Mashed Potato Latkes

These pan-fried Mashed Potato Latkes use soft mashed potatoes instead of grated potatoes for a perfect crispy-outside soft-inside treat. They truly are the best of both textures! They won’t last long for your Chanukah celebrations, I promise.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Latkes have an Eastern European origin and are enjoyed by Ashkenazi Jews over Chanukah. I am lucky to be both Ashkenazi and Sephardic so I get to enjoy the best that both sides have to offer!

This recipe gets me even more excited about cooking every Chanukah! It’s my favorite way to make traditional potato latkes, using mashed potato instead of grated potato and pan-frying them. This is ideal if you like a crispy-crunchy outside but soft potato inside.

Ingredients & Substitutions

Russet potatoes – you do not want to use other potatoes because the starchiness of Russet potatoes is what gets the texture of these latkes just right. Sweet potatoes end up too liquidy for the latkes to hold shape.

Matzo meal – This is ground-up matzah. You can pulse the matzah in a food processor, or you can substitute breadcrumbs or panko.

Eggs – are what bind the latkes together. You can also use a smashed-up banana. Other substitutions I have tried don’t work as well.

Oil – Use any flavorless oil that you fry things with. My two go-to oils for this recipe are vegetable and canola. They are all flavorless and inexpensive.

Note: Use the grater plate of your food processor (link opens in new tab) to grate the onion and apple quickly.

How to Make Mashed Potato Latkes

Preheat the oven to 425F and prepare your potatoes.

Poke holes in the potatoes with a fork. Lightly oil them, and season generously with sea salt. Bake for 1 hour.

Once the potatoes are cooked, peel them, then mash or mill the potatoes. I prefer using a food mill, but a potato masher or fork works great, too.

Note: I like to use a food mill (link opens in new tab) to mill the potatoes, but you can also use a potato masher or fork. 

Note: Yes, you can use leftover mashed potatoes in this recipe.

In a medium-sized bowl combine the potatoes, grated onion, grated apple, eggs, matzo meal, and salt.

Note: If it is your first time making this recipe, do not add the eggs until after you taste the mixture to see if it has enough salt.

Heat 1/2″ of canola oil in a non-stick pan or cast iron pan over medium-high heat. Smush 1/3 cup of the mixture in your hands to form a 3-inch diameter patty.

Smush 1/3 cup of the mixture in your hands to form a 3-inch diameter patty.

Then place in the hot pan. Fry for 3-5 minutes per side until the Latke is golden.  Place them briefly on a wire rack in a 170-degree oven until ready to serve.

Serve immediately while hot with applesauce, sour cream, fruit compote, herbed yogurt, or creme fraiche.

Note: The latkes don’t taste as good the next day or even after they have cooled. Serve these treats immediately for the best experience.

What to Serve with Latkes

There is a ton of debate over what is the best thing to serve with latkes, and the battle is usually between sour cream and apple sauce. I am an apple sauce fan, but you can also dress these latkes up with sour cream, apple sauce, cream cheese (with chives and herbs), fruit compote, creme fraiche, or Mascarpone (with chives and herbs), herbed Greek yogurt.

Other Chanukah Foods

Anything fried is fair game during Chanukah! Here are some of my favorite Chanukah treats other than these latkes. Be sure to check out all my Jewish recipes here.

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