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Potato pancakes show up in just about every culture on the planet — latkes, Irish boxty, German Kartoffelpuffer — and there’s a reason they’ve been on tables for centuries. They’re humble and satisfying and when the technique is right, genuinely hard to stop eating. This Amish-style version adds nutmeg, parsley, and onion to the mix, and the whole thing comes together in a blender, which means no grating, no mashing, no precooking the potatoes. Just a food processor, a hot skillet, and about thirty minutes between you and something really good.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- No grating required. Everything goes into the blender — chop, blend, fry. The machine does the hard part.
- The seasoning is what sets these apart. Nutmeg, Worcestershire, fresh parsley, onion — these are not plain potato pancakes.
- Fast enough for a weeknight. Twenty minutes of prep and about sixteen minutes at the stove and dinner is done.
- The dipping sauce takes them over the top. A quick mayo and Dijon mix alongside these is one of the better combinations I know.
- They work for any meal. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, side dish — potato pancakes don’t need a category and I respect that about them.
- Crispy outside, tender inside. When the heat is right, the texture is everything.
I made bad potato pancakes for years before I figured out what I was doing wrong. Not inedible — just never quite right. Either the outside browned too fast and the inside was still raw, or they fell apart in the pan, or they came out dense and gummy in a way that was hard to explain but impossible to ignore. I kept thinking it was a technique problem, something about the way I was shaping them or flipping them, and I kept trying to fix it at the wrong stage.
It was two things, as it turned out. The heat and the food processor.
I’d been cooking them too hot. Medium to medium-high, the way you’d cook most things in a skillet, and the outside was setting and browning before the potato inside had any chance to cook through. The fix was embarrassingly simple — lower the heat and be patient. Medium-low the whole way through, three to five minutes a side, and suddenly the inside was tender and the outside was golden and everything made sense.
This particular version — the Amish-style one with nutmeg and Worcestershire — came to me through a coworker who used to bring food in on Fridays. She set a plate of these down one afternoon and I ate three of them before I thought to ask what was in them. The nutmeg is the thing. It’s barely there and you can’t name it exactly but you’d notice immediately if it was gone. That faint warm spice underneath everything is what makes these taste like a recipe someone actually thought about rather than just potatoes in a pan.
A Few Notes on the Ingredients
Russet potatoes are the ones you want. They’re starchier than Yukon Golds, which is what helps the batter hold together and gives you that crispy exterior once they hit the oil. Yukon Golds are waxier and the pancakes come out softer — not bad, just not the same.
Pay attention to your onion. Some onions are juicier than others and if yours is particularly wet, the batter will come out thinner than you want. The easiest fix is to let the chopped onion sit in a fine mesh strainer over a bowl for a few minutes while you prep the potatoes — it drains off enough liquid to make a difference. If you skip that step and the batter still looks too thin once it’s blended, just add flour a tablespoon at a time until it tightens up. You’re looking for something thick enough to hold a shape in the pan without spreading into a puddle.
Fresh parsley matters here. Dried parsley in this batter adds almost nothing — fresh parsley adds brightness and a little color and is worth the extra thirty seconds of chopping.
The nutmeg is ground and the amount is small but don’t leave it out. The Worcestershire too — a quarter teaspoon sounds like it couldn’t possibly do anything but it adds a background savory note that the pancakes would be flatter without.
Ingredients
- 2 large Russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 egg
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- Crumbled bacon or shredded cheddar cheese, for serving
How to Make It
If your onion looks particularly juicy, chop it first and set it in a fine mesh strainer over a bowl while you peel and cube the potatoes. Thirty seconds of setup that can save you from a batter that won’t hold together in the pan.
Add everything — potatoes, onion, egg, flour, parsley, baking powder, salt, pepper, Worcestershire, and nutmeg — to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. The batter should be thick and uniform, not runny. If it looks too loose, add flour a tablespoon at a time and pulse until it comes together. You’re aiming for something that holds its shape when it hits the hot oil rather than spreading out flat.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Not medium. Not medium-high. Medium-low — and I say this with the full weight of having burned the outside and underdone the inside too many times to count. The potato needs time to cook through from the center out, and that only happens at lower heat. Once the oil is shimmering, pour about a quarter cup of batter per pancake into the pan. Don’t crowd them — work in batches with space between each one.
Fry for three to five minutes per side until deeply golden. The edges should look set and dry before you attempt to flip. Slide a thin spatula underneath and turn them once — they should release cleanly if they’re ready. If they’re sticking, give them another minute.
Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and hit them with a little extra salt while they’re still hot. That’s when it sticks.
Serve topped with crumbled bacon or shredded cheddar, or both. And make the dipping sauce — it takes one minute and it’s worth it. A few tablespoons of mayonnaise, a good squeeze of Dijon mustard, stir it together. That’s it. Something about the tang of the mustard against the crispy starchy potato is one of those combinations that makes complete sense the first time you taste it and that you’ll want every time after.
Variations Worth Trying
Smoked paprika in the batter — maybe a quarter teaspoon — adds a warmth that plays well with the nutmeg without taking over. I’ve also stirred shredded cheddar directly into the batter rather than just serving it on top, which gives you melted cheese pockets throughout each pancake. My daughter does this every time she makes them and insists it’s the correct way. She has a point.
Sour cream alongside the mayo-Dijon is another good call — cool and tangy next to something hot and crispy. If you want to go all the way, sour cream, bacon, cheddar, and chives on top is a fully loaded version that is excessive in the best possible sense.
Storage
Leftover pancakes keep in the fridge for two days between layers of paper towels in a covered container. Reheat them in a dry skillet over medium heat or in a 375°F oven for about ten minutes — either one brings the crispiness mostly back. The microwave works but softens everything, which is fine if that’s what you have but not really in the spirit of the thing. Cold the next morning with a fried egg on top is a combination I’ve arrived at by accident more than once and never regretted.
Every culture figured out the potato pancake eventually and I think that says something. There’s a version of this in almost every cuisine — different spices, different names, same basic idea of taking something plain and making it crispy and golden and worth eating. This Amish version with its nutmeg and its Worcestershire and its blender batter is the one that finally got it right for me. Simple enough for a Tuesday, good enough that people ask about it. That’s really all a recipe needs to be.
Amish Potato Pancakes
Ingredients
- 2 russet potatoes large, peeled and cubed
- 1 onion medium, chopped
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil for frying
- crumbled bacon optional for serving
- cheddar cheese shredded, optional for serving
Instructions
- Place the cubed potatoes, chopped onion, egg, flour, parsley, baking powder, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and nutmeg in a blender or food processor.
- Blend the mixture until smooth and well combined.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat.
- Pour about 1/4 cup of batter into the skillet for each pancake.
- Cook each pancake for 3–5 minutes per side until golden brown and crisp.
- Transfer the cooked pancakes to a paper towel-lined plate to drain excess oil.
- Season with additional salt and pepper if desired and serve with crumbled bacon or shredded cheddar cheese.
Notes
Nutrition