Aunt Lillian’s Polish Potato Pancakes
With just a few ingredients, you can make these authentic Polish Potato Pancakes (placki ziemniaczane)! Top with sour cream, applesauce or powdered sugar for an easy side dish, appetizer or snack.
Save This Recipe!
Enter your email below and get it sent straight to your inbox. Plus, you get more tasty recipes every week!
These Polish Potato Pancakes, placki ziemnaiaczane in Polish, are a family recipe that I remember fondly from my childhood. My Aunt Lillian was an amazing cook and one of the reasons I loved visiting her house so much! She would serve these as an easy appetizer or sometimes as a tasty brunch recipe.
As a kid, visiting their house was a treat. It was always a great time because visits were full of food and full of laughter. Not only did I look forward to her potato pancakes, but she also made the best angel wing cookies, also known as Faworki and cabbage rolls (still need to share this recipe with you all!).
These fried potato pancakes are simple – all you need is potatoes, onion, a pinch of flour and baking powder, and salt and pepper- Sooo good! For being so simple, they’re full of flavour and you can serve them as a savoury side (with sour cream) or as a sweet snack (with applesauce or powdered sugar).
The key to crispy Polish potato pancakes that don’t fall apart is to remove the excess moisture from the potatoes before adding the other ingredients. If your potato pancakes fall apart, it’s likely because there was too much moisture, so that’s a step you don’t want to skip!
A Quick Peek At The Ingredients
Get the full list of ingredients and amounts needed for this recipe in the recipe card below.
Step-By-Step Made Simple
- Grate potatoes and onion into a large bowl. I use a cheese grater for this, but if I have time to pull out the food processor, it will be way faster. Add some water to a bowl to cover the potatoes so that they don’t brown while you are grating the rest. When they are done, I let them sit for about 10 minutes to soak.
- Drain the water and pat the potatoes and onions dry to remove any excess water using paper towels or if you have put it all in a cheese cloth and wring the liquid out before patting dry. The drier they are, the crispier they will get in the pan.
- Add the potatoes and onions to a large bowl and then stir in the eggs, salt, pepper and baking powder. Add the flour to thicken the mixture and bind the eggs and potatoes together. The mixture will still be thin.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a pan over medium-high heat. I like to use my cast iron skillet for this because I find it heats more evenly and never sticks. The oil should be about 1/4″ deep. I like to test when the oil is hot enough by putting a small pinch of flour in the pan. If it sizzles, the oil is ready to go!
- Drop heaping tablespoons full of the potato mixture into the heated oil and use a spoon to coax it to form a small 3″ circle.
- Fry until the bottom is brown before flipping; otherwise, the bottom will stick and it won’t flip well. Once the bottom is browned, gently flip the potato patty and continue to fry until the other side is golden brown.
- Remove the potato pancakes from the pan when done and place them on paper towels to drain. Sprinkle them with a little salt when they are hot so the salt sticks better before serving.
Leftovers? No Problem
While fried potato pancakes are at their absolute best fresh from the pan, leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. They are easiest to reheat in a microwave, but I find baking them or tossing them in the air fryer for a few minutes is best to make them crispy again.
You can also freeze these Polish potato pancakes for up to 3 months if you want to make them ahead. I would freeze them as raw patties and fry them when you want them.
Aunt Lillian’s Polish Potato Pancakes
Equipment
- Stove
- Large pan
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Grater
- Measuring Spoons
- Spoon
- Spatula
- Paper towels
Ingredients
- 6 medium potatoes peeled; grated
- 1 medium onion peeled; grated
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp baking powder
Instructions
- Grate potatoes and onion into a large bowl. Add some water just to cover the potatoes so that they don't brown while you are grating the rest. Let stand for 10 minutes to let the liquid from the potatoes and onion separate and rise to the top. Remove the liquid and then pat the potatoes and onions dry to remove any excess water. This helps them crisp up in the pan.
- Stir in the eggs, salt, pepper and baking powder. Add the flour to thicken the mixture up and bind the eggs and potatoes together. The mixture will still be thin.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Oil in the pan should be about 1/4" deep. I like to test by putting a small pinch of flour in the pan when I think it is hot enough. If it sizzles the oil is ready to go.
- Drop heaping tablespoons full of the potato mixture into the heated oil and using a spoon coax it to form a small 3" circle. Fry until the bottom is brown before flipping otherwise the bottom will stick and it won't flip well. Once the bottom is brown gently flip the potato patty and continue to fry until the other side is golden brown.
- Remove from the pan when done and place on paper towels to drain. Continue until all the batter is used. Serve hot with sour cream, apple sauce or powdered sugar.
Nutrition
Notes
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Love the recipe! I also put chopped green onions and then used a Belgian waffle maker to cook! The family loved the savory waffles!
First time making these! Worth the effort – so crispy and delicious. What a treat❤️
OOoh these potato pancakes are incredible!
I just love potato pankcakes but I had never made them at home until I found your recipe. These were a hit in my house and we will definitely be making them again!
That is fantastic to hear Emily! So glad they were a hit.
This is so good! My family really loved this snack!