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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)
How to Make Deruny:
1. Prep all the ingredients. Peel potatoes and onion.
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:
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:
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:
5. Serve deruny warm, they are best with sour cream, enjoy.
Deruny - Ukrainian Potato Pancakes
Ingredients
- 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.
great how about potato sausage Lithuania Polish Slovak etc ????
Hi Joseph, I haven’t tried that product.
is lard same as pig fat ??? and need a recipe for potato kielbasa my mom made that for meatless Fridays. any one ?????
Hi Joesph, I answered this on your previous question, lard is 100% pork fat.
Joseph do you mean KISCHKA? Its a ring sausage, like a blood sausage? My mother would make it with barley and spices.
Hi Joseph, and that would be Vedarai (Lithuanian Potato Sausage).
I can’t thank you enough for posting some of your delicious Ukrainian recipes. My Mama passed away years ago and I sadly never learned to cook some of these family dishes. Your other recipes are absolutely wonderful. I have a separate binder of just Natasha’s Kitchen tried & true recipes.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart Solodka! ♥️
You are so welcome, Gayle. I’ll try to do more of those videos and I hope you love every recipe that you will try!
i seem to remember my mother used bacon somehow to make these. i dont know if she fried them in bacon fat or added bacon bits.ever hear of that?
Hi Walter. I think bacon works with this as a topping but I haven’t personally tried adding that in this recipe yet.
In Ukraine they fry these in melted salo (pig fat) but it is not bacon fat. Also some people add a pinch of baking soda. That causes them to rise a touch. I prefer no baking soda. I absolutely love derini. Lived in Ukraine for 11 years and was told by Ukrainians mine were better than theirs. Natasha’s recipe is exactly like mine
So nice to know that, thanks for sharing that with us Debra!
is lard same as pig fat ???
Yes, lard is 100% pork fat.
Great idea ,bacon is a topping by why not to add to a mix.Will add to mine right now.See ,it helps to read all off that, otherwise would never ever think of that
I bet it would be great mixed in also!
Could you use a food processor to prep the potatoes? Thanks!
Hi Luba, this should work great in a food processor.
Is there another condiment besides sour cream these could be served with? Like maybe some sort of gravy? Not a fan of sour cream as a condiment…TIA
Hi Shaena, I haven’t tested that with another sauce but I imagine with your idea that a nice gravy may pair well! If you experiment with one I would love to know how you like that.
When my dad became lactose intolerant, and had to cut out all dairy products, he would eat these with applesauce! Actually quite tasty.
Thank you so much for sharing that with us!
try apple sauce dats what my mom gave us back in da 50s and I still use it today.
applesauce is a traditional condiment for potato latkes which is this recipe without sour cream. I personally love sour cream so will be adding it to my recipe as this one reads.
I hope you love this recipe Denise!
I use a mushroom sauce with mine. Also in Ukraine, they serve derini in a small pot of meat with a gravy. They are to die for.
Apple sauce
Shaena, they are also served with apple sauce
Hi Natasha!!! I love ALL of your recipes. You are my favorite! Could this recipe be made using store bought shredded potatoes? (I know fresh is always better, but sometimes time is a factor) My grocer sells grated potatoes in the refrigerator section. They’re not frozen. Your potato/onion mixture looks slightly wet so I’m wondering if it has to be freshly grated? Or will the grated onion add the appropriate moisture? Thanks! I’m cooking my way through ALL of your recipes.
Hi Janna, this really needs to be grated either on the star grater or blended in the food processor or blender to get the right consistency or they will be more like fritters than deruny.
Thanks so much! I think I’ll try the blender method and then try grating them another time and see how they differ. Can’t wait to try these!
You’re very welcome!
Hi there ,I think people seeing this mixture get in their mind a grated potato like only on the large end of grater like on some potato pancake recipes ,how ever yours is like a batter like a pancake batter ,,,,good job did some this AM. dotted with a diced sweet pepper added before flipping do you use a russet potato ??
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
I cooked this and it tastes great
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Sasha! Thank you for the great review!
Hi! I made these and they were the BEST. Also, I am planning to start a little Ukrainian restaurant, how many other Ukrainian recipes do you have?
P.s. the deruny was DELICIOUS.
Hello Natasha! I love Ukrainian cooking and am happy to say that I have been fortunate enough to try it in country. I am wondering a few things, I have seen mushrooms put into the pancakes before, how does adding things like that into it affect the recipe? Also, are you familiar with a mushroom sauce that is sometimes served with them as well? Thank you and I am excited to make some of my own at home!
Hi Trisha, I haven’t seen mushrooms put into the batter, but you could probably use them in a filling. Here is the same recipe except with a filling. I’m not sure about the mushroom sauce. We have several mushroom gravy recipes that would work but not sure if that is what you are looking for.
hello natasha, is there any way to make them ahead of time? maybe the night before?
Hi Emilie, with this recipe, they are really best fresh. You can reheat leftover pancakes on a skillet the next day but the mixture is best used/cooked after it is prepared.
thisis something for you:
https://www.amazon.com/Electric-Potato-Grater/dp/B004JK8TLO/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1507897659&sr=8-6&keywords=potato+grater
expensive however… it’s on my wish list:)
Is there a easier way to grate the potatoes?
Hi Lena, You might also try a blender to do the pureeing of the potato – it results in a slightly different consistency of the pancakes but we love it when we are pressed for time.
Natasha, because I live in Australia, some of the terms you use is American. We call a skillet a frypan and all-purpose flour is just plain flour. Also, I use self raising flour instead of plain flour with some extra condiments and even Russian people have praised my potato pancakes! Do you have a recipe for borscht? Thank you!
Lucie, thank you for sharing that with me and yes I have multiple borsch recipes that you can find here.
I made these the other day. After grating one potato on the star side of the grater, I gave up. It was way too time consuming and difficult to do. I instead grated it on the small grate side and I found the pancakes turned out just as well!
I did not have an onion at the time and just added a very tiny dash of onion powder for the flavour and it turned out well.
I also did not have sour cream and used a plain greek yogurt instead and it turned out very well. My husband and I ate them all at once 🙂 I used extra plain greek yogurt as a topping for mine and it was great!
Hi Faye, I love the idea of serving with Greek yogurt. You might also try a blender to do the pureeing of the potato – it results in a slightly different consistency of the pancakes but we love it when we are pressed for time.
These came out delicious! Thank you!
You’re welcome! I’m happy to hear you enjoy the recipe!
Are these supposed to be soft or crisp inside. First time makin them for a friend.
Hi Penny, they should be soft but not mushy inside and crisp on the outside but they do soften on the outside a little as they sit and cool. I hope you love them!
This is such a delicious deryni recipe. I just finished frying 2 batches and it’s already almost gone. My husband couldn’t resist, kept on eating them.
A regular deryni recipe is just potatoes, salt, and flour. The egg, onion, and sour cream in this recipe definitely makes it much yummier deryni. Thanks Natasha 🙂
I’m so happy to hear that!! Thanks for sharing your great review 🙂
Hi Natasha,
Great recipe, one question: sour cream is smetana?
Thanks,
Ser
You are correct Sergiy 😄.
Instead of grating the potatoes and onions on a grater you can throw them into a blender in the food puree option and puree it and than add in the rest of ingredients. I scoop right from blender unto the pan. Turns out perfect and takes like a min to puree.
I’ve tried that before also and it is great when you’re in a hurry. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
thanks for the instructions I am from Ukraine.
You’re welcome! I hope you enjoy them 🙂