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Fast and tasty
Potato pancakes without flour

Flourless Potato Pancakes (Draniki)

The tastiest, prettiest, golden, and most appetizing! These flourless potato pancakes are the real deal — crispy, browned potato fritters. Leaving out the flour makes them lighter and noticeably improves the flavor, giving it a more natural, potato-forward taste.

Snezhana

Recipe author

Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Potatoes

300

Egg

Vegetable oil (for frying)

Ground black pepper

Salt

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 11 % 3 g

Fats 39 % 11 g

Carbohydrates 50 % 14 g

151 kcal

GI: 100 / 0 / 0

Cooking method

Cooking time: 30 min

Step 1:

How do you make flourless potato pancakes? Gather your ingredients. Scrub the potatoes well under running water, ideally with a brush, to wash off all the dirt. Wash the egg too. Always wash eggs before using them, since harmful bacteria can linger even on a seemingly clean shell — a food-safe wash and a brush work best. Use refined, odorless vegetable oil.
Step 2:

Peel the potatoes and grate them on the coarse or medium side of a box grater. For a lighter version, you can rinse the grated potatoes to wash out excess starch — a source of calories. Rinsing also keeps the potatoes from darkening (they won't have time to darken anyway if you make the pancakes right away). Be sure to squeeze the rinsed potatoes dry; excess moisture will keep them from browning.
Step 3:

Crack the egg into the bowl of grated potatoes. Season with salt and ground black pepper to taste. You can add other spices if you like — there are ready-made potato seasoning blends out there — but I find this bare minimum is plenty for tasty pancakes.
Step 4:

Mix well so the egg is fully worked in and the seasonings are evenly distributed through the potato mixture.
Step 5:

Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet. Drop the potato mixture on with a tablespoon, shaping little pancakes. Keep the pancakes thin so the potato cooks through inside — that's what makes them tasty and crisp. Fry over medium heat on one side until golden.
Step 6:

Then flip them and fry the other side. Serve the pancakes hot, straight from the pan, with sour cream. Enjoy!

Every oil is only good up to a certain temperature — its smoke point — beyond which it starts to burn and forms harmful compounds, including carcinogens. For frying, choose a refined oil with a high smoke point.
The right pan matters: a poorly chosen one can spoil even the best recipe, so pick a heavy skillet that heats evenly.
How can you tell if an egg is fresh? Crack it into a separate container. First, there should be no off smell. The white of a fresh egg is clear and clean. The yolk should hold its shape and look shiny, domed, and even.