Crispy Easy Mashed Potato Pancakes

Crispy mashed potato pancakes make the perfect side dish or breakfast! Serve this golden brown potato pancakes recipe with sour cream or your favorite dipping sauce for a delicious bite that the whole family will enjoy.

Ingredients  

• 4 large Russet potatoes peeled and cubed into large chunks
• 1 small small yellow onion chopped into large chunks, or half of a medium sized onion
• 2 large eggs
• ¼ cup all purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons olive oil plus extra if needed
• sour cream optional garnish
• green onions chopped optional garnish. chives also work

Instructions

• Place the potatoes and onion into a food processor. Pulse the food processor for 2 minutes or until the potato onion mixture no longer has big lumps. You can also run the potatoes and onions through a shredding attachment or grate them with a cheese grater.
• Place the potato mixture into a strainer and squeeze the liquid into a medium mixing bowl. Pour out any excess liquid but you can keep any potato starch (white powder) that may form at the bottom of the bowl. This starch is ok to keep, and can just make the potatoes crispier.
• Scoop the potato mixture into a large mixing bowl. Add eggs, flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder to the potato mixture. Mix until all ingredients are thoroughly blended.
• In a non-stick skillet, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Test that the oil is hot by dropping a single drip of water in the pan, it should sizzle and pop. It’s important the oil is hot.
• Add a heaping spoonful of potato mixture. Press down slightly with the bottom of the spoon, spreading it some.
• Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side or until the pancakes start to brown and look crispy. Repeat with each pancake, adding more oil in between pancakes as needed. Top with an optional dollop of sour cream and green onions and enjoy.

If you dont’ have a food processor, you can shred the potatoes and onions by hand with a grater. I don’t recommend simply chopping the potatoes as they don’t get thin enough typically using a knife. You want the potato and onion mixture to resemble short thin hashbrowns to cook evenly.This recipe makes four large potato pancakes or six medium sized potato pancakes.More oil may need to be added to the pan to ensure the potato pancakes are crispy. I find that I add a little more oil about every two pancakes. It’s important that the oil is hot before adding the potatoes. This helps to crisp the potatoes more.Leftover mashed potatoes (even with add ins like cream cheese or milk) can be used instead of the potato and onion mixture that is blended in the food processor. You’ll want about two cups of mashed potatoes for the full recipe. The garlic, salt and pepper may need to be reduced or added to taste if the mashed potatoes you use are already seasoned.If the pancake dough seems too wet or runny, add more flour by the tablespoon until the thick batter seems scoopable but not liquidy.