Polish Potato Pancakes (Placki Ziemniaczane)

Polish potato pancakes, known as placki kartoflane or placki ziemniaczane in Polish, are delicious and delightful. This traditional recipe comes from Gwizdały village in the Mazovia region of Poland and it’s surprisingly easy

How Do You Keep Potato Pancakes Warm and Crisp?

To keep the potato pancakes crispy and warm until serving, once they’re cool enough to handle after they’ve drained, transfer them to a baking sheet. Place in a 200 F oven to keep warm for several minutes while you continue to prep more pancakes, or whatever else you’re going to serve them with.

Feeling Adventurous? Try This:

Use any starchy potato – You can use almost any starchy potato for these pancakes; there’s a lot of nostalgia surrounding those made with russet potatoes, but Yukon gold will work, too.

Frozen hash browns – Frozen hash browns will really save time when you want potato pancakes, although the flavor and texture will be different. Just thaw and drain the hash browns, and mix them with the other ingredients—no grater or food processor needed.

Make it gluten-free – If you need to make these gluten-free, you can use a gluten-free all-purpose flour mix instead, adjusting the amount as needed. Or, you can simply grate the potatoes into a bowl and drain off some of the water, leaving the potato starch (it will look milky white) behind to help bind them.

How To Store and Freeze Potato Pancakes

Like most fried foods, potato pancakes taste best the day they are made, as soon as they’re cool enough to eat. But if you have leftovers, you can wrap them in foil or place them in a lidded container in the fridge for a couple of days. To freeze, let them cool completely and transfer them to a zip-close freezer bag and freeze for up to 2 months.

The best way to reheat potato pancakes is in a hot oven (about 400 F) directly on the oven rack, for about 5 to 10 minutes until they’re crispy, depending on whether they were refrigerated or frozen beforehand.

You can certainly use the microwave to reheat potato pancakes, but the texture may be gummy and not to your liking.