Potato Waffles

Use your waffle maker to make Potato Waffles. They taste very similar to potato pancakes or latkes but are thicker and have a crisp, golden crust that the waffle maker creates.

Potato Waffles made from raw potatoes and served with sour cream.

The waffle maker is an excellent tool to not only make delicious sweet waffles that are more of a dessert, like Belgian waffles, but can be used for delicious savory meals too, like these incredible Potato Waffles. I like appliances that have multiple uses, so using the waffle maker for more than one application is a big plus in my book. If it’s going to take up space in my kitchen, it’d better do more than one thing:).

I’ve used the waffle maker to make both sweet and savory waffles, as well as grilled cheese sandwiches and “paninis” and when I used it to cook up crispy potato pancakes, I knew this would be one of my favorite alternative uses for the waffle maker.

Watch Video of How To Make Potato Waffles

Why Does the Waffle Maker Work So Well To Cook Potatoes?

For the best results, I found that it’s best to use freshly grated potatoes. The starch from the potatoes helps to hold the potatoes together as they cook and they don’t fall apart. The heat from both sides of the waffle maker cook the “waffles” quickly and get a nice crunch on both sides.

Raw grated potatoes to make hash brown potatoes waffles

What Potatoes Can Be Used For Potato Waffles?

Potato Waffle Ingredients

You can use any kind of potato for this recipe, my personal favorite are gold potatoes, but any potatoes will work. The gold potatoes have a medium amount of starch, which makes them perfect.

I have actually tried using the large holes on the box grater, the medium holes on the box grater as well as frozen hash browns and the medium holes produced the best results. The potatoes were small enough to cook through quickly. Using the large holes on the box grater didn’t produce consistent results and sometimes the larger shreds of potatoes weren’t cooked though all the way.

Using frozen hash browns worked too, and the potatoes were cooked all the way through, since they are usually partially cooked, but since they didn’t have as much starch on them as the raw potatoes, they tended to fall apart more.

How To Cook Potato Waffles:

Tutorial for potato waffles
  1. Preheat the waffle iron. (This is the one the I use.*) On my waffle iron, I can choose different levels of crispness, so I usually choose the most crisp option.
  2. In a large bowl, grate most of the potatoes on the medium holes of a box grater. Grate a small portion of the potatoes on the smallest holes of the box grater. (Out of 6 potatoes, grate 1 potato or 2 small ones on the small holes.) The medium shreds of potato will help the waffles hold their shape, as the potato shreds intertwine and cook together. The potatoes shredded on the smalls holes will give the potato mixture a more “batter” consistency and fill in the tiny gaps in between the potato shreds.
  3. Grate the onion on the box grater as well. The onion is optional, but I highly recommend it. Not only does it add flavor to the waffles, but it also helps to keep the potatoes from oxidizing.
  4. Add the egg, flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, ground black pepper to the potato mixture. Mix to combine. Use a spoon to remove any excess liquid from the top of the potato mixture.
  5. Generously grease both sides of the waffle iron with oil, making sure to get oil in all the crevices.
  6. Fill the waffle iron with the potato mixture, spreading it out to fill most of the surface of the waffle iron. For my waffle maker, I used 1/4 of the potato mixture for each waffle, making 4 waffles total.
  7. Cook until golden brown on both sides.
potato latke/ potato pancakes in waffle maker

8. Serve the potato waffles hot, with butter, sour cream, green onions or chives.

Potato waffles cooking in a waffle maker with green onions and sour cream on the side.

Potato Waffles Variations

You can also add grated cheese, cubed ham, sausage, cooked bacon, green onions or other herbs to the potatoes for added flavor and texture.

Close up shot of potato waffles
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Potato Waffles

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4.8 from 8 reviews

The waffle maker is an excellent tool to not only make delicious sweet waffles that are more of a dessert, like Belgian waffles, but can be used for delicious savory meals too, like these incredible Potato Waffles. They taste very similar to potato pancakes or latkes but are thicker and have a crisp, golden crust that the waffle maker creates.

  • Author: Olga’s Flavor Factory
  • Prep Time: 25 min
  • Cook Time: 20 mins
  • Total Time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x

Ingredients

Scale

2 1/2 lbs potatoes (about 6 medium potatoes), grated on box grater

1 small onion, grated

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 egg, beaten

2 Tablespoons all purpose flour

oil, to brush on the waffle iron

Instructions

  1. Preheat the waffle iron. 
  2. Grate the potatoes and onion on a box grater, most of the potatoes on the medium holes of the box grater and 1/4 of the potatoes on the small holes of the box grater. 
  3. In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, onion, 1 teaspoon salt, ground black pepper, egg, and flour until evenly mixed. Remove excess liquid from that settles at the top of the bowl with a large spoon. 
  4. Spoon 1/4 of the potato mixture into the preheated waffle iron, close and cook until golden and crisp on the outside, 5-8 minutes. You should have about 4 waffles total, if you use a Belgian waffle maker. 
  5. Serve the potato waffles hot, with butter, sour cream and green onions. 

Notes

You can also add grated cheese, cubed ham, sausage, cooked bacon, green onions or other herbs to the potatoes for added flavor and texture.

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This recipe was originally published on November 18, 2019. I have added a video to make it even more easy to follow. Enjoy!

27 Comments

  • m'liss

    The first savory waffle I mad e was Martha Stewart’s recipe for cheesy waffle sticks with tomato soup, which was delicious. Your potato waffle sounds ever better.

  • Anna

    I think potato pancakes taste even better. Or maybe I don’t have a proper waffle maker. It doesn’t matter. It was made. It was eaten. Small tummies are full. Mom can relax.

  • Milani B

    I made this recipe yesterday & today but yesterday, I substituted the egg with a mashed banana & today, I substituted with baking powder & white distilled vinegar & they were delicious!






    • Deb

      Olga – This recipe sounds amazing, but I can’t have eggs. I was wondering if it would turn out ok without the eggs. Then I saw this comment. Milani – How much baking powder and vinegar did you use?

      • olgak7

        Hi Deb,
        The eggs are used as a binder – they will help to hold the waffles together. If you don’t use the eggs, they may fall apart and it will be harder to take them out of the waffle maker. You may try to use some substitutes, but since I haven’t tried it myself, I can’t say if they will work or not. I have tried omitting the eggs and the waffles fall apart.

  • Omar

    Thank you Olga for sharing this amazing recipe! I tried it worked very well, I have added some oregano and cheddar with a little if pesto sauce and gave very nice taste.
    Another interesting recipe for waffles maker is falafel! Have you tried it?






  • Angela

    This was easy and delicious – thank you! I will definitely squeeze the potatoes in a towel first next time to get rid of some of the liquid.






  • Deb

    I made these with leftover mashed potatoes, added the egg and other ingredients, also used some artichoke pesto and sound dried tomatoes! You maybe able to substitute flax seed soaked in water for the egg. I use that in other recipes, but have not tried it in this one yet!
    Thanks!!

  • Jim o

    Hi Olga, i found your recipe and tried tonight with BBQ lamb. We used 3 potatoes and the rest of your ingredients… just the 2 of us these days. For a first timer, it turned out great! We will look tor recipe mods that add a bit more kick to it (yeah, i did put catchup and more salt on it for that FF taste!). And your video was the thing that showed me that making it was very possible… Nice job!. Jim






  • Janice Bailey

    Can you use thawed frozen and drained hash browns? I can’t grate that much anymore because of my arthritis?

  • Cathy Currey

    Hello – I’m a B&B operator known for making always creative and new-for-guests recipes. Now regular guests – maybe 20x+ as they come for football games are starting their annual return this weekend, and I’ve been wondering about new recipes. I’ve just learned that one of them has now developed a yeast allergy (altho’ ‘he’ calls it gluten allergy/just his quick male ego-lingo as he is no longer able to consume breads or alcohol (yet enjoys his wife’s baking.) Was thinking about doing p’cake waffles for fun and you’ve given me the final push. I will add garden fresh onion and chive tops, & generous black pepper and maybe freshly crushed dry oregano, cheese and dash of red pepper sauce, with side of sausages and a sour cream or yogurt garnish… sounds like a full and pleasing start for another AM adventure….

  • Silvana

    I’m not sure if I was something we did wrong but these were not a hit at our potato loving house. No one would finish them. 🙁
    They were missing flavor. Maybe if there was more seasoning or they would be used as a base for something? But we don’t recommend these by themselves.






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