Potato Pancakes
These vegan potato pancakes are crispy-edged, tender inside, and made from just a handful of pantry staples: potatoes, onion, a little flour, and baking powder. You blend everything smooth, squeeze out the excess liquid, and fry small spoonfuls until golden. Served with a quick fresh tomato salsa, they turn into an easy comfort-food dinner you can pull together on a busy weeknight, and they work just as well made from leftover potatoes.
For me, it’s again a kind of busy and full week, so there’s no way I will have time to cook something too lengthy or complex. That’s why today’s recipe is all about simplicity, speed, and one of my favorite things in the world — potatoes! Whenever I’m in a rush, the potato is my first option, mostly because it’s something we all have in the cupboard most of the time. I bet you already have everything you need for these fluffy, yummy potato pancakes in your kitchen right now.
What You’ll Need
The list is short, and that is the point. For the pancakes you need potatoes, a red onion, salt and pepper, two tablespoons of flour, half a teaspoon of baking powder, and coconut oil for frying. A few notes that make a real difference:
- Potatoes: I suggest you use russet potatoes for this recipe. They are higher in starch and lower in moisture, which gives you the best texture and the crispiest edges. Waxy potatoes hold more water and tend to make the batter loose.
- Flour: just two tablespoons act as a binder. Use a gluten-free blend if needed — these pancakes take to it well.
- Baking powder: half a teaspoon lightens the batter so the inside stays fluffy rather than dense.
- Red onion: blended right in with the potatoes for savory depth. Half a finely chopped red onion also goes into the salsa.
- Coconut oil: holds up nicely at frying heat and keeps the pancakes fully plant-based.
For the fresh tomato salsa you’ll want two ripe tomatoes (peeled, deseeded, and chopped), that finely chopped half red onion, a tablespoon of chopped dill, a tablespoon of olive oil, and a pinch of salt and pepper. That’s it — I told you today is all about simplicity.
How to Make Vegan Potato Pancakes
Start with the salsa so it has time to rest: combine the chopped tomatoes, red onion, dill, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a bowl and set it aside while you work on the pancakes. Peel and chop the potatoes and onion, then add them to a blender or food processor and pulse until you get a smooth puree.
Now the one step you should not skip: transfer the puree to a clean kitchen towel and squeeze out the excess juices. Stir the drained mixture together with the flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper. Heat a skillet over low-medium heat, drop about one tablespoon of batter per pancake, and fry until golden-brown on both sides. Serve warm with the fresh tomato salsa.
Why Squeezing the Potatoes Matters
Blended raw potato releases a lot of water and starch, and if you fry the batter as is, the pancakes steam instead of crisp and can fall apart in the pan. Wringing the puree in a kitchen towel removes that excess liquid so the batter holds its shape and browns properly. This is the same principle behind good vegan hash browns: less water on the surface means more crisp. The small amount of flour and baking powder does the rest, binding the mixture while keeping the interior light.
Tips for the Crispiest Results
- Keep the pancakes small. One tablespoon of batter each helps them cook through before the outside over-browns.
- Don’t crowd the skillet. Leave space between pancakes so they fry rather than steam.
- Let each side set fully before flipping. Wait for a golden-brown edge and a firm surface — flipping too early is the most common way they break.
- Squeeze thoroughly. The drier the puree, the crispier the pancake. If the batter still feels wet after mixing, give it another squeeze or add a touch more flour.
- Fry on low-medium. Too hot and the outside burns before the potato inside is cooked.
What to Serve With Potato Pancakes
The fresh tomato salsa is the natural partner here, so if you want to riff on it, browse these homemade salsa recipes for more ideas. For something creamy alongside, I recommend checking out my recipe for vegan sour cream with cultured probiotics — you will love it and it goes so well together with these potato pancakes, yum! They also make a lovely light dinner: pair a stack with a simple salad or fold them into a spread of other vegan dinner recipes.
Storage and Make-Ahead
These are best fresh and hot from the skillet, but they keep well too. Store cooled pancakes in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days, and reheat them in a dry skillet or the oven so they crisp back up — the microwave will leave them soft. You can also freeze them in a single layer, then reheat from frozen. This recipe is a great way to use up leftover potatoes, and it sits nicely alongside my other healthy potato recipes. If you love a good pancake, my gluten-free vegan pancakes are worth a look for the sweet side of things.
I think this is all you need to know about these crispy potato pancakes. If you make them, give the recipe a star rating below and drop a comment to let me know how they turned out — I’d love to hear whether you kept the tomato salsa or paired them with the vegan sour cream instead!
Summarise & Save This Recipe
★ Add us as a trusted Google source
Potato Pancakes
Ingredients
- 6 potatoes
- 1 red onion
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 2 Tbsp flour – use GF if needed
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil
For the salsa:
- 2 tomatoes ripe, peeled, deseeded and chopped
- ½ red onion finely chopped
- 1 Tbsp dill chopped
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 pinch salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- To make the salsa, combine all salsa ingredients in a bowl and set it aside to “rest”.
- Meanwhile, peel and chop the potatoes. Peel and chop the onion as well.
- In a blender or food processor, add the potato and onion and pulse until you get a blended puree.
- Transfer the mixture to a kitchen towel and squeeze the excess juices.
- Transfer to a medium mixing bowl and stir in the flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper
- Heat a skillet on low-medium heat and fry the pancakes, using 1 Tbsp of mixture for 1 pancake.
- Fry until golden-brown on both sides.
- Serve with fresh tomato salsa. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. This recipe uses only plant-based ingredients: potatoes, red onion, flour, baking powder, and coconut oil for the pancakes, plus a fresh tomato salsa made with tomatoes, dill, and olive oil. There are no eggs or dairy anywhere in the recipe.
I suggest russet potatoes. They are high in starch and lower in moisture, which gives you the best texture and the crispiest edges. Waxy potatoes hold more water and tend to make the batter loose and harder to fry.
Blended raw potato releases a lot of water and starch. If you fry the batter without draining it, the pancakes steam instead of crisping and can fall apart in the pan. Squeezing the puree in a kitchen towel removes the excess liquid so the batter holds its shape and browns properly.
Yes. The recipe uses only two tablespoons of flour as a binder, so swap in a gluten-free flour blend and the pancakes come together just as well. Everything else in the recipe is naturally gluten-free.
Keep cooled pancakes in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days, or freeze them in a single layer for longer. Reheat in a dry skillet or the oven so they crisp back up. Avoid the microwave, which leaves them soft.
No, though the fresh tomato salsa pairs beautifully and comes together while the pancakes fry. They are also delicious with vegan sour cream, or served simply as a savory side. Feel free to swap in any dip or salsa you like.
BEST potato pancakes ever! simply perfect for a Sunday meal! 🙂
Thank you!