According to my daughters, potato pancakes (Kartoffelpuffer) are the BOMB. How can you go wrong with fried potatoes? And, since I use my mother’s recipe which adds BACON, these are lick your plate just amazing. File this Authentic German Potato Pancakes recipe into your comfort food file, and make them whenever you need to serve something that makes the whole family smile. With or without the bacon… this easy recipe comes together in a snap, and hits the table in less time than a fast food run.
German Potato Pancakes Recipes
After digging through my stack of German Cookbooks (Heimathäppchen, Landfrauen Kochen, Dr Oetker) trying find a recipe that looked like the recipe I grew up with, I finally called my mom. Those of you who are wondering why I didn’t START with that phone call clearly have never tried to pry a recipe out of a German Cook’s brain … “just peel some potatoes, don’t forget the onion, you need oil….” I needed exact measurements to share. (Currently I use the same method as mom… “peel a lot of potatoes”) I could find measurements everywhere, but two key steps were confusing me. My mother always made her Kartoffelpuffer in the BLENDER. And she always made them with Bacon bits.
I sort of figured out that she wasn’t alone with the Bacon. In the Rhineland and Westphalia it’s not unusual to find ham with the Potato pancakes. And since according to my dad when I was growing up, a meal without meat wasn’t a meal, in goes the bacon. (He’s since learned the joys of salad).
But the Blender? So I asked…. I was really expecting to get special wisdom, “it increases crispiness” “it makes them taste like magic”… Her answer “I didn’t like grating the potatoes because I always cut my fingers on the grater, and I didn’t have a food processor.” (Sometimes, the obvious answer stands right in front of you. I’ve used my food processor to do this for years)
German Potato Pancakes Recipes
In a way this is 2 recipes. (Or maybe it’s one Main recipe with variations?) Think about the flavors you remember from home. My mother didn’t add salt to her Potato Pancakes, because my father really liked Zuckerrübensyrup (sugar beet syrup) on them (I know… he also liked meat… it was an entertaining childhood). But we had salt on the table. You can make them with Bacon pieces or without. And you absolutely SHOULD serve them with Apfelmuß (Apple Sauce) or Rübensyrup, if you like that too…
Serve warm (although no one has ever turned them down cold)
Category:
Celebrating German Culture in America
Servings:
7 Pancakes
Ingredients
How to Make Authentic German Potato Pancakes Step By Step
Peel the potatoes… believe it or not, this is just over a pound, what the recipe calls for
Combine the grated Potato and Onion… use the FINE side of the grater, or the fine grater on the processor. Watch your fingers.
Add egg yolk and flour… mix it up
This is also when you add salt and pepper if you want them purely savory
IF YOU ARE ADDING BACON (and why wouldn’t you)
Pre fry the bacon bits most of the way
Heat up the oil… add a few bacon bits if you WANT THEM
Then top with 1/2 cup of potato mixture… spread it flat
Or make them without bacon
Flip after 2 minutes… you want golden and crispy edges
Let sit on a paper towel to absorb the extra oil for a minute or two
This content was originally published here.