Potato pancakes or “latkes” happen to be 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.
My sourdough version uses an easy overnight leaven (thick batter) that is then mixed with shredded potato, eggs, and spices. The result is a thin crispy pancake with perfect potato texture and a chewy sourdough center.
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.
An easy overnight batter that is then mixed with fresh shredded potatoes and spices for a perfect fermented potato pancake!
- 150 Grams Organic All Purpose Flour (1 heaping cup)
- 150 Grams Filtered Water (Just shy 2/3 cup)
- 100 Grams 100% Hydration Sourdough Starter (about 1/3 cup)
- 2 Eggs (100 grams)
- 14 Grams Salt (2 teaspoons)
- 6 Grams Onion Granuals (2 teaspoons)
- 56 Grams Melted Butter (1/4 cup)
- 700 Grams Grated Yellow Potato (4 cups, about 5 large)
- 2 Grams Freshly Ground Black Pepper (1 teaspoon)
- 215 Grams Tallow, Lard, Ghee, or Avocado oil (1 cup)
Mix the flour, water, and starter into a thick batter and let it ferment overnight at room temperature.
Melt the butter in a small pan.
Grate the potatoes in to a small bowl.
Add the eggs, salt, onion granuals, 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.
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"-6 " 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 slighty if the pancake browns too quickly. They 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!
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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!
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
I loved these! They went perfectly with your applesauce recipe. My half Polish self could eat these every day and never look back 🙂 Thank you!
Do you have to press the liquid out of the potatoes?
Hi Cameo,
I didn’t, but if they are really wet you might want to. I’ll make a note in the recipe. Thanks!
Courtney
I made these for breakfast today. They were wonderful and everyone loved them. Easiest and best homemade potato pancakes I have tried. We will have them again. Ate them with sour cream on top.
Thank you.
Hi Jennifer!
Yay, I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for the nice feedback, comments like this are really supportive!
Best,
Courtney
Do you use fine or course grated potatoes. And is onion granules the same as onion powder?
Hi Joe,
I just use regular grate size. And yes, onion granules are dried onion only slightly larger than powder. I’m sure powder would work as well, maybe cut it back a just little bit.
Hope you love them!
Courtney
It would be nice if there were a link attached to the ingredient 100% Hydration Sourdough starter. I’m not sure what that is.
Thanks Robert, I’ll add one! I the meantime you can see this guide. 🙂
Would this be fresh/active sourdough starter, or is sourdough discard usable in this recipe? Thank you!
Hi Yvonne,
Either one actually, assuming your discard still has some life, because you make a leaven the night before. If you had a lot of starter, that was still lively, you can just use that for the entire 400grams. Hope this helps!
Courtney