Potato Rosti Recipe

Looking at a picture of a freshly cooked potato rosti, you can probably already tell it's something you very much want to eat. But what exactly is a potato rosti? In two words, it's comfort food if ever there was one. In a few more words, it's a perfect side for other dishes and the base of a great breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It's also a great way to cook using basic ingredients, and it's a food that will almost surely become a regular part of your household menu.

Chef and recipe developer Jennine Bryant of The Marshside Pantry says of these little potato pancakes: "Rosti pairings are endless! Growing up in Switzerland, I ate them a lot. I think that any sort of meat with a mushroom-based creamy sauce goes beautifully with rosti. Or, more simply it is often served with a fried egg on top and some combination of bacon, cheese, and mushrooms. We sometimes also have rosti for breakfast served with crème fraîche, smoked salmon, avocado, and chives. So many options!" You really can't go wrong in terms of how you enjoy them. As for how you prepare them, there are a couple of things to watch for, so make sure you read through the steps. Now let's cook!

That's right, you really do only need four ingredients to make potato rosti, and two of those ingredients are simply salt and pepper. The other two? Butter and waxy potatoes.

"Ah, okay but ... what are waxy potatoes?" you ask? Fine question and one with a simple answer: They are any type of potato that is relatively low in starch and has a higher moisture content. Examples are fingerling potatoes, new potatoes, and baby potatoes to name a few of the more common varieties.

Start off by peeling the potatoes. Then, using a grater, grate the potatoes into a bowl lined with muslin or a tea towel. (Or paper towels if need be, though the other options work better.)

Once all the potatoes have been grated, gather the top of the muslin or tea towel together, lift the grated potato slightly out of the bowl, and squeeze out as much of the excess water as possible. This will keep the rosti from becoming soggy. "If there is too much water in the rosti mix, the potatoes won't crisp up nicely," Bryant says.

Place the potatoes into a clean bowl, then season them with salt and pepper and mix in 1 tablespoon of melted butter. "The potatoes may start to turn brown during this time because the starch in them causes oxidization, but they are still totally fine to use," says Bryant.

Next, heat a non-stick frying pan to medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of melted butter to the pan, and then add ⅙ of the grated potato to make a single rosti. Make sure the potato is no more than about ½-inch thick and don't pat it down. Only cook two or three rosti in the pan at a time so that they aren't too crowded.

Cook each batch of rosti for 5 to 6 minutes until the bases are crispy and golden brown, then flip them over using a wide spatula and cook for another 5 minutes on the other side. Remove them from the pan and repeat the process by adding another tablespoon of melted butter and more of the grated potato. "If the pan is too hot the potato can burn instead of turning a nice golden brown," Bryant warns, so keep the heat manageable.

As you cook batches of rosti, keep any cooked rosti warm in the oven at 260 F until they are all cooked. As we have already discussed, there is almost no end to the great ways to serve potato rosti. One thing you do need to keep in mind is that they really are best served and enjoyed ASAP. 

"I think, like [fries] or roast potatoes, rosti is really best eaten fresh while the potato is still crisp and crunchy in all the right places," Bryant says. "It is possible to store cooked rosti in the fridge for a day or two, and it can be carefully reheated either in a pan or in the microwave or an oven, [but] they are definitely at their best when freshly cooked though!"