Crispy Air Fryer Latkes Recipe

Ninja Air fryer latkes are an easy way to cook shredded potatoes into a hand held air fryer potato pancakes. A Hannukah favorite crispy crunchy side dish. So good you’ll want to make these year round with every meal.

Latkes in Air Fryer Recipe

I grew up with my now best friend who’s family was (and is) Jewish and spent many holidays with her. From Passover to fairs where we ate gefilte fish, challah, and over the years I learned a lot about her religion.

Fast forward to now that we are in our 40’s, we may live 1,000 miles apart, I’m a blogger and she is now a Rabbi but we are still thick as thieves. 😉 I asked her what her go to easy recipe for latkes was. She said “Jen makes the best, ask her” so that is what I did, so she gets all the credit for the ingredients (I just adapted to using an air fryer).

Ninja Foodi Latkes

You can cook them in any brand machine you might have. The biggest difference between them all is usually the size of the basket. Larger will cook more at one time of course. Laying them in a single layer is most important so they get nice and crispy. As a Ninja Foodi recipe you would use the lid that is attached to air crisp.

You can use russet or make Sweet Potato Latkes for fun too. There are even purple varieties that can add some fun wow when you serve them to kids, or mix and match however you like.

What are Latkes?

Ok let’s start with a little history as to why I love these, and where this particular classic latke recipe came from. Some think potato pancakes and these are the same, they’re not. Pretty darn similar so I get the confusion but there’s a slight difference. Now there are a ton of different recipes out there and you typically won’t get the same one if you ask 12 different people in the same synagogue. They’re usually passed down from 1 generation to the next.

Many times people add baking powder to this version, matzo meal and milk. Pancakes can use shredded taters or leftover air fryer mashed potatoes even.

Ingredients

1. Shredded russet and Yukon potatoes with the skin left on is best
2. Binder like flour or Matzo
3. Eggs
4. Onion diced
5. Salt and pepper + garlic powder, or seasonings of your choice but these work great
6. Olive oil cooking spray is how you can keep them moist on the outside and get that crispy crunchy outside

Substitutions

Like I said there is an option to use all purpose flour or Matzo meal for the binder with the eggs. Traditionally the latter would be used but if you aren’t familiar or can’t find it at your local supermarket. Fresh taters are best but you could defrost frozen hashbrowns as an option.

Cooking Tips

Biggest tip I can give you so they come out perfectly is to make sure after you shred to lay everything on a tea towel or paper towel. Press gently wrapped up so you can eliminate as much moisture as you can. It will make them crispier and allow the binder to stick well.

It isn’t absolutely necessary to flip them over halfway thru the cook time but it’s best. I like to add a bit more spray after they’re flipped to get a nice golden brown all the way around.

How to Cook Latkes in Air Fryer

1. Rinse and dry, then grate the potatoes with skin left on in a food processor or box grater.
2. Pour on to a few paper towels or clean kitchen towel and fold over. Press gently to absorb as much water as possible. Then pour into a large bowl.
3. Preheat air fryer so they cook at the same rate to get crisp.
4. Then in a bowl add all your other ingredients and swtir to coat everything.
5. Use 3 heaping Tbsp to make potato latkes into a pancake shape. Squeeze latke mixture together gently in the palms of your hands.
6. Spray air fryer basket with olive oil spray and lay patties inside without overlapping them.
7. Spray tops with olive oil spray gently.
8. Then air fry until they reach a golden brown color and look crisp
9. Flip each one over halfway thru total cook time (spray tops again after rotating).
10. Remove crispy latkes when they are as browned as you’d like

Frozen Latkes in Air Fryer

Trader Joe’s frozen latkes cook up quite nicely this way, better than other methods in my opinion.

• You always want to preheat your machine for 5 minutes at 400 degrees F.
• Spray basket with non stick spray
• Lay them inside without overlapping
• Close drawer and cook at 400 f for about 9 minutes or until browned all the way around

How to save leftovers

You can save them for the next day, but they are better fresh of course. In order to avoid them getting damp and weird, set them on a paper towel and then inside a freezer bag. Lay flat in the fridge and reheat in the microwave or Cosori to crisp up again.