Classic German Potato Pancakes Are So Easy To Make!
Searching for a great comfort food recipe? German potato pancakes are definitely one answer!
Sometimes called Reibekuchen and sometimes Kartoffelpuffer, these hearty fried potato pancakes are delicious when hot and make for a filling meal!
Lisa ate potato pancakes growing up (and we still eat them now). For Lisa personally, there is a difference between the German terms mentioned above.
Reibekuchen are made with raw potatoes while Kartoffelpuffer are made with cooked potatoes or leftover potato dumplings – but this is debatable.
Lisa personally likes them more from cooked potatoes – but this version below is also tasty!
The nice thing about potato pancakes is that they are very easy to make.
In this version, you only have to grate the potatoes and onion, add a few more ingredients, and then fry it up. That’s all – and in no time at all, you can be munching on warm fried potatoes.
Germany has a long history with potato pancakes. They used to be considered a “peasant food” because potatoes were accessible to grow or buy, fairly cheap and filling to eat.
These days, you can also find potato pancakes at German Christmas markets all over the country in late November/December. We’ve been lucky enough to eat them fresh off the fryer in some markets and they really hit the spot in the cold weather!
If you’re wondering what to serve with potato pancakes – you can enjoy them two ways: Sweet or savory.
To have then sweet, serve them with a side of apple sauce (it’s absolutely delicious). You can also serve them up with a quark (a soft cheese), sour cream, or a garlicky yogurt sauce for a more savory version of the pancake. It’s up to you!
Related Recipes
For those searching for more great potato recipes, have a look through these top dishes that feature potatoes in all ways, shapes, and forms!
- German Fried Potatoes – Another easy way to enjoy potatoes (Bratkartoffeln) that have been fried
- Schupfnudeln – Classic potato noodles that can be enjoyed sweet or fried in butter
- German Potato Dumplings – A Kartoffelklöße recipe made from cooked and raw potato
German Potato Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 pound of potatoes
- 1 small onion
- pinch of salt
- pinch of pepper, if you want savory pancakes
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 medium-sized egg
- oil for frying
Instructions
- Wash and peel one pound of potatoes and peel one small onion.
- Grate the potatoes into a bowl using the grating side (the side everyone knows about and uses to grate cheese) of a four-sided grater. Grate the onion, too. If grating the onion doesn’t work, you can very finely chop it with a knife.
- If there is excess water in the potatoes (it drips out when squeezed in the hand), drain some of the potato water.
- Add one pinch of salt, a pinch of pepper if you want the pancakes savory, flour, and the egg.
- Mix everything together until the batter is well mixed. This works best if you do it with your (clean) hands.
- Heat two tablespoons of oil in a pan and add two tablespoons of batter per pancake. Make sure the pancake is not too thick or too large to ensure proper cooking. You probably won’t be able to fit more than 2-4 pancakes into your pan at the same time.
- Cook until both sides are golden brown (3-4 minutes per side), then remove them from the pan. Put them on a paper towel or similar to allow the oil to absorb. You can then put the pancakes in the preheated oven to keep them warm.
- Repeat the process with the rest of the batter. Add more oil as needed.
- Serve immediately with apple sauce for a sweet taste or sour cream, yoghurt, or quark for a savory taste.
Notes
- Definitely eat these potato pancakes hot because they just taste best hot out of the pan.
- These potato pancakes are versatile – they can be enjoyed sweet with apple sauce or savory with garlic sauce or quark.
- If you know you are going to enjoy the potato pancakes savory, you can add more salt, pepper and other spices (such as garlic powder) into the batter.
Nutrition
This nutritional information has been estimated by an online nutrition calculator. It should only be seen as a rough calculation and not a replacement for professional dietary advice.
Just like my mom made. It was one thing she made on Fridays during Lent when meat is not allowed. No paper towels in those days, opened
brown paper grocery bags to absorb grease and keep in warm oven until there were enough to serve all of us. We liked them with catsup.
Thanks for sharing, RM! It’s always interesting to hear about how previous generations made it. /Lisa
I have made these for years. So delish. Oma taught me her recipe when I was growing up. Mmmmm
My mother was Polish and also Catholic. Potato pancakes were a Friday tradition since we didn’t eat meat on Friday. She used this same exact recipe but she called them latkes. Um ummm good
This is the same recipe I learned from my German father. Brought back many memories of helping him grate and fry the potatoes. I am now sharing the tradition with my grandchildren. We have always served ours as a side dish for navy bean soup. The leftovers if any are served next day with applesauce for breakfast. Thank you for the trip down memory lane.
Growing up in the south off the province Limburg ,in the Netherlands , we always had German and French influence in the food ; and a mom half Italian ,food was an important thing during the day , I cook a lot , also reibekuchen, this recipe is just simple and great taste .
I used olive oil for cooking , it don t change the taste and is a little healthier
Thanks
Hi, Brian from Freeling, my mother was German, but Australia born.She used to call them “boofets”, and when I make them I usually add small amount of jalapinos, cook them in egg rings, they come out fantastic. I am 83, and showed some navy chefs how to make them.
Thanks for sharing, Brian – thats so interesting! Making them in egg rings is really smart. /Lisa
Coming from German heritage, I love these pancakes which my mother would often make from grated raw taters. I make them in the blender(cut in cubes(peal and all) and blend all ingredients that way….just “pulse” the blender so as not to end up with too thin a batter. I like ’em fried thin and golden with crispy edges! Hope it’s not illegal, but like mine with maple syrup….bon appetio!
Thanks for sharing, Ron! That sounds like a good quick way to make some potato pancakes. I’ve never personally tried potato pancakes with maple syrup, but we live in Canada currently so maple syrup is always fair game! /Lisa
My Mom use to use leftover mashed potatoes to make her pancakes. When yo have 17 children you learn how to use everything and not throw away food. We are also of German descent. But I kinda like the shredded potato pancake better. It gets much crispier! I think if my Mom had a chance, she would agree with me.
Thanks for your comment, Marie! I can see why your mom made them with mashed potatoes, shredding potatoes for a large family would have taken quite a while. I like both versions, but probably like them a bit more when made with cooked potatoes. My all time favorite though is when my Oma would cut up and fry leftover potato dumplings for lunch on Mondays. /Lisa
I love potato pancakes always reminds me of my childhood. Is it imperative to add flour as I can’t remember my mother ever adding flour to the mixture. My mother stuck a ladle in the mixture to collect the potato water & left the starch on the bottom of the ladle back in the mixture. Any comments are appreciated.
Hi Inge, you don’t need to use flour – the way you remember your mother doing it is another way! However, it’s possible that you’re not getting enough starch from the potatoes – in that case, you can add some more store-bought potato starch, cornstarch, or flour. I think over the years, using flour just became the “lazy” version for a lot of people. /Lisa
Me too!
Exceptional!
I’m happy to hear that, Dolores! /Lisa
Getting the kiddos out of the bed in the morning is such a chore. They sleep in so late on the weekends that I end up doing all the housework that they were assigned. But, this weekend we are making these tasty-looking pancakes and they will be doing their chores this week.
So so happy just like my grandma made.
We called this recipe mock fish when I was young
Haha, that’s interesting – haven’t heard that before. Thanks for sharing!
Hi my name is Irene (and German descent ) I always remember mum calling them mock fish. We lived in Hahndorf South Australia, maybe that’s what the locals of yesteryear called then. Anyway what ever the name we love them
Grandma made potatoe pancakes when I was a kid. They were so good. Never had a recipe always made them from memory. I never got the recipe from her. This is the exact recipe she made. Thank you.
I’m so glad to hear that! This is the exact reason why I started this food blog.
Growing up in Germany, my grandma made the Kartoffelpuffer version from cooked potatoes (yes it is important :-)). However, the way she served them was with a jam from Italian Prunes (Pflaumenmuss). I am to this day absolutely addicted, but haven’t had them in years. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
My grandma also made them with cooked potatoes sometimes – or even better, leftover Klöße (that was my favorite). Serving them with Pflaumenmus also sounds delicous. Thanks for sharing! /Lisa
Made these pretty much exactly as written (rare for me!) and they were absolutely perfect. Truly delightful comfort food. I used my 2 tbsp cookie scoop to drop them in the pan and it worked great! I paired them with a simple chunky homemade applesauce and lived my best life. I will definitely be making again!
I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed them, Megan! Using a cookie scoop is a great tip – thanks for sharing. /Lisa
What a nice looking couple! Thank you for posting this recipe.
It can be tricky to get them to stay crispy when making a very large batch. If they are on the thinner side, they usually hold up better. I would also try to avoid overlapping them too much in the oven so they don’t get too moist. Alternatively you could also try putting them in the air fryer for a minute or two before serving if you have one. I hope that helps! /Lisa
I made these tonight. Potatoes, onion, chives, salt, pepper, flour and 1 egg. I grated the potatoes in my food processor and the onions on the Madeline.They were Delicious. You want them crispy. Serve with sour cream or Apple Sauce. We only had sour cream. I missed the Apple Sauce. We will have them again❣️
My grandma made potato pancakes when I was a child. My great grandma came from Germany and that is what I had. Thanks for the recipe. What is the difference between lakes and potatoe pancakes.
I also have great memories of my grandma making potato pancakes. There’s no difference in the basic recipe – latkes are potato pancakes. There might be some slightly different versions (added spices etc.) as is the case for many recipes with long traditions. Potato pancakes are popular in Germany and many other parts of Europe in Jewish as well as non-Jewish families. In my family, we always called them Reibekuchen oder Kartoffelpuffer. /Lisa
Hi I eat my potato pancakes with ketchup! Delicious!
Can I freeze theses ? If so how would you suggest heating them?
Yes, you can freeze them. I would recommend frying the potato pancakes, letting them cool on a plate lined with paper towels (to catch any excess oil) and then freezing them once they have cooled. Make sure the potato pancakes don’t overlap, otherwise they will freeze together. As for reheating, you can let them thaw a bit, then fry them in a pan on low/medium heat until they are fully heated. Alternatively, you could reheat them in the air fryer or the oven. I would not recommend the microwave as this would make the potato pancakes mushy.
German Potato pancakes are great. The only thing is after frying, I top mine with grape jell, sour cream and butter. Oh so good .
That sounds interesting – thanks for sharing, Henry!
You don’t necessarily have to grate your potatoes. You can roast and mash or boil and mash them and use the same recipe. I find these are less oily. I add corn to mine as well. Tasty!!
That’s true! If you make potato pancakes with cooked potatoes, then there’s no need to grate them (in fact, it would be a bit difficult to do). When making potato pancakes with raw potatoes though, we would recommend grating them because this way the fine potato strips cook better when frying the potato pancakes in the pan.
Made exactly as specified in recipe. Easy to follow. Delicious German Potato Pancakes! Served with a dollop of sour cream and finely sliced spring onions. I plan to make these again. Thank you.
Your recipe calls for “potatoes”. There are many different varieties of potatoes to choose from. What variety works best? I’ve always used Russets for their high starch content. I also like Yukon Golds if they’re available. Ordinary “boiling” or “eastern” potatoes will work in a pinch, but they’re not nearly as good as Russets, IMO.
You are right, Stu – there are many different types of potatoes. When we originally published this recipe, we were still living in Europe so couldn’t try it with North American potatoes firsthand. Now I would say Russet potatoes, Idaho potatoes, Yukon gold or classic white potatoes would work really well. Thanks for the reminder to update the recipe!/Lisa
Could you use shredded hashbrowns?
yes, you could. make sure they are thawed and squeeze out any excess water (i use a paper towel or a clean, dry dish towel)
What kind of Potatoes are best. This recipe looks delicious and easy.
We heat cream of mushroom soup with allspice and a whole onion for about an hour.( simmer). Mix the soup with some water and spice according to taste. When done remove the onion and dispose of it. This was our Friday meatless supper when growing up.
I forgot to tell you to add vinegar to taste when putting the mixture together.( Very important to the sauce).
Serve over your potato pancakes.Linda
That sounds tasty, thanks for sharing Linda! /Lisa
Hi! Can you use a food processor instead of hand grating them, continuing on with draining them?
Thanks!
Hi Vicky, yes a food processor should also work just fine! Depending on how you want the consistency to be, you’ll just have to be a bit careful to not grate them too fine in the food processor.
Why do I need to know the Jewish link? What about the Jamaican link?
Or the polish link, Ukrainian link, Hungarian link etc. How about dumpling: Chinese, Japanese, Korean. Are perogies Russian, Ukrainian , Hungarian or are they just dumplings. Is eating dumpling cultural appropriation. Then which culture are we appropriating from. Is fusion cooking appropriation, then from which culture. Is jerk chicken really Jamaican or does it come from Haiti. Really good food is just good food.
Additionally I add a few twists of fresh ground nutmeg to the mix just like my German grandma did…
Excellent
I think you if you’re going to make a blog about German pancakes you should at least acknowledge the Jewish significance of them….
Thanks for your comment! Since neither Eric nor I are Jewish, we didn’t want to misspeak about the connection between Latkes and Jewish culture. We would be very interested in hearing about the significance if you would care to share with us 🙂 /Lisa
If you let the potato water sit after you’ve drained off the excess, starch will settle to the bottom. Drain off the liquid and put the starch with the grated potatoes.
That’s right, thanks for sharing, Thelma! We use that method for our German potato dumplings, but it would definitely work for the potato pancakes as well. /Lisa
Taste is perfect, easy to make. I grated the potatoes last night so this morning they were not white, alittle dark. So grate potatoes and onions before you plan to cook them.
Thanks
After you grate the potatoes soak them with water and they won’t turn brown. Squeeze the water out and then continue you to make the patties ! They are delicious ! Yummy!
I was looking to see if anyone added this tidbit! 🙂 That’s exactly what I do! It takes the some of the starchiness and keeps them a more pale color.
Add a splash of lemon or vinegar to water the potato will not brown
Add cream of tartar and water and you can grate your potatoes a day or two ahead of time. Just be sure to rinse them with water and drain.
How much cream of tarter please!