Potato Pancakes With Meat Filling
Potato Pancakes made with finely grated raw potatoes and onions are such a treat. They are golden and crisp on the outside and so tender they just melt in your mouth. They can be made with just potatoes and onions, but adding a meat filling takes this delicious comfort food to the next level.
Ingredients
Potato Pancakes:
- 2 1/2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes about 6 large
- 1 small onion or half of a large onion
- 1 egg
- 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2 Tablespoons sour cream
- 3/4 - 1 tsp tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- sunflower oil for frying the pancakes
Meat Filling:
- 1/2 lb ground pork or any other ground meat that you like
- 1 small onion finely grated or half of a large onion
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 Tablespoons water
- other seasonings herbs or spices, optional
Instructions
- Grate the potatoes and onion on the finest holes of a box grater, or use a food processor to pulse the potatoes and onions until they are a fine consistency.
- Use a spoon to get rid of most of the excess liquid that will pool at the top of the pancake batter. Don't get rid of all the liquid, keeping some of it, so the potato batter isn't too dry. This will make it easier to spread out in the skillet. If there is too much liquid, the potato pancakes will sizzle and spit a lot more when fried.
- Add the egg, flour, sour cream, salt and ground black pepper to the bowl with the potatoes and onions, mixing to combine.
- Meanwhile, add the grated onion, salt, ground black pepper and water to the meat and mix together in a bowl and set aside. (I use half of a large onion in the potato pancake batter and grate the remaining half into the meat.) You can also add any of your favorite spices, herbs and seasonings to the meat for extra flavor.
- Heat about 1 Tablespoon of oil in a non stick skillet over medium heat. Using a large spoon, portion out four pancakes.
- Cook on medium high heat until golden on both sides, about 2-3 minutes per side. If you are making Potato Pancakes without the filling, you should get 20-24 pancakes out of this amount of batter.
- For the meat filled potato pancakes, shape 1-2 Tablespoons of meat filling into a patty and place on top of the potato pancakes. The meat patty should be thin, so that it cooks through quickly. Using damp hands helps the meat mixture not to stick to your hands too much. Spoon more potato batter over the meat, covering it completely.
- Cook on medium heat for 4-6 minutes per side. You will have about 12 meat filled potato pancakes.
- Serve with butter, sour cream or applesauce. Potato pancakes are best served fresh, not made in advance.