Latkes vs Placki vs Deruny: Three Potato Pancakes Compared

Part of our Heritage Kitchen Glossary – short guides to the dishes, ingredients and techniques of Eastern European cooking.

Ask for a potato pancake in Warsaw, Kyiv and a Jewish home in either city, and you will get three different answers that look almost the same on the plate: placki ziemniaczane, deruny and latkes. All three are grated raw potato bound with egg and fried. The differences are small and come mostly from the binder, the frying fat and the occasion.

The three cousins at a glance

Latkes are the Ashkenazi Jewish version: grated potato and onion bound with egg and a little matzo meal or flour, fried in oil until the edges turn dark and crisp. Matzo meal is ground matzo, unleavened bread made only from flour and water and baked, by Jewish tradition, within 18 minutes of mixing, before the dough can rise. For many Jewish families they are the dish of Hanukkah, largely because of the oil they’re fried in. Potato starch binds them too and keeps them gluten-free. In Eastern Europe the frying fat was schmaltz, rendered chicken fat. Latkes are served with sour cream, applesauce or both.

Placki ziemniaczane are the Polish version: raw grated potato, onion and egg, sometimes with a little flour, shallow-fried in oil or lard until the edges are crisp and the middle stays soft. In Poland they are eaten with sour cream, with sugar or with both at once, and as a main course under mushroom sauce or goulash. A pancake served with goulash, placek po węgiersku, is now on restaurant menus across Poland.

Deruny are the Ukrainian version: raw potato grated together with onion, bound with egg and usually a little flour, and fried in sunflower oil. The name comes from the method, since the potatoes are grated, “derty” in Ukrainian. Some cooks stir a spoonful of sour cream or kefir into the batter. Deruny were Sunday food, cooked for breakfast or dinner, and are most often eaten with sour cream.

One family of pancakes

All three belong to the same family of grated potato pancakes, and similar ones are made across Central and Eastern Europe. In Germany and Austria they are Kartoffelpuffer or Reibekuchen; in Lithuania they are bulviniai blynai, grated very finely and most often made with no flour at all. The potato reached Ukraine in the 17th century, and in Poland the first records of its planting date from the mid-18th century, when peasants began carrying it from royal lands into their own gardens. Hanukkah pancakes were long made of cheese; potato latkes became the norm in Eastern Europe after the crop failures of 1839 and 1840 in Ukraine and Poland, when potatoes became cheaper than flour.

Which one should you cook?

For a Hanukkah table, latkes, and there is a lighter air-fryer version that still comes out browned and crisp. For a main course, placki ziemniaczane under mushroom sauce or goulash. For a Sunday breakfast with sour cream, deruny.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between latkes and placki ziemniaczane?

Both are fried grated-potato pancakes bound with egg. Latkes are the Ashkenazi Jewish version, usually with a little matzo meal or flour, and for many Jewish families the dish of Hanukkah. Placki ziemniaczane are the Polish version, sometimes with a little flour, shallow-fried in oil or lard and eaten with sour cream or sugar, or as a main course under mushroom sauce or goulash.

What makes Ukrainian deruny different?

Very little. Deruny are raw potato grated together with onion, bound with egg and usually a little flour, and fried in sunflower oil. Some cooks add a spoonful of sour cream or kefir to the batter. They were Sunday food for breakfast or dinner and are most often eaten with sour cream.

Are latkes, deruny and placki related?

Yes. They belong to the same family of grated potato pancakes made across Central and Eastern Europe, Lithuanian bulviniai blynai among them. Potato latkes became the norm among Eastern European Jews after the crop failures of 1839 and 1840 in Ukraine and Poland, when potatoes became cheaper than flour.

Why are latkes eaten on Hanukkah?

The Hanukkah story celebrates a small vessel of oil, so food fried in oil belongs to the holiday, and in Ashkenazi kitchens that means latkes above all.

Can these be made lighter than deep-fried?

Yes. Our Healthy Latkes recipe cooks them in an air fryer or oven, and the traditional placki and deruny recipes each describe baking them in the oven on lightly oiled sheets.

Latkes vs Placki Ziemniaczane vs Deruny: Three Potato Pancakes, One Region