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This post is sponsored by The Little Potato Company.
These savoury potato pancakes are super quick & easy to prepare. Most of the ingredients are pantry staples that you likely have on hand right now! The Little Potato Company’s tender skinned Baby Boomers work perfectly here – once they’re grated you’d never know we’d didn’t peel a single potato for this recipe.
Latkes (Jewish potato pancakes) are usually made with eggs to helps bind the mixture together and are served at Hanukkah. In this vegan recipe we’re going to use flour (taking care not to over develop the gluten) and a touch of cornstarch to do the same job. I’m going to be naughty and serve these ones with tzatziki ’cause I love it and it’s almost spring! For a more traditional, Hanukkah-appropriate side, serve ’em with apple sauce.
Some tips for the crispiest, easiest potato pancakes:
- For best texture, use a thick cut grater to shred potatoes
- Use a food processor to grate your potatoes (if you have one), it’s quicker and you’ll save your finger tips
- Squeeze most of the moisture from the grated potato before making the batter (the same goes for any moisture-rich veggie add-ins too)
- Stir the “batter” well to help develop the gluten in the flour which helps the cakes bind together without egg
- The latkes are at their crispiest immediately after cooking, but reheating them in a pan over medium heat (without oil) will heat them thoroughly and crisp ’em up again
This recipe is an excellent place to use up any odds and ends from your fridge. Fresh herbs, onion, carrot, zucchini, and any other veggies that aren’t too moist (or that you can squeeze the moisture from) would be good options. We enjoyed these crispy cakes a couple of ways, topped with a dollop of homemade tzatziki and a sprinkle of green onion (that’s how we served it for these photos), with ketchup and sriracha, and with vegan cheese and fresh dill mixed into the “batter”. I’m most excited to try these “breakfast style”, topped with tofu scramble, veggies, and tempeh bacon. You can customize and top these crispy cakes however you like! Enjoy 😀
This post is sponsored by The Little Potato Company.
We love them for their commitment to simple, healthy whole foods like their delicious Creamer potatoes. Thanks for supporting the brands that support I Love Vegan!
Learn more about why we love Little Potatoes at www.littlepotatoes.com
Vegan Potato Latkes
- Yield: 4 latkes 1x
- Category: Appetizer, Side dish
- Cuisine: Vegan
Description
Easy crispy fried egg-free potato pancakes.
Ingredients
- 2 cups packed, grated, and drained potato (half of a 1.5 lb bag of The Little Potato Company’s Baby Boomers)
- 1/3 cup unbleached all purpose flour
- 3 tbsp sliced green onion
- 3 tbsp unsweetened nondairy milk
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- black pepper, to taste
- vegetable oil, for frying (canola, olive, or coconut all work well)
- optional: 2 tbsp fresh, chopped dill
- optional: 1/4 cup vegan cheese shreds
Instructions
- Grate potatoes and squeeze out as much moisture as you can using paper towel.
- Combine 2 cups grated potato, flour, green onion, almond milk, cornstarch, salt, baking powder, and black pepper (optional: add dill and vegan cheese.) Mix well to develop the gluten in the flour (which helps with binding.)
- In a frying pan, preheat a generous amount of vegetable oil over medium heat.
- Spoon 1/4-1/3 cup of potato mixture into the pan. Use a spatula or pancake flipper to flatten the patty to about 1/4″ thick. Fry until golden brown, flip, and fry the other side. Drain excess oil on paper towel if necessary.
- Serve with your favourite toppings (we used sliced green onion, tzatziki, and black pepper.)
> Serve with your favourite toppings (we used sliced green onion, tzatziki, and black pepper.)
Nah, apple sauce. Apple sauce!!
Do more Ashkenazi cuisine; I’ really in need of a vegan kugel I can trust!
Okay, okay, I’ll try applesauce next – I promise! 😀 And a vegan kugel recipe would be a interesting challenge, I’ll see what I can do! Thanks for commenting Kate!
canola oil SUCKS you should never even mention it ;D
im going to try to whip these up in a bit ^_^ tysm
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I hope you like them! And you certainly don’t need to make these with canola oil 😛
Easy to make. Cooked up nice and crispy. Used chives instead of green onion as that’s what I had and added a tiny bit of onion and garlic powder. Topped them with chopped cherry tomato, avocado, garlic and chives with a dash of balsamic vinegar. Absolutely delicious!
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Ah, that’s so great to hear! Your topping selection sounds divine 🙂 Thank you for commenting, I really appreciate it!! 😀
Oh my, these look so tasty 🙆
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Thanks Cheryl!
Hi there. Is there any reason I can’t make this batter the day before I fry them up?
The potatoes will probably discolour if you prep the batter the day before. If I were you I’d just prep all the dry ingredients in one bowl and make sure you have everything ready to go for the day you want to make them. I wouldn’t prepare the batter until I was ready to fry them.
Now this recipe is new to me! This is such a great idea. I must try this soon.
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Love this! But Latkes are not “Jewish pancakes,” they originate from many European and Eastern cultures! 🙂
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And where do you think Jews came from? Europe!
The Jewish people are from Israel, which is in the continent of Asia, not Europe.
Oh boy…
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Dana,
Most Jewish people emigrated from eastern Europe before Israel was even a state.
Yes, many cultures have a variation on Latkes, but LATKES (aka, not potato pancakes) are Jewish. They are made traditionally because Eastern European Jews often survived on solely potatoes and onions, and they are cooked with lots of oil, because it is tradition to fry things in oil to celebrate Hanukkah, a Jewish holiday.
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Thanks for your input Eva!
Speaking of apple sauce—does anybody have a vegan recipe for Spaezle ??
Thanks
I’ve never made latkes using milk (dairy or otherwise), but always with eggs. If you want to make it vegan, use aquafaba instead; I’d say 3 tablespoons for every 2 potatoes (standard russet sized).
Thanks for the suggestion, Scitt! Aquafaba could be great for making these as well. 🙂
Hi… I never ventured to make this.. But the way they look I want to make them this weekend!
Can I use chickpea flour instead of AP
Hi there! I haven’t tried it myself but I can see it working. Let me know how it works if you give it a go!
Could I use bigger potatoes possibly? I only have medium russets
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Sure! Just stick to the weighted amount and be sure to peel the potatoes!
Hi,
I tried these yesterday and they came out delicious, they where so good that even our picky son enjoyed them.
I did not have Corn startch and even without it they were a hit.
I ended up making them 2” wide 1/2” thick and it worked very well.
Thank you!
Thanks for this recipe! I made some modifications based on what I had and they still turned out great. My husband, who has never had latkes, really enjoyed them too. In fact he asked for them the next night as well. I used Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 gluten free flour because I eat gluten-free. Because i was concerned about the potatoes sticking together, I used Bob’s Red Mill egg replacement because my flour doesn’t have gluten. It worked. Also, I used regular sweet onions in place of the green onions and fried them in lard. I did add some dried dill as well.
Lard?!! not vegan not kosher not healthy. did you know that sows sing to their babes when they nurse them, just like we do.
I made this last night for the first night of Chanukah. It was delicious. My mom was like I never heard of making them without eggs! But she and everybody loved them. I shredded 1/2 of an onion with the potatoes. Yum!
Thank you for this recipe!
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That’s so great! I’m really glad they were such a hit. Thank your for trying the recipe and leaving a comment, I really appreciate it 🙂
These were the best latkes I’ve ever made. I have made latkes for years for Hanukkah, but this year my son watched the movie “Game Changers” and is eating vegan, they were amazing everyone loved them!!! Thank you! I’m keeping this recipe in my file!
That’s so great Tammy! I’m glad you enjoyed them 🙂 Thank you for giving the recipe a try and taking the time to leave a comment afterwards. I really appreciate it.
Matzah meal in place has of the flour binds wells and gives extra texture . Thanks for the recipe
Ah, thanks so much! That’s a great tip 🙂
Thanks so much! Delicious with apple sauce! Too salty, though.
Thanks so much! I’m glad you enjoyed them 🙂
Yum! Just made these for lunch. I used 1 sweet potato & 2 large potatoes, which yielded about 12 2-inch latkes. I had to add more cornstarch since they were falling apart when frying. Also, using a silicone spatula works best. They were crispy on the outside & soft on the inside and we’re great dipped in a chive aioli. The frying part took a looooong time so you need some patience for his recipe. Would make again!
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Yay! Thanks so much Sarah. I’ll have to try these with sweet potato, it sounds great! Frying can definitely take a while since you have to do it in batches (same thing for pancakes for me). If you get the heat and timing balanced it might go a little quicker.
Amazing!
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I added kimchi + avocado on top for a korean twist, turned out amazing!!
Nailed it perfectly, so crispy on the outside and still feels like eating a pancake!
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