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Potato and Parsnip Latkes

A savory pancake made from shredded potato, parsnip, sweet potato, onion, and flour, fried until golden.

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Why it works: Parsnip and sweet potato share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 95 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Potato and Parsnip Latkes

Time4-5 minutes per side

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the vegetables

  1. Place a colander in the sink and line with paper towels. Add the shredded baking potato, parsnip, sweet potato and sprinkle with the 1 teaspoon salt. Let stand for about 15-20 minutes.

  2. Gather the ends of the paper towels together and squeeze the potato mixture to remove excess liquid, then transfer mixture to a large bowl.

Make the batter

  1. Add flour, onion and pepper and toss well.

  2. Add egg whites and mix well.

Cook and serve

  1. Spray a large skillet with nonfat cooking spray, then heat to medium-high heat.

  2. Spoon 1/3 cup of the batter into the skillet and cook 4-5 minutes on each side or until browned. Repeat with rest of mixture.

  3. Serve latkes with a dollop of nonfat sour cream sprinkled with chopped green onion.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

943Calories
44 gProtein
8 gFat
173 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Yogurt170g plain Greek100
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Parsnip1/2 cup (78g)55
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Green Onion1 medium (110g)44
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Parsnip + sweet potatotop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together95 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Potato + parsniptop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together353 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  4. Parsnip + flourtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together669 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Baking potato
Starch that becomes crisp on the outside while the shreds cook through.
Egg whites
Bind the shredded vegetables together so the latkes hold their shape.
All-purpose flour
Absorbs remaining moisture and helps the batter bind and brown.
Sweet potato
Adds natural sweetness and extra starch for a tender interior.

The step that matters

Squeezing out the liquid. Shredded potato and root vegetables release a lot of water. Removing it before cooking lets the latkes brown and crisp instead of steaming and falling apart.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, parsnip, sweet potato, flour, pepper, egg, cream):

  1. Spinachfits better
  2. Beetrootfits better
  3. Chivefits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, parsnip, sweet potato, flour, pepper, egg, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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