Beet Latkes with Horseradish Crème Fraîche ~ a delicious and vibrant riff on classic potato latkes that will have everyone begging for seconds! These ruby red beet fritters are fabulous!
beet latkes are a brilliant twist on traditional potato latkes
I don’t know, maybe the idea of beet latkes is going to be a hard sell for some of you out there. But if you’ve already made it to the second sentence of this post, you may as well stick around and see what’s up, I think you’ll be happy you did. For me it’s not the holidays without at least one batch of classic potato pancakes, and bright ruby red beets make a colorful and delicious twist on that tradition.
what you’ll need for beet latkes
- beets
- eggs
- flour
- fresh chives and dill
- salt and pepper
- vegetable oil for frying
- crème fraîche
- prepared horseradish
I originally envisioned a rainbow of root vegetables, from rutabaga and turnip, to all shades of beets, but I quickly realized that was a tad too ambitious. That’s ok, though, the color and flavor of red beets is perfect for these fritters, they turned out great. The first crispy bite is reminiscent of a classic potato latke, but then the flavor of the tender beets comes through, and the horseradish crème fraîche adds the perfect zippy touch at the end.
let’s make them!
I tossed in some fresh chive and dill with the shredded beets, and then added the requisite egg and flour to make the simple fritter recipe. When you drop the little ruby red piles into the hot oil you should hear an immediate sizzle, that tells you the oil is hot enough to give you the crispy crust that distinguishes a good latke from a soggy one.
- Shred your beets. I like to do this with the shredding disk in my food processor, but a good old box grater will work fine.
- Toss them with a little beaten egg, flour, and seasonings.
- Scoop up little piles and plop down into hot oil.
- Flatten the latkes slightly so they will get nice and crispy.
- Fry until golden and crisp on one side, then flip and do the same on the other side.
- Enjoy!
The shredded beets cook in the time it takes both sides to brown, about a couple of minutes or so per side. The zesty sauce for these beet latkes can be stirred together while the latkes fry.
Tip ~ You can keep the latkes warm in a 300F oven while you finish cooking the rest of the batch. You can also reheat them that way.
Beet Latkes
Ingredients
- 3 medium beets, peeled and shredded (about 2 1/2 cups)
- 2 large eggs
- 3 Tbsp all purpose four
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp fresh cracked pepper
- palmful of snipped fresh chives
- palmful of dill leaves, rough chopped
- vegetable oil for frying
for the dipping sauce
- 1/3 cup crème fraîche
- 2 Tbsp creamed horseradish
Instructions
- Peel the beets and shred them. You can use a box grater, or a food processor. Pat them dry with paper towels.
- Beat the eggs in a bowl, and add the beets, flour, salt, pepper and the herbs. Toss everything to combine well.
- Heat about 1/4 inch of oil in a frying pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, drop heaping tablespoonfuls of the beets into the pan, flattening them out into little patties. Fry until golden on each side, about 2 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels.
- Stir together the horseradish and the crème fraîche to make the sauce. Serve the latkes hot with the sauce on the side.
Nutrition
Make it your own ~
- For other variations on the classic potato latke, try my SWEET ONION LATKES and my ZUCCHINI LATKES.
Is their any way to make these Vegan?
Try using yogurt in place of the creme fraiche, and maybe flax eggs for the eggs?
These look delicious! Do you think you could make these ahead and freeze them? If you think you could, would you freeze before or after frying them?
I think that should work, Kelly, and I think you would freeze them after cooking, because they’re very loose before they’re cooked.
i am in! no hard sell needed: i love beets, and am willing to try them in any application. i feel like in latkes, it’s a no-brainer; i’d love them, especially with the bit of horseradish to go along with. Happy holidays to you, Sue!
anything with beetroot works for me, these look divine and such an interesting taste.. bet they’d be lovely with smoked salmon!
Who else could make beets look so gorgeous? These look amazing. I’m with my whole family in England, I think I’ll surprise them one evening with these fabulous latkes one evening. They’re so very festive!
Wow – this is so creative and beautiful! I can’t imagine how tasty the beets are after being lightly fried. How interesting. Hope you have a wonderful, blessed Christmas Sue – and a very Happy New Year!
Thanks Tricia— they are so beautiful, aren’t they? I wanted to make golden and pink beet latkes, too, but couldn’t find them in my store.
Have a wonderful holiday!