Crispy grated potato cakes that are much easier to make than your regular potato cake. Not only that, I am going to show you how to make these potato cakes gluten-free!
The perfect appetizer or side right here ladies and gents. And let’s be honest, when it comes to vegetables, it’s very hard to beat a potato. Especially when they’re prepared in a way that allows them to go so nice and crispy.
Which begs the question, how did I prepare them? Well, allow me to explain.
Did you grate the potatoes?
I most certainly did!! I am aware that the traditional way to prepare them is to boil them and mash them up instead. However, grating the potatoes is so much better in my opinion for 2 reasons.
- Grating a potato is much easier than peeling, dicing, boiling and mashing a potato. The process of this potato cake recipe is as simple as washing the potato, grating it, squeezing out some of the liquid, mixing some egg and flour through the potato then frying the potato in small disks until golden brown on each side.So it’s a much easier process that requires less work, time and cleaning up.
- Also, I think that potato cakes that are grated are just better because the bit’s of potato develop so much more colour and texture as you fry them. I absolutely love it when the edges go all nice and crispy.
Now, as I briefly mentioned earlier, when you grate a potato and many other vegetables to make something like savoury cakes and fritters, it’s always a good idea to squeeze out some of the water content that the vegetable holds. Just so the mixture doesn’t get too soggy.
You don’t have to spend hours doing this, but just spend a good minute getting rid of that liquid.
And because we want to get a nice colour on the potato cakes, we want to fry them over high heat. Which is why I chose to fry them using a nice light oil with a high smoke point. You can fry them in butter if you want to make these potato cakes extra fatty and delicious, but since butter can burn easily, I would fry the potato cakes in a mixture of both butter and oil.
This is exactly what I did with the hash browns that I made, and if you want to check out the recipe post for those hash browns, click the link or the image below.
What is the difference between hash browns and these potato cakes?
It’s funny, I actually saw a lot of “hash brown” recipes on the internet, and they were made much like this recipe. Mixing eggs and flour through the grated potato to bind and help stabilise mixture as you cook it. And honestly, I would argue that this process doesn’t create hash browns, it creates potato cakes. Which is wonderful don’t get me wrong, it’s just not a hash brown.
A hash brown in my eyes doesn’t involve eggs or flour, it’s just the grated potato. From there you can add whatever herbs or spices you want, but I don’t use any stabilisers or binders to make a hash brown. I rely on the frying process and the starch in the potato to help bind it, but a hash brown doesn’t need to be as well bound as a potato cake. However, it does need to have that delicious, satisfying crispiness.
What if I am gluten-free?
You add gluten-free flour instead, it’s that simple. Gluten-free flour is much lighter and fluffier so you will get a lighter and fluffier result in your potato cakes. Whereas plain flour is a little denser. You can see the subtle difference in the image below.
I would not say that 1 is better than the other, but they’re just different. And I still thoroughly enjoyed them. Although to be honest, with this recipe, there isn’t much of a difference.
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Potato Cakes Recipe with Smoked Salmon, Sour Cream and Chives
Amazing, delicious and crispy potato cakes. The perfect appetizer for any occasion. Very easy and quick to prepare.
Ingredients
- 3 large floury potatoes (the russet potato or the maris piper are 2 good options)
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons of plain flour (or gluten free flour if your gluten free)
- Canola oil for frying (or any other light flavoured oil)
- 100 g sour cream
- 1 handful of chopped chives
- 50 g smoked salmon
- Salt and pepper for seasoning
Instructions
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Wash and grate the potatoes, then squeeze the grated potato over a sieve to strain out some of the liquid.
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Add grated potato, egg, flour, salt and pepper to a bowl, then mix it all together.
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Pre-heat a frying pan over medium heat and then add about 1/2 a tablespoon of your oil.
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Once the oil is nice and hot, add about 1½ - 2 tablespoons of the potato mixture and gently press/flatten into a patty like shape. Fry the potato cakes for about 5-10 minutes on each side until golden brown. Once they are done, transfer them onto kitchen paper to drain.
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Next, quickly mix the chives and sour cream together in a bowl.
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Serve the potato cakes with your sour cream and chives mixture, and your smoked salmon.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
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Grating the potatoes to make potato cakes makes the process much quicker and easier.
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Make sure you spend a minute squeezing the moisture out of the grated potato before you add your eggs and flour.
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If you want to fry these potato cakes in butter, I recommend using some light oil that has a high smoke point with that butter so that it won't burn.
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If you want your potato cakes to be gluten-free, just add gluten-free flour instead of regular flour.
If your a fan of potato dishes, perhaps you’d like to check out my guide on how to cook potatoes.
Hey Nick! Thanks for your comment on my post! This looks yummy and easy to make too! 🙂
Thanks Rebeka. (: I shall look out for your Posts round Easter.
This looks delicious! I am going to have to try this recipe!
Thanks I appreciate that. They are very easy and simple to make (:
What a wonderful appetizer or brunch dish. I love smoked salmon as well.
Thanks for your presentation. You’re correct; I too believe that the grated version is much easier and better for a crispier and tasty finish. Did a batch yesterday and added a little grated onion. Took it to another level. Cheers!
Ooooo I love the grated onion idea. Thank you so much for your comment! (:
I love anything potato and I think it’s a great idea to just grate the potato and avoid all of the mess. They look delicious!
This would be a great appetizer for so many occasions!! Love potato cakes
Love that you grated the potatoes. Kinda reminds me of a much fancier hash brown, haha!
These looks so simple and easy to make, I am going to try this recipe 🙂
Delicious and healthy. Love to snack on it any day. I love it all.
I am so happy you like the idea!! Thanks for commenting! (:
Thank you Tisha!!
Thanks Edan! It’s quite similar to a hash brown (:
I really hope you like it!!
Thanks!! Really appreciate that (:
It looks fantastic Nick, such along time I haven’t made potato cakes!!
These would make a wonderful first course at a dinner party.
You should make them again! I bet you could do an amazing job of them (:
I am glad you think so!!
Thank you!! I love them too! (: