Food-Processor Potato Latkes
לאַטקעס·(laht-kuhs)
Friday Night Comfort
If you close your eyes in a proper old-school deli, you can smell it: the intoxicating perfume of frying onions, rendered chicken fat, and toasted potatoes. For generations, making authentic latkes required a cast-iron meat grinder or a knuckle-busting box grater that left you sweating before dinner even started. This recipe bypasses the blood and sweat by using a food processor's chopping blade to replicate that perfect, rugged deli texture—creamy inside, lacy and shatteringly crisp outside. The real secret isn't a fancy ingredient; it's the old-world trick of squeezing the water from the potatoes and saving the pure, heavy starch to bind the latke without turning it into a doughy puck.
Ingredients
- Russet potatoes2 1/2 lb
- yellow onion1 large
- eggs2 large
- matzo meal1/4 cup
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt1 1/2 tsp
- black pepper1/2 tsp
- baking powder1/2 tsp
- neutral oil2 cup
- schmaltz2 tbsp
Method
- 01
Shred the potatoes and onion in a food processor using the shredding disc, then switch to the chopping blade and pulse to a coarse, rugged texture.
Processing the onion with the potatoes keeps the potatoes from oxidizing and turning grey. After swapping to the standard metal S-blade, pulse the mixture five or six times until it resembles the broken output of a meat grinder—do not turn it into applesauce.
- 02
Transfer the mixture to a clean, lint-free kitchen towel and wring out every possible drop of liquid into a large bowl.
Gather the corners of the towel, twist, and squeeze with everything you have. The drier the potatoes are now, the crispier the final latkes will be.
- 03
Let the extracted liquid rest for ten minutes, then pour off the brown water to recover the pure white potato starch left at the bottom.
Gravity will cause the heavy, natural starch to cement itself to the bottom of the bowl. Discard the murky water, dump the dry potato and onion mixture into the bowl, and use your fingers to scrape up and massage the white starch back into the potatoes.
- 04
Fold the eggs, matzo meal, salt, pepper, and baking powder into the potato mixture until the batter feels slightly sticky.
Do not substitute the matzo meal with flour, which will yield a doughy fritter instead of that authentic, dense deli chew.
- 05
Heat a quarter-inch of neutral oil and schmaltz in a heavy skillet until a drop of batter sizzles violently upon contact.
A cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat works beautifully here. Scoop out a quarter cup of batter, pack it gently into a patty, slide it carefully into the 360°F oil, and press it down to a half-inch thickness.
- 06
Fry the latkes in uncrowded batches until deeply browned, flipping only once, then immediately salt them.
Cook for three to five minutes per side. Transfer the finished latkes to a wire cooling rack set over paper towels and hit them with a tiny pinch of kosher salt while they are still glistening hot.
Notes
Drop a piece of raw carrot into the frying oil to keep it clean during large batches.
The carrot acts as a magnet for loose potato bits, preventing them from burning and turning the oil bitter; replace it with a fresh piece if it gets too shriveled.
Never microwave a leftover latke.
To bring back that Friday night crunch, place them on a wire rack in a 400°F oven for eight to ten minutes until the residual oil bubbles and the edges recrisp.