By Grocery List Plus Editorial Staff | Published on June 14, 2026
Serves 24
92 cal · 35 min
Alex Witchel's Potato Pancakes
Recipe GLPR5b54c39ca0fc0e
Golden, crispy potato pancakes made with grated potatoes, eggs, and matzo meal, then pan-fried until crunchy on the outside and tender within. A classic Jewish dish traditionally served with applesauce or sour cream.
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Ingredients
2 large eggs
3 medium all-purpose potatoes, peeled
1/4 cup grated onion
Coarse salt, to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 to 4 tablespoons matzo meal, or as needed
3/4 cup canola oil, for frying
Applesauce, for serving (optional)
Sour cream, for serving (optional)
Directions
Crack the eggs into a large mixing bowl and beat them together until well combined.
Coarsely grate the peeled potatoes and add them to the beaten eggs along with the grated onion.
Season the potato mixture with coarse salt and black pepper to taste.
Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of matzo meal over the mixture and stir well. Add additional matzo meal, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the batter has a thick, cohesive consistency that holds together when scooped.
Heat the canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering and hot.
Using a spoon or small ice cream scoop, drop rounded portions of the potato batter into the hot oil, flattening each pancake slightly with the back of the spoon.
Fry the pancakes for 3 to 4 minutes on the first side until golden brown and crispy.
Flip the pancakes carefully and fry for another 3 to 4 minutes on the second side until the other side is also golden brown and crispy.
Transfer the finished pancakes to a paper towel-lined plate to drain excess oil. Serve warm with applesauce and sour cream if desired.
Comments
Matzo meal is the sole snag—Food Lion and Publix stock it year-round, but it's not a staple at ALDI or Walmart, so Charlotte cooks without a Jewish foods aisle will need a deliberate stop. The recipe yields 24 small pancakes from roughly five dollars in potatoes, eggs, and onion, with sour cream and applesauce as optional garnish, landing around 35 cents per serving for the pancakes alone. The stated 35 minutes undersells the work: grating potatoes by hand (or in a food processor with repeated batches) and frying in batches takes a solid 50 minutes for a weeknight cook. The pancakes are forgiving comfort food that reheat beautifully in a 300-degree oven, making them excellent for batch cooking or leftovers, and they anchor a simple supper without fussy plating.
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