Purple Sweet Potato Latkes
When life gives a Jewish girl purple sweet potatoes, what does she do? She makes Purple Sweet Potato Latkes and homemade strawberry applesauce.
Read on for all detailed tips and tricks for making purple sweet potato pancakes from Stokes purple sweet potatoes. But for this recipe, you won’t need to call the neighborhood strongman, because the drier nature of sweet potatoes means less squeezing than with traditional latkes.
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Ingredients
There aren’t any surprises in this purple sweet potato pancake recipe. There’s grated potato and onion, a bit of egg and flour to bind them together, and some salt and pepper.
It’s the purple sweet potatoes that make your purple latkes not your everyday latke.
Many people are confused about the difference between purple sweet potatoes and purple yams, aka ube. In fact, they are so different, that their common ancestry goes all the way back to the Phylum-Class split.
Sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are in the morning glory Family in the Order Solanes. As you gardeners know if you rotate your planting, Solanes also includes potatoes (Solanum tuberosum), tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers. Check out another purple sweet potato recipe like these mashed purple sweet potatoes with banana, double baked purple sweet potatoes, or this purple sweet potato sourdough.
Ube is not a purple sweet potato. Yams like ube (Dioscorea alata) are in the Dioscoreaceae family (Order Dioscoreales). They are monocots, while sweet potatoes are dicots. And ube is often used in sweet dishes like my ube crinkle cookies or ube macaroons.
Please see the recipe card below for complete information on ingredients and quantities.
Recipe tips and tricks
I prefer a box grater for making latkes, but I’ve also used a food processor for the purple sweet potato pancakes. The grater will give you shorter strands, the food processor attachment will be longer and finer.
The key step in making any vegetable pancakes and fritters like latkes, is to make sure you’ve squeezed out all the water before frying them. It’s super important in these fried patty pan squash patties.
Like other Hanukkah foods, these purple sweet potato latkes are best fried, although it’s your choice whether you want to griddle, shallow fry in a pan, or deep fry. Unfortunately, whichever way I fry my purple sweet potato latkes, they lose that beautiful pink-purple color!
What to serve with sweet potato latkes
I’m mostly a traditionalist and eat my purple sweet potato latkes with this unsweetened strawberry applesauce and sour cream. I think they’d also be great with this sumac sauce or lemon herb tahini sauce.
Recipe FAQs
You can make sweet potato latkes with any other sweet potato just like with regular potatoes. Just remember that the key to a crispy latke is to use as starchy a potato as you have (like a Russet) and to squeeze out all of the water.
Absolutely. Let them cool on a paper towel to absorb any oil and then layer them in a freezer bag. Warm them again in a single layer on a baking sheet in your oven.
Related vegetable side dish recipes
Enjoy other Ugly Duckling Bakery vegetable soups, salads, and other side dishes like:
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-heart 💜💜💜💜💜 rating in the recipe card below. Let me know how much you loved it, or any problems you had, in the comments section further down.
Recipe
Purple Sweet Potato Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1½ pounds sweet potatoes one large purple sweet potato
- ½ medium sized onion
- ¼ cup (31 grams) all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- neutral vegetable oil, for light frying
Instructions
- Change out of your white shirt, if you are wearing one, to avoid getting purple sweet potato juice on your clothing.
- Preheat an oven to 200°F to keep the pancakes warm as you make the batch.
- Peel the sweet potatoes. Then using a box grater or food processor, grate the sweet potatoes and onions, putting them into a strainer over a bowl as you do. Mix the onion around a bit to try to prevent the purple from discoloring.1½ pounds sweet potatoes, ½ medium sized onion
- Once you have grated all of the sweet potato and onion, squeeze with paper towels or cheesecloth to get rid of as much moisture as you can.
- In a medium to large bowl, mix the sweet potatoes and onions with the flour, salt, baking powder, and pepper. Then add the eggs and mix.¼ cup (31 grams) all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- Heat a thin layer of oil in a griddle or frying pan. When hot, add large scoops of sweet potato mixture and flatten them slightly. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes and then flip and fry the second side.neutral vegetable oil, for light frying
- Place cooked pancakes in a single layer on a baking sheet and move to the oven to keep warm until ready to serve.
Notes
Nutrition
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