Crispy Potato Latkes
My favorite one-bowl potato latke recipe
Servings 4
Ingredients
- 3 large russet potatoes
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
- 1/2 tbsp sea salt
Instructions
- Peel potatoes and grate into a cheesecloth-lined bowl with a box grater.
- Generously salt potatoes and let sit for 10-15 minutes.
- Squeeze out excess liquid and discard. Transfer potatoes to mixing bowl.
- To the potatoes, add egg, panko, spices, and cheese and stir to combine.
- Heat oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.
- Scoop several balls of potatoes with a melon baller and flatten in the pan with a spatula.
- Cook for 4-6 minutes on each side until golden brown.
- Once cooked, transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and sprinkle with salt.
- Top with sour cream and chives or applesauce.
Notes
- You need to squeeze out the moisture of the potatoes at the very beginning in order to ensure the latkes are crisp. The best thing to use is a cheesecloth, but I think I went 25 years before I ever used one. You can use a clean dish towel or a few layers of paper towels - just be careful that the paper towels you use may totally break apart and need to be picked out of your potatoes. You can also press down paper towels on top of the potatoes to get the last bit of moisture out.
- I use a melon baller to scoop even portions of potato into the oil, and you should use a spatula to immediately flatten out the mounds to get them thin and crispy.
- Don’t overcrowd your pan! This applies to anything when you’re frying, but make sure to leave some breathing room between latkes so that the oil stays hot. Remember, the more things you cook at one in the oil, the more the temperature will be evenly dispersed amongst them, and the lower the temperature will be. If your oil seems too hot, therefore, you can add another latke or two to cool it down. Or just turn the heat down.
- If you save some latkes for later, store them with a paper towel to catch any remaining moisture in your container. And wait until they’re completely cool to put them away.
- When you heat up leftovers, you can heat a small amount of oil in a pan and crisp them for 1-2 minutes on both sides. Or, you can heat them on a lightly greased oven safe tray on 350 for a few minutes.