These Crispy, Golden-Brown Latkes Are The Only Recipe You Need For Your Hanukkah Celebration (2024)

FAQs

What are latkes eaten at Hanukkah? ›

A latke (Yiddish: לאַטקע latke; sometimes romanized latka, lit. "pancake") is a type of potato pancake or fritter in Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine that is traditionally prepared to celebrate Hanukkah. Latkes can be made with ingredients other than potatoes such as cheese, onion, carrot, and zucchini.

Russet potatoes: Russet potatoes, or baking potatoes, are high in starch and have a dry, mealy texture. This type of potato is best for latkes because the dryness of the potato is partially responsible for that desirable, crispy texture. Yellow onion: Yellow onion adds a savory flavor to the latkes.

Binder: Use all purpose flour or whole wheat flour instead of matzo meal. Gluten-free flour, chickpea flour, rice flour, coarse ground oat flour, corn meal or gluten-free matzo meal will work beautifully in this recipe for gluten-free latkes.

Historically, Jews in Central and Southern Europe cooked kaese (cheese) latkes, and Jews in Eastern Europe made latkes from buckwheat or rye flour.

A latke is a type of potato pancake or fritter found in Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine. The dish, which is traditionally served during Hanukkah, can be made with grated, shredded, or mashed potatoes. This top-rated recipe is made with shredded russet potatoes, all-purpose flour, an egg, an onion, and salt.

Latkes. These fried potato pancakes are possibly the best-known Hanukkah food. The oil used to fry them is a commemoration of the oil in the temple lamps. Made of shredded potatoes and onions much like hash browns, they're traditionally topped with applesauce and served as a side dish.

Potato pancakes have a creamy, almost mashed-potato-like center, with a thin, golden, crisp exterior. Latkes, on the other hand, should have a deeply browned crust, with wispy, lacy edges. Latkes also aren't hash browns.

Vegetable oil or canola oil is usually best, because of its high smoking point. Latkes were traditionally made with schmaltz, or chicken fat, so if you have access to it, you should certainly add it in, because it does contribute to the flavor.

Storing and Freezing Latkes

Latkes will keep in the fridge for 5 days. Just wrap them in foil and reheat in one layer on a rimmed baking sheet, uncovered, in a 375°F oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Latkes will freeze well for one month, wrapped in foil and tucked inside a ziptop freezer bag.

After allowing the latkes to drain on the wire cooling rack, place them on an ungreased, unlined cookie sheet. When ready to reheat, place in a 375 degree oven for about 10 minutes (7 if using a convection oven) until heated through just prior to serving. A convection oven setting will produce a more crispy result.

Should I peel my potatoes for latkes? ›

We took our cues from Potato Latkes and tried both russet potatoes and Yukon Golds, but the russets yielded that perfect crispy, non-cakey consistency we were going for. And here's some bonus intel: You don't even have to peel your potatoes. Seriously, no one will know the difference!

Matzo Meal Substitutes

One acceptable substitute is almond flour. During any other time of year, crushed crackers such as saltines or oyster crackers and any breadcrumbs, including panko, can be used.

Potatoes, after all, are Andean tubers. They arrived in Europe in the 16th century, but weren't widely cultivated in Eastern Europe for another 200 years. By the early 19th century, though, they were a staple crop in the lands with large Jewish populations, most often consumed boiled or mashed.

These potato pancakes (called latkes) are meant to symbolize the miracle of Hanukkah, when the oil of the menorah in the ransacked Second Temple of Jerusalem was able to stay aflame for eight days even though there was only enough oil for one day. The symbolism comes in the form of the oil in which latkes are fried.

A Serious Eats recipe for hash browns calls for just potatoes, salt, and oil, with no mention of onions. On the flip side of the coin, a Kitchn recipe for latkes adds grated onion, egg, and matzo meal to the mix. So there you have it: These two dishes are kissing cousins, not identical twins.

Applesauce and sour cream are the traditional accoutrements for latkes. Some load their potato pancakes up with both toppings, while others have strong feelings about one over the other. (I'm Team Applesauce, all the way.) However, this Hanukkah, don't feel constrained by these standard-bearers.

Called sufganiyot in Hebrew, this confection is a Chanukah treat throughout the Jewish world. Deep-fried jelly doughnuts recall the oil that burned miraculously for eight days in the second-century BCE Temple in Jerusalem.

Fried foods, like potato pancakes and jelly doughnuts, are prepared and eaten throughout the holiday to celebrate the miracle of Hanukkah: oil that kept the menorah (an ancient lamp) lit for 8 days instead of the 1 day it was supposed to last.