Potato pancakes are something I remember from my earliest consciousness. My family has made them for generations using their waste-not, want-not strategy. My grandmother, who survived the Great Depression, often told me how difficult it was to get even a single potato during those trying times. Nothing was ever thrown away, not even the peels, because every scrap of food was precious.
Fast forward to today, and while the economic pressure is not the same, we still honor that tradition. The primary reason now is not necessity but taste—potato pancakes are simply delicious. We know a dinner meal with mashed potatoes will be followed by a breakfast of potato pancakes as surely as the sun will rise. It’s a comforting, timeless ritual that connects the past to the present.
Making Potato Pancakes
I make mashed potatoes two different ways, one immodestly titled World’s Best Mashed Potatoes and the second Joel’s Pommes Puree. Both use extreme amounts of butter – enough to make you blush, but for all the right reasons.
All that butter and cream presents a challenge using leftovers for potato pancakes. The butter in the mashed potatoes melts and releases as you fry them. This keeps them particularly “tender” and difficult to flip without tearing. Test them after about a minute and a half and flip as soon as you can get a spatula completely under them to support them while turning I’m going to walk you through it to do it just right. Follow these instructions to make the World’s Best Potato Pancakes!
Remove the leftover, refrigerated mashed potatoes and place 3 cups in a large bowl. Sprinkle the flour over them, beat the egg, salt and pepper together and pour it over them, then mix it together with a fork until you have a uniform “dough”. Use 1/4 cup of dough for each pancake, rolling and flattening into pancakes about 4-5″ in diameter.
Begin frying the pancakes in batches over medium low heat in a large non-stick pan.
Cover the pan with a see-through lid, trapping the heat to help form a skin on top to keep them from tearing.
Remove the top after a minute and a half, test the pancake and turn as soon as you can get a spatula completely under it for support. Fry for another minute and a half to two minutes. Remove, set aside and repeat the process until you have fried all the potato pancakes. Print
Potato Pancakes
Potato Pancakes made with leftover mashed potatoes, flour and egg
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 3 cups leftover mashed potatoes
- 1 extra large egg
- 1/4 cup + 2 TBL flour
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Pam
- Sour cream – garnish
- Chopped chives – garnish
- Serve with a side of link sausage
Instructions
- Sprinkle the flour over the potatoes in a large bowl. Lightly beat the egg with the salt and pepper, then use a fork to mix with the potatoes until well combined. It should be thick, almost like dough
- Use 1/4 cup of the potato dough for each pancake. Roll into a ball, then flatten into rounds about 4-5” in diameter and place them on a parchment paper covered baking sheet.
- Spray a large non-stick pan with pam, or smear with vegetable oil. Place three of the potato pancakes in the pan over low-medium heat. Don’t crowd the pan and don’t let them touch leaving room to get a spatula under them when ready to turn. As the pancakes heat, they will begin to release some of the butter in the potatoes and fry in their own butter. Turn carefully with a spatula after about 2 minutes, fry on the other side for about a minute and a half or slightly longer, then remove and set aside on a paper towel covered rack. Repeat the process for the remaining pancakes until they are all finished.
- Plate 3 per serving with link sausage, sour cream and chive garnish