Placki Ziemniaczane

Name: Placki Ziemniaczane
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Poland
Ingredients: 1 kg floury potatoes; 1 medium onion; 1 egg; 3 tbsp plain flour; 1 tsp salt; Ground black pepper; Neutral oil for frying; 200 g sour cream, to serve

Local name: Placki ziemniaczane

Grated potato pancakes fried until the edges turn lacy and brown, served with sour cream as every Polish kitchen does.

Published on 11 July 2026·Updated on 10 September 2026

#potato#pancakes#pan-fried#sour cream#budget

Photo: Aw58 , CC BY-SA 4.0

Prep: 20 min
Cook: 25 min
Total: 45 min
Serves: 4
Difficulty: Easy

Method

Grate the potatoes on the finest side of a box grater. Grate the onion into the same bowl.
Tip the mixture into a clean tea towel and squeeze it over a bowl to draw out the juice. Let the juice settle for 5 minutes, then pour off the liquid and keep the white starch underneath.
Stir that starch back into the squeezed potato. Add the egg, flour, salt and pepper, then mix.
Heat 5 mm of oil in a wide pan until a crumb sizzles on contact.
Drop in spoonfuls of batter and flatten them to 5 mm. Fry for 4 minutes a side until the edges turn brown and lacy.
Drain on kitchen paper, salt, and serve hot with the sour cream.

The liquid squeezed from potatoes carries the starch that binds the batter. Press, let it settle, then scrape up the white sediment: the pancakes hold together without extra flour.

The techniques this recipe uses

Drain and rinse
Canning liquid clouds a sauce and salts it blind: rinse until the water runs clear.

This recipe also appears in

Easy recipes

Nutrition per serving

Calories: 355 kcal
Protein: 9.4 g
Fat: 11.3 g
Carbohydrate: 56.1 g
Fibre: 4.2 g

An estimate computed from the recipe quantities and the USDA food composition database. Real values vary with the products used.

Frequently asked questions

Why save the white sediment from the potato juice?

That sediment is the starch, which is what binds the mixture. Returning it to the squeezed gratings gives pancakes that hold together without much added flour, so they are lighter and crisper.

Why do my pancakes turn grey?

Grated potato oxidises very fast in air. Grating the onion into the same bowl slows it down, and after that you have to work briskly: this batter is not made ahead, it goes straight into the pan.

Can I make them without egg?

Yes, provided you recover the starch, which already does most of the binding, and press the pancakes thin so they survive the flip. Serve them with a tangy plant cream in place of the sour cream.

Have you cooked this dish?

No ratings yet.

Give it a rating

More recipes from Poland

Poland⏱ 30 min

Chłodnik

A bright pink cold soup of beetroot and kefir, sharpened with dill and lemon, served with a halved boiled egg.

Easy·236 kcalGluten-free

Poland⏱ 45 min

Kopytka

Polish potato dumplings cut into little diamonds from a soft dough, poached and folded through a paprika tomato sauce.

Medium·503 kcal

Poland⏱ 70 min

Barszcz czerwony

A clear, sharp beetroot broth scented with marjoram, served scalding in a cup with small Polish dumplings.

Medium·175 kcalVegan