Our easy vegan potato pancakes recipe, otherwise known as latkes, are made with simple ingredients in just 45 minutes. Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, they're perfect for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Serve them with our vegan breakfast sausage or our tofu bacon.
Crispy and savory fried potato pancakes are one of the best ways to prepare potatoes.
The grated potatoes combined with spices and onion are perfect for any meal of the day, as a main course or a side. Try them with our homemade chunky applesauce or a dollop of our vegan ranch dressing.
Jump to:
Ingredients
The exact ingredients with the amount that you'll need can be found in the recipe card.
- Potatoes - What kind of potatoes should you use to make potato latkes? Russet potatoes work best for latke potato pancakes because they have a high starch content, which works as a binder to hold the pancakes together and makes the crispiest potato pancakes.
- Onion - A sweet white or yellow onion is best for this recipe. Red onions will give them color and a sharper flavor.
- Flour - We used almond flour to make our potato cakes gluten-free, you can use an all-purpose flour if you don't need them to be GF.
- Spices - We like a little spice in our pancakes, so we added smoked paprika and celery salt, as well as salt and pepper. You can season yours any way you like.
- Egg Replacer - We used Bob's Red Mill Egg Replacer to make these. A flax egg would work, too.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Here's a step-by-step tutorial for easy vegan latkes with visual cues to help you make the best potato pancakes ever!
Step 1
With a box grater or food processor, peel and grate the potatoes then put them in a large bowl of ice water for ten minutes.
This will help remove the starch from the potatoes, so they become perfectly golden brown when frying!
Grate the onion.
Hint: refrigerate the onions the night before and you won't look like you've been watching the end of The Notebook. 😉
Prepare the vegan egg and the spices, then drain the potatoes and place on a large clean towel or cheesecloth and squeeze the excess liquid from the potatoes and place them in a large mixing bowl.
Step 2
Add the vegan egg, flour, grated onion, and spices to a large mixing bowl and use your hands to fully combine the ingredients.
Step 3
Use your hands to form the pancakes. The size of each pancake will determine how many you'll get out of each batch.
Step 4
You can fry or bake potato pancakes.
Frying them in oil will give them a nice crunchy texture on the outside and a creamy tender center.
Baking them will make them healthier, but not as crispy.
How to Fry Them
Heat the vegetable oil in a large heavy skillet on medium-high heat. When the oil is hot (test by dropping a bit of the potato batter into the pan, if it sizzles, it's ready).
Carefully put the pancakes in the oil, leaving space between each pancake, and fry for approximately two minutes per side, or until they turn golden brown.
Place on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the excess oil.
How to Bake Them
Preheat the oven to 425°F (218°C) and place the pancakes on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Spray the tops with a bit of cooking oil, or you can skip it to make oil-free potato pancakes, although they won't turn out as crispy.
Bake the pancakes for twelve minutes per side!
Can You Make Them Ahead of Time?
We suggest making them right after peeling and grating the potatoes so they don't turn brown.
You can fry them and then refrigerate or freeze them, and then heat them up in the oven.
We highly recommend serving potato pancakes hot!
Heat your oven to 200°F (93°C) and place the potato pancakes on a baking sheet in the oven until they’re all fried.
Recipe FAQs
More than likely there's too much flour in the batter or you used to much egg replacer. Too much of either one of those ingredients will make the potato pancakes dense.
Potatoes will oxidize once they're peeled. It's important to cook peeled potatoes as soon as possible.
They're good with apple sauce, sauerkraut (German potato pancakes), horseradish, vegan cheese, vegan sour cream, or maple syrup.
Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Crisp up in a skillet. Freeze in a freezer safe container for up to 2 months.
More Vegan Pancake Recipes You'll Love
Homemade Vegan Potato Pancakes
Equipment
- 1 hand grater or food proccesor
- 1 cheesecloth or towel
- 1 heavy skillet
- 1 stove
Ingredients
- 3 Russet Potatoes
- 1 Egg Replacer
- ⅓ Cup Almond Flour
- ¼ teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- 1 teaspoon Sea Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
- ¼ teaspoon Celery Seed
- ¼ teaspoon Corn Starch
- ½ Onion
- 2 Cups vegetable oil
Instructions
- Grate the Onions on a box grater.
- Shred the potatoes in your food processor with the shredding attachment.
- Place the potatoes in a bowl of ice water and allow them to soak for ten minutes.
- Remove the potatoes and wring dry in a clean towel.
- Combine all the ingredients together and form the pancakes.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large cast iron skillet (or comparable pan) on medium high heat.
- When the oil is hot, test it with a small piece of potato. If it sizzles, the oil is hot enough, carefully add the pancakes one at a time to the pan.
- Fry the pancakes for two minutes per side.
- Set the pancakes aside on a paper towel lined plate.
TO OVEN FRY THE PANCAKES
- preheat your oven to 425°F (218°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Put the pancakes on the baking sheet and bake for approximately 12 minutes per side, or until they're crispy and golden on the outside.
Notes
Nutrition
Victoria Hart says
My new FAVORITE potato pancake recipe! Thank you so much for posting it. I adapted/added a few ingredients to my seasoning preferences and the taste was incredibly delicious. For instance, I used fava/garbanzo flour, 1/2 tsp pink Himalayan salt (instead of 1 tsp sea salt), a sprinkle of black salt (for an "eggy" taste), a dash of rosemary, a dash of garlic granules, a dash of dried parsley, and a dash of onion granules (... because I didn't have quite 1/2 of an onion). Served the potato pancakes with vegan sour cream and a fermented cabbage/beet/apple soukraut.
Linda Meyer says
Hi Victoria! Thank you so much, we're so happy you liked our recipe. We love how you seasoned them to your taste, it sounds delicious! 🙂
Christine @ Run Plant Based says
Oh my, these look wonderful and perfect for the holiday table. Can never go wrong with potato recipes here, thanks!
Linda Meyer says
Thanks! We totally agree, potatoes rule!