Jacques Pépin Has the BEST Recipe for Extra Crispy Potato Pancakes

The French chef makes “potato lace” in under 10 minutes

By
Rochelle Bilow
Woman in a white dress with stripes sitting in the grass
Rochelle Bilow
Rochelle Bilow is a graduate of the French Culinary Institute, and the former social media manager at Bon Appétit and Cooking Light magazines. She has also worked as a cook on a small farm in Central New York and a Michelin-starred restaurant in New York City. Her first book, a food and farming memoir titled The Call of the Farm, was published in 2014. Her second book, a romance novel set in Scotland, will be published in February 2023.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Published on 10/4/23
A plate of crispy potato pancakes next to a photo of Jacques Pépin, all on a pink background

The Spruce Eats / Amelia Manley

Happy potatoes-at-every-meal season to those who celebrate. (It can’t just be me who craves potatoes as soon as the weather gets a little chillier.) Although I roast them on repeat, I’m always on the hunt for different ways to use potatoes—bonus points if the recipe is quick, easy, and doesn’t require buying a million new ingredients. 

Cut to Jacques Pépin’s “potato lace” recipe. French chef Pépin is beloved for his technique-forward approach to cooking, and his classic French recipes are always comforting. And sometimes, an old school recipe really hits the spot. This potato pancake-adjacent dish is the perfect fall side or brunch treat. And great news: cooking it couldn’t be easier.

What Is Potato Lace, Exactly?

Potato lace is similar to latkes and rosti, but what makes them unique is their thinness and the open structure. These are delicate and, well, lacy: all the holes between the potato and onion shreds allow the oil to bubble up while they’re frying. The result is a mini pancake that’s crispy from top to bottom, inside and out. 

You don’t need any special equipment to make this recipe, either. A box grater, a mixing bowl, a chef’s knife, and a large nonstick skillet are all it takes to get you to Potato Town.

Chef Pépin demonstrated how to make potato lace on an episode of his show Cooking at Home, and it’s also available in “Essential Pepin,” one of his cookbooks. The cookbook version calls for three to four large potatoes and serves a crowd, but the video clip demonstrates how to cook it with just one potato, for your lunching (or snacking) pleasure.

How To Make Potato Lace

First, Pépin cracks an egg into a mixing bowl and adds 2 to 3 tablespoons of minced scallion. Then he grates some onion directly into the mixing bowl. You don’t need a lot: Pépin uses less than a quarter of one (and you could substitute onion powder).

After that, he grates one peeled russet potato onto the cutting board, then squeezes the excess liquid out over a bowl. This step is crucial, or else the potato lace will be too watery, and won’t fry properly. You also don’t want to use a waxy potato, like Yukon Gold, because the results won’t be as crisp and golden. The starchiness in the Idaho or russet potato is where it’s at!

In the video, Pépin adds a pinch of baking powder. But because it’s not included in the official cookbook recipe, you could skip it. A tablespoon of all-purpose flour is key, though. That will help hold it all together. Add salt and pepper, and mix everything well.

He adds neutral oil (think canola or vegetable oil) to a big skillet set over medium-high heat, then scoops out quarter-cup portions of the potato mixture. In the video, Pépin cooks three at a time, but you may be able to fit more or less in your largest skillet. Just make sure you have room to flip them with a spatula. 

Fry the potato lace for two to three minutes on each side, then serve warm. These are best served immediately, straight from the frying pan. But you can reheat cooked potato lace in the oven, placed on a wire rack to allow the hot air to flow all around them.

I love this recipe because it’s so easy to scale up or down, making it just as good for a crowd as it is for a solo dinner. It also fits at every meal. Imagine it with eggs and bacon at breakfast or with a green salad at lunch (that’s what Pépin suggests in the video). It would also be a refreshing change-up from mashed potatoes at a holiday meal. Really, there’s no time when these wouldn’t be welcome at my table.