These Ukrainian potato pancakes are known as "deruny". They're light, crispy, and delicious, and can be prepared in under 30 minutes! Serve deruny as a side with Ukrainian Borscht or Holubtsi.
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Potato pancakes are popular in so many cultures. From Jewish latkes to Assyrian potato chop, and Indian aloo tikki, we all have our own way of preparing potato patties. In this post, however, I'll show you how to make deruny or Ukrainian potato pancakes, which are often enjoyed with a dollop of sour cream.
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😍 Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Deruny only require basic ingredients that you most likely have at home.
- Ukrainian potato pancakes make an excellent last-minute side dish.
- It only takes 20 minutes to get delicious potato pancakes!
- You can prepare deruny ahead of time and then reheat them just before serving.
- Extra Ukrainian potato pancakes can be frozen.
🔖 Ingredients & Substitutions
- Potatoes: For this recipe, you'll need 2 lbs of Russet potatoes (also known as Idaho potatoes) or Yukon gold.
- Onion: One medium yellow onion.
- Egg: One large egg.
- Flour: All-purpose flour
- Garlic: Fresh garlic is ideal, but garlic powder can be used as well.
- Seasoning: Sea salt, black pepper
- Oil: An oil with a high smoking point, like avocado oil or grape seed oil. Or use sunflower oil (authentic Ukrainian choice). Canola or vegetable oil are also good choices.
- Optional garnish ingredients: Sour cream, green onions, dill, chives, parsley, smoked salmon, applesauce, nutmeg.
Helpful Tools
- box grater
- food processor
- non-stick skillet
- spatula
- fine mesh sieve
🥔 How to Make Deruny
Step 1: Peel the potatoes, onion, and garlic, then roughly chop and add to a food processor. Process until no large chunks remain. Strain and discard most of the liquid through a fine mesh sieve.
Pro Tip: Don't discard all of the liquid - texture should be pourable like a batter, but not runny.
Step 2: Add potato and onion mixture to a large mixing bowl, along with egg, flour, salt, black pepper, and baking soda. Mix until consistent.
Step 3: Heat ¼ cup oil in a large skillet until shimmering. Spoon approximately ¼ cup of batter into the pan for each pancake. Flatten with the back of a spoon. Fry 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
Step 4: Drain deruny on a paper towel-lined plate to remove excess oil, and serve while hot with a dollop of sour cream or applesauce.
Pro Tip: You will need to add more oil after every 4-6 pancakes.
♨️ Reheating Instructions
Reheat in a dry skillet, air fryer, or oven-never microwave if you want them to stay crispy.
🤷🏻♀️ Recipe FAQs
Deruny are Ukrainian potato pancakes. Unlike latkes, deruny are made with finely grated potatoes, which explains the name "deruny," which means "grated."
It could be because there is too much liquid (the potatoes and onion were not drained enough). Or perhaps the potatoes you used were waxy instead of starchy. Another cause can be not enough binder. You need at least one large egg and a few tablespoons of flour. If your oil is not hot enough, the potatoes can soak up too much oil and fall apart. Make sure your oil is somewhere between 350°F and 375°F.
Latkes are chunkier because the potatoes are shredded with the larger holes on a box shredder. Deruny are smoother because the potatoes are finely grated or pureed. Latkes have a crispier texture, while deruny are more tender in the middle and resemble pancakes.
German potato pancakes are similar to Ukrainian potato pancakes, with a few key differences. The German version is more coarsely shredded, resulting in a hashbrown-like texture, whereas the Ukrainian kind is finely shredded. German potato pancakes are commonly flavored with nutmeg or chives and topped with sour cream, applesauce, or smoked salmon, while common Ukrainian deruny toppings include sour cream, mushrooms, and dill.
👩🏼🍳 Pro Tips
- If you don't have a food processor, you can use the fine side (star side) of a box grater.
- If using a box grater, grate onion first, as it will help prevent the potatoes from turning gray due to oxidation.
- This is one dish that you should not prep ahead of time. To prevent the potatoes from oxidizing and turning dark, prepare the potato mixture right before you intend to cook them.
- When frying the potato pancakes, use medium-high heat. Don't crowd the pan, or the temp will drop, and as a result, the deruny will become soggy.
- To keep deruny crisp, you can set them on a wire rack in a 200°F (95°C) oven while you fry the rest.
🍠 More Potato Recipes
If you enjoy this deruny recipe, check out these other potato recipes!
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📖 Recipe
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Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Peel the potatoes, onion, and garlic, then roughly chop and add to a food processor. Process until no large chunks remain. Strain and discard most of the liquid through a fine mesh sieve.
- Add potato and onion mixture to a large mixing bowl, along with egg, flour, salt, black pepper, and baking soda. Mix until consistent.
- Heat ¼ cup oil in a large skillet until shimmering. Spoon approximately ¼ cup of batter into the pan for each pancake. Flatten with the back of a spoon. Fry 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
- Drain deruny on a paper towel-lined plate to remove excess oil, and serve while hot with a dollop of sour cream or applesauce.
Nutrition
Notes
- Don't discard all of the liquid - the texture should be pourable like a batter, but not runny.
- If you don't have a food processor, you can use the fine side (star side) of a box grater.
- If using a box grater, grate onion first, as it will help prevent the potatoes from turning gray due to oxidation.
- This is one dish that you should not prep ahead of time. To prevent the potatoes from oxidizing and turning dark, prepare the potato mixture right before you intend to cook them.
- When frying the potato pancakes, use medium-high heat. Don't crowd the pan, or the temp will drop, and as a result, the deruny will become soggy.
- You will need to add more oil after every 4-6 pancakes.
- To keep deruny crisp, you can set them on a wire rack in a 200°F (95°C) oven while you fry the rest.
Nena Sterner says
We hope you enjoy this recipe!