Potato pancakes, aka latkes, are one of my favorite comfort foods.
When I was young my mother served up the gluey, chewy, potato pancakes from a box mix. They are delicious in their own right, but honestly they have nothing on my sourdough potato pancakes.
Make The Simple Sourdough Batter
My sourdough version uses an easy overnight leaven (thick batter) that is then mixed with shredded potato, eggs, and spices the next morning. The result is a thin crispy pancake with a perfect potato texture and a chewy sourdough center.
A Great Use For Sourdough Discard
For extra sour pancakes or if you have a lot of starter to use up, replace the overnight leaven with 400 grams of 100% hydration sourdough starter discard!
These Easy Sourdough Potato Pancakes Make a Great Breakfast or Brunch.
Serve them with Homemade Apple Sauce and Cultured Raw Sour Cream!
They also make a great side dish to many meals. My daughter enjoys them served like hash browns with ketchup.
Sourdough Potato Pancakes
An easy overnight batter that is then mixed with fresh shredded potatoes and spices for a perfect fermented potato pancake!
Ingredients
For the Overnight Leaven
- 150 grams (1 heaping cup) organic all-purpose flour
- 150 grams (just shy 2/3 cup) filtered water
- 100 grams (about 1/3 cup) sourdough starter, 100% hydration
For the Batter
- 2 eggs (100 grams)
- 14 grams (2 teaspoons) salt
- 6 grams (2 teaspoons) onion granules
- 56 grams (1/4 cup) melted butter
- 700 grams (4 cups) grated yellow potato (about 5 large)
- 2 grams (1 teaspoon) freshly ground black pepper
For Frying
- 215 grams (1 cup) tallow, lard, ghee, or avocado oil
Instructions
The Night Before
- Mix the flour, water, and starter into a thick batter and let it ferment overnight at room temperature.
The Next Morning
- Melt the butter in a small pan.
- Grate the potatoes into a small bowl.
- Add the eggs, salt, onion granules, and pepper to the overnight leaven batter. Whisk well.
- Stir in the cooled melted butter and whisk until fully incorporated.
- Check on the grated potato. If it has released a lot of water, drain most of the liquid away and gently squeeze the potato.
- Add the grated potato to the batter and stir well until fully distributed.
- Cover the batter and let it ferment at room temperature for at least 1 hour.
For Cooking
- Preheat a cast-iron pan or griddle over medium/low heat until evenly heated.
- Add about 1 tablespoon of cooking oil. Using a large spoon, scoop enough batter into the oil to form a thin pancake 4 to 6 inches in diameter. Use the spoon to spread the batter out thinly and evenly.
- Cook the potato pancake slowly until golden brown on both sides. Lower the temperature slightly if the pancake browns too quickly. It should take around 3 minutes per side for the potato to cook through.
- Serve the potato pancakes hot from the pan with apple sauce and sour cream!
Notes
Using Discard
400 grams of 100% hydration sourdough starter discard can be used in place of the overnight leaven.
Expect potato pancakes made with discard to be more tangy.
If you batter is too thin, add a bit of flour to ticken.
Want To Learn Everything About Sourdough?
Start with this free guide:
Sara
Saturday 7th of May 2022
These were a huge hit in my house! My husband requested that I add fresh minced onions and a hint of cayenne next time which sounds good to me. I used leftover red potatoes that had been cooked in my instant pot, blending them in my food processor then adding the remaining ingredients. They were quite thick and I did have some trouble spreading them out, so I let them cooked a bit then flipped them and flattened them. I was impatient to get the last of them cooked so the last ended up in my waffle iron (yup, I did that). Thank you for yet another fantastic recipe.
Butter For All
Sunday 8th of May 2022
Hi Sara!
I bet they were great in the waffle iron. I am definitely going to try that! Thanks so much for the thoughtful comment. :)
Ivana
Monday 14th of February 2022
Loooove this recipe! Whenever I cook potatoes for dinner, I always par-boil extra so I have some in the fridge for various meal options. They worked great here, even for thicker pancakes!
Butter For All
Tuesday 15th of February 2022
Hi Ivana!
Yes! I love the resistant starch of pre-cooked potatoes! Glad it was a success! Thanks so much for the nice note :)
Courtney
Katy
Tuesday 14th of September 2021
Can I use leftover mashed potatoes in this recipe ?
Butter For All
Monday 27th of September 2021
Hi Katy!
You can absolutely try! I'd love to know how it goes!
Courtney
Grace
Sunday 15th of August 2021
I have some red-skin potatoes from our CSA to use up and was wondering if they would work as well as the yellow ones in this recipe?
Butter For All
Monday 16th of August 2021
Hi Grace!
Absolutely! I love red skinned potatoes. Sometimes they need to cook a little less or a little longer depending on variety so you'll have to adjust the time and temperature a little bit. If they need more cooking time, lower the temperature so they don't burn. If they need less cooking time, raise the temperature so the get nicely browned.
Hope you love them!
Courtney
Alex
Tuesday 12th of May 2020
Made this recipe using white potatoes, though I didn't have any onion granules and didn't feel like adding onion this time around. I found the frying time not enough to cook the potato in the latkahs, so I ended up frying them and then finishing them off in the oven at 350 deg F for ten minutes as per Olia Hercules' recipe. Not sure if maybe mine were on the thicker side than what was happening in the instructions, but regardless, the flavour was good!
Butter For All
Tuesday 12th of May 2020
Hi Alex,
I try to make very thin in the pan because I like them crispy! But, that's a great tip for people who are having the same results. I will add a note in the recipe! Thanks for your feedback. Glad you liked them.
Courtney