plate with paper towel to drain excess oil. Continue with rest of potato mixture until all your latkes are cooked.

Latkes are typically enjoyed with applesauce and/or sour cream. For me, however, I like them just as they are. They are so yummy. I love the crispy outside with fluffy insides.

*If you didn’t want to fry, you could dump the entire mixture into a greased casserole dish and bake it in a 350 oven for 45-55 minutes. This would make more of a kugel which is another delicious dish. I made a post about kugels a little while ago, you can check it out (link here).