These potato pancakes have finely grated, raw potatoes and onion. It's a classic Ukrainian dish called Deruny. Our moms still make these deruny regularly.

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These aren’t the potato pancakes I posted earlier which used left-over mashed potatoes. These are finely grated, raw potatoes and onion. It’s a classic Ukrainian dish called Deruny. Our moms still make these regularly. This is actually Vadim’s post. He combined both our family recipes and it turned out perfect.

Ingredients for deruny:

  • 5 medium size potatoes (about 1.5 lb)
  • 1 onion
  • 1 egg
  • 3 Tbsp of all purpose flour
  • 1 Tbsp of sour cream
  • 1 tsp of salt and pepper to taste
  • oil (for frying)

Ingredients for deruny, Ukrainian potato pancakes on the table

How to Make Deruny:

1. Prep all the ingredients. Peel potatoes and onion.

Five peeled potatoes and a peeled onion on a wooden cutting board

2 .Take  big bowl,  grate potatoes and onion (on the star shaped grater), taking turns and mixing grated mixture. Onion juice will keep potatoes from browning:

Potatoes being grated into a bowl

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3. Add flour, egg, sour cream and mix it well, than add 1tsp of salt and some black pepper,  batter should be still liquid enough so you can easily ladle it:

Mixture for deruny, Ukrainian potato pancakes in a bowl

Potato mixture for deruny in a bowl

A bowl of potato pancake mixture in a bowl

4 .Warm up a skillet with 2-3 Tbsp of oil over medium/high heat. Add 1 heaping Tbsp of mixture at a time to the skillet fry on one side until golden brown in color, then flip to other side and fry for the same amount of time. Repeat the same procedure for the rest of the batter:

Potato pancakes being fried in a skillet

These potato pancakes have finely grated, raw potatoes and onion. It's a classic Ukrainian dish called Deruny. Our moms still make these deruny regularly.

5. Serve deruny warm, they are best with sour cream, enjoy.

Natasha's Kitchen Cookbook

Deruny - Ukrainian Potato Pancakes

5 from 46 votes
Author: Natasha of NatashasKitchen.com
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Total Time: 23 minutes

Ingredients 

Servings: 6 -8
  • 5 medium size potatoes, about 1.5 lb
  • 1 onion
  • 1 egg
  • 3 Tbsp of all purpose flour
  • 1 Tbsp of sour cream
  • 1 tsp of salt and pepper to taste
  • Cooking oil

Instructions

Prep all the ingredients:

  • Peel potatoes and onion:
  • Take big bowl, grate potatoes and onion (on the star shaped grater), taking turns and mixing grated mixture. Onion juice will keep potatoes from browning.
  • Add flour, egg, sour cream and mix it well, than add 1 tsp of salt and some black pepper, batter should be still liquid enough so you can easily ladle it.
  • Warm up a skillet with 2-3 Tbsp of cooking oil over medium/high heat. Add 1 heaping Tbsp of mixture at a time to the skillet fry on one side until golden brown in color, then flip to other side and fry for the same amount of time. Repeat the same procedure for the rest of the batter.

Serve deruny warm, they are best with sour cream, enjoy.

    Course: Breakfast
    Cuisine: Russian, Ukrainian
    Keyword: Deruny, Ukrainian Potato Pancakes
    Skill Level: Easy
    Cost to Make: $

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    Natasha Kravchuk

    Welcome to my kitchen! I am Natasha, the blogger behind Natasha's Kitchen (since 2009). My husband and I run this blog together and share only our best, family approved and tested recipes with YOU. Thanks for stopping by! We are so happy you're here.

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    Comments

    • Esther Okhrimchuk
      October 9, 2022

      Hello! I just made these and they came out amazing. I do have a question, am I able to freeze them after cooking them?

      Reply

      • Natasha's Kitchen
        October 9, 2022

        Thank you for sharing, Ether. I have always made the pancakes right away and finished them, haven’t tried freezing to advise.

        Reply

    • Jen SK
      April 3, 2022

      Hi Natasha! I would love to make these for our Passover seder to honor Ukraine. Do you know if matzo meal or matzo cake flour could work in place of the regular flour? Thank you!

      Reply

      • Natasha's Kitchen
        April 3, 2022

        Hi Jen, I honestly haven’t tested that to advise. If you do an experiment, please share with us how it goes.

        Reply

    • Erica Oliveira
      October 1, 2021

      Do you think I could grate all this the night before without it being a mushy yucky mess the next day?

      Reply

      • Natasha
        October 2, 2021

        Hi Erica, this is best made fresh or the potatoes can brown. It’s best to cook and reheat them if you wanted to make them ahead.

        Reply

    • Ulanda
      March 29, 2021

      Hi Natasha!
      What are these traditionally served with? What do you serve them with?

      Reply

      • Natasha's Kitchen
        March 29, 2021

        Hi there, this is usually best for breakfast and best served when warm with sour cream. You can also use it as a side dish for vegetables or meat as the main dish.

        Reply

    • Pam Howe
      March 12, 2021

      Ok just made this recipe and they are amazing. As I am Lithuanian it is similar in many ways to many recipes I make. I did cheat though as I bought a machine from Lithuania that grates the potatoes perfectly getting the right texter and saving many years of my knuckles being grated. LOL I think next time I may fry in the rendered fatback. Thank you was really awesome.

      Reply

      • Natashas Kitchen
        March 12, 2021

        That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review!

        Reply

    • Lisa
      December 9, 2020

      Hello, Natasha,
      I was wondering, what if I don’t peel the potatoes (they are organic, of course). Would this make a big difference? I’d hate to lose all the vitamins in the skin. Thank you.
      best,
      Lisa

      Reply

      • Natasha
        December 9, 2020

        Hi Lisa, I haven’t tried this with skin-on potatoes so I’m not sure how that would affect the texture. I imagine it might be more difficult to grate on the star grater of a box grater.

        Reply

        • Lisa
          December 9, 2020

          good point! Thank you!

          Reply

    • Anna Beisty
      September 19, 2020

      We have them but don’t add the egg. That’s the way my tato made the. Love them with tomato ketchup.

      Reply

      • Natashas Kitchen
        September 19, 2020

        Thank you for sharing that with me!

        Reply

    • Nataliya Zelenetska
      August 25, 2020

      Hi Natasha) I absolutely love all of your recipes. As far as deruny, I always grade potatoes in food processor! So much easier and less time consuming. Same consistency. I always put a pinch of baking soda, but will try w/o )) Maybe they will be crispier!

      Reply

      • Natashas Kitchen
        August 25, 2020

        That’s a great idea! Thank you for that tip Nataliya!

        Reply

    • Kirsten
      August 1, 2020

      We made your recipe based on servings 8-8. It ended up making 16 pancakes. In your nutrition information is it not clear what a serving size is. is it 100g or 500g of pancake. Can you please help.

      Reply

      • Natasha
        August 3, 2020

        Hi Kirsten, using a heaping Tbsp of the mixture, it should make about 18 pancakes. You can make them larger for fewer pancakes or smaller for more pancakes.

        Reply

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