Simple, easy, delicious — potato latkes with cheese and green onions. These little potato pancakes are infused with extra flavour thanks to the addition of grated gruyère cheese and fresh flavour of green spring onion. These latkes are fantastic served for brunch or as an appetiser, and can be enjoyed equally as well, hot out of the skillet or at room temperature. Top them with applesauce, sour cream, crème fraîche, smoked salmon or roe. Or plain, on their own, as a on-the-go snack!
Easy to make latkes with cheese
Making your own potato pancakes is easier than you think. A potato latke has three main elements: potato, onion, and a binder. In this case, a binder made with eggs and flour, and instead of regular yellow onions, we use fresh-tasting green onion. Gruyère cheese isn’t usually found in a classic latke recipe, but is a delicious and welcome addition to these soft on the inside and crispy on the outside latkes.
How to make latkes with gruyère cheese and green onion
Prepare the onions and potato: Use the large shredding blade on your food processor to grate the potatoes in seconds. You can also quickly blitz the green onion in the food processor, or simply finely chop it with a sharp knife.
Squeeze out the moisture from the potatoes and onion: To get crispy latkes, the potato and green onion mixture needs to be dry. Use a clean tea towel to squeeze out as much of the moisture as possible. If you have a cheesecloth, use that as it allows the liquid to pass right through, rather than absorb it.
Mix together the dry ingredients: In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder to ensure it is evenly distributed.
Combine all the ingredients: In a large bowl, add the squeezed out potatoes and onions, along with the eggs, then finally the flour mixture. Work it all together to that the ingredients are evenly distributed.
Form the latkes: Use your fingers to gather a small ball of the mixture and form it into a flat patty.
Fry the latkes: Heat the oil hot enough so that the latkes sizzle right away when added to the pan. Fry until each side is dark golden-brown. For extra-crispy latkes, be sure to a cast-iron or heavy bottomed skillet. Increasing the amount of oil also will ensure crisp edges.
Drain and serve: Remove the crisped up latkes from the oil and transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to soak up the excess oil. Sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt. Serve immediately or keep warm in the oven.
And repeat: Repeat the process with the remaining latke batter, adding more oil to the skillet as needed.
Latkes made easy with these tools
Food processor with a shredding disk: A food processor with the shredding disc makes it really easy to shred the potatoes without the extra effort required with a box grater. Also, it’s really quick which helps prevent the potatoes from oxidising.
Heavy bottomed or cast iron skillet: Even distribution and retention of heat are important for ensuring the latkes crisp up. Otherwise, the oil temperature will drop somewhat after adding each latke to the pan.
How to serve potato latkes with cheese
Let the crispy potato pancakes cool slightly and drain on a few layers of paper towel before digging in. Serve the latkes warm with a dollop of apple sauce, crème fraîche or sour cream, to garnish. Or let them cool to room temperature and enjoy them as they are!
Looking for other latke recipe ideas?
Try one of these other delicious potato pancake recipes:
- Potato Latkes with Smoked Salmon & Crème Fraîche
- Celery-Root Potato Latkes with Herbs
- Potato and Leek Pancakes
Potato Latkes with Gruyère Cheese and Green Onion
Easy potato latkes with cheese (grated gruyère) and the fresh flavour of green spring onion. Delicious served warm or at room temperature.
Ingredients
- 500 g all-purpose potatoes (medium-starch), peeled and quartered lengthwise
- 1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
- 2 large eggs
- 125 g grated Gruyère cheese
- 1/2 cup flour (65 g)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 11/2 teaspoons fine sea salt, plus more as needed
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Oil or ghee, for frying
- Apple sauce, crème fraîche or sour cream, for serving (optional)
Method
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Use the coarse grating disk of a food processor to grate the potatoes. Alternatively, grate the potatoes by hand using the large holes of a box grater)
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Transfer the potatoes and green onion to a clean dish towel and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Note: the drier the mixture, the crisper the latkes.
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In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, pepper.
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Transfer the potato mixture to a large bowl and stir in the eggs, followed by the cheese, and finally the flour mixture. Work together until evenly distributed.
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Heat 1,5 tablespoon of oil (or more) in a large heavy-bottomed non-stick skillet over medium to medium-high heat.
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Shape small handfuls of the potato mixture (roughly the size as a golf ball) into latkes, flattening gently.
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Once the oil is hot, carefully place the patties into the skillet, leaving generous space around each one. You will need to work in batches.
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Cook until the edges are brown and crispy, about 5 minutes. Then carefully flip them over and cook until deep golden brown on the second side, about another 5 minutes.
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Transfer the latkes to a paper towel–lined plate and immediately sprinkle them with a pinch of salt. Repeat until all the latkes are fried, adding more oil as needed.
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Serve hot, with crème fraîche, sour cream and/or applesauce, as desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- If desired, you can leave the skin on the potatoes. This gives the latkes more texture and of course, is a time saver since you won’t need to do any peeling. Simply, give them a really good scrub under warm water before grating them.
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