Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my privacy policy.
These gluten free potato pancakes are crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and incredibly delicious! They are made with a combination of raw shredded potatoes, mashed potatoes, and almond flour, and are seasoned with scallions and butter. If you use ghee in this recipe, these become Whole30 potato pancakes.
I absolutely love these potato pancakes. They are inspired by the Irish boxty that I ate when I lived in Ireland. Irish boxty is a traditional Irish potato pancake and they are SO good. My recipe is naturally gluten free, since it is made with almond flour and tapioca flour instead of all purpose flour. But it is just as good as the traditional recipes.
I am planning on making these potato pancakes for St. Patrick’s day, along with my dairy free Irish cream liqueur and my lamb shepherd’s pie.
These potato pancakes can be made any time of year, though. They make for a wonderful side dish and are incredibly filling. They taste great with eggs, sausage and smoked salmon. Oh and they also taste amazing with some greek yogurt on top. YUM.
Table of Contents
Why you’ll love this recipe
- You only need a handful of simple ingredients to make these healthy potato pancakes.
- They have so much flavor and are a wonderful side dish.
- They are soft on the inside and crispy on the outside.
- This recipe is Gluten free, grain free, and Paleo. To make them Whole30 compliant, use Ghee instead of butter. These can also easily be made dairy free by using non dairy butter.
- You can eat these potato pancakes for breakfast, lunch, dinner or as a snack.
Recipe Ingredients
- potatoes– gold potatoes or russet potatoes work well here.
- grass-fed butter– any good quality grass-fed butter works. I like using Kerry gold.
- almond milk– or any type of milk that works for you and your dietary needs.
- eggs– these help bind the pancakes together.
- green onions/ scallions- also called pencil onions, you’ll be using the white and green parts of the onion.
- garlic powder– this seasons the pancakes.
- almond flour– this is used as an all purpose flour replacement.
- tapioca flour- this helps thicken the batter.
- baking soda– this lightens the texture of the batter.
- avocado oil– this is used to fry the pancakes in.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Additions/ Substitutions
- If you want this recipe to be dairy free, you can use Vegan butter instead of grass-fed butter.
- If you want this recipe to be Whole30 compliant, you can use ghee instead of butter.
- Instead of green onions, you can use onion powder.
- Instead of tapioca flour, you can use arrowroot powder.
- Instead of almond milk, you can use regular milk ( though this will no longer be Whole30 compliant or Paleo), or any non-dairy milk of choice.
Step by step instructions
Step 1: Slice and boil half of the potatoes.
Step 2: Grate the other half of the potatoes. Mix the shredded potatoes with salt and place in a sieve to drain the excess liquid from the potatoes.
Step 3: Throw away the leftover potato water.
Step 4: Mix together the almond flour, tapioca flour, baking soda, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Set it aside.
Step 5: Mash together the boiled potatoes with butter and almond milk.
Step 6: Add the garlic powder, eggs, and scallions to the mashed potatoes and mix.
Step 7: Add the almond flour mixture to the mashed potatoes and mix.
Step 8: Dry the shredded potatoes with a paper towel and then stir them into the mashed potato mixture.
Step 9: Cook the potato pancakes in a frying pan with avocado oil and butter. Cook for about 3 minutes a side.
Step 10: After a few minutes, flip them.
Step 11: Place freshly cooked potato pancakes on a paper towel.
Recipe FAQs
Normally no, because all purpose flour is used, but this recipe is gluten free because almond flour and tapioca flour are used in the batter.
You can serve them with a protein, like sausage, eggs, or salmon. You can serve them as is with greek yogurt on top. You can also add apple jelly on top.
Yes! To do this, freeze them on a sheet pan in a single layer. Then once frozen, place them in a freezer bag.
Note: This recipe is adapted from the Traditional Irish Boxty Recipe from Fusion Craftiness. I relied on her tips and techniques and tweaked the recipe to make it gluten free.
More healthy potato recipes you’ll love
If potato snacks are your thing, ( how can they not be?!), I highly suggest checking out these Gluten-Free Croquetas from Eat at Our Table.
If you like ranch dressing, I check out this Dill Ranch Potato Salad with Avocado and Eggs.
These Dairy-free Scalloped Potatoes have an amazing texture and taste.
Did you try this recipe? Please leave me a ⭐ review below!
Gluten free Potato Pancakes (Whole30 option)
Ingredients
- 3 lbs gold potatoes
- 5 Tablespoons grassfed butter, divided ( note: use ghee for Whole30)
- 1 cup almond milk
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 cup sliced green onions/ pencil onions, ( about 5 pencil onions, including the green parts)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 2 Tablespoons tapioca flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 Tablespoons avocado oil, (and a little extra for cooking multiple batches)
Instructions
- Divide the raw potatoes in half. Slice half the potatoes into 3/4 inch slices. Put the sliced potatoes into a large pan filled with water. Boil the water and cook the potatoes until fork tender, about 20-25 minutes.
- Take the other half of the potatoes and grate/shred them using a grater. Put the shredded potatoes into a sieve/colander and place over a bowl or in the sink. Add 1 tsp of salt to the grated potatoes, mix, and then and let the potatoes rest for 15-20 mins. During this time, excess moisture will drain out. Then, throw away the potato water, and pat down the shredded potatoes with a paper towel. Set aside.
- While the potatoes boil, add 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1/2 cup almond flour, 2 Tablespoons tapioca flour, and 1/4 teaspoon baking soda to a medium bowl and mix with a fork until combined.
- Drain the boiled potatoes, and then put them into a large bowl. Add 4 Tablespoons of butter or ghee and the almond milk to bowl, and mash with a potato masher. Then, add the eggs, garlic powder, and sliced green onions and mash into the potatoes. Add the flour mixture and mix. Add the shredded potatoes and stir.
- In a large frying pan, heat 2 Tablespoons of oil and 1 Tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat. Using a ½ cup measuring cup, scoop the batter and pour into the pan. Pat down to flatten a little.
- Cook each side of the potato pancake until golden brown. For me this was 3.5-minutes on each side for my first batch and 2.5 minutes on each side for the second batch. ( You may need to add more oil and butter to the pan in between batches). ( You may also need to reduce the heat to medium if the pan gets too hot).
- Place the cooked potato pancakes onto plates covered in paper towels.
- This recipe yields 12-14 potato pancakes.
Notes
- If you want this recipe to be dairy free, you can use Vegan butter instead of grass-fed butter.
- If you want this recipe to be Whole30 compliant, you can use ghee instead of butter.
- Instead of green onions, you can use onion powder.
- Instead of tapioca flour, you can use arrowroot powder.
- Instead of almond milk, you can use regular milk ( though this will no longer be Whole30 compliant or Paleo), or any non-dairy milk of choice.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
How do these freeze and reheat ? Â
I haven’t done it myself, but I think it would work great. Once they are cooked, let them cool. Then place them in the freezer separated by parchment paper. Then when you need to reheat them, bake them at 400ºF for 10-15 minutes.
Hi. First time here. When I googled for a gluten free, dairy free potato pancake recipe -yours came up. (I can eat ghee so I didn’t have to make any substitutions.) I’ve been gf, df for many years so  I knew immediately it would be terrific. And it was! Made  it the same day. It was all I imagined it would be. I added a few fresh garden chives. So delicious. Thank you!
I’m so glad!! And especially delicious with chives from the garden. Enjoy!!
I’m going to make these tonight. Did you peel the potatoes before boiling or shredding?
I didn’t peel them! lol
These were amazingly good. I definitely had to add more oil/ghee each batch. I had to move the plate away from myself because I kept cracking off pieces!
Haha they are pretty addicting! So glad you enjoyed them!
What is the purpose of the tapioca flour? I can’t buy that where I live, can I leave it out or substitute with something else?
I used it as a thickener and binder to replace the cornstarch that was used in the recipe that inspired this one. Do you have access to arrowroot flour? I haven’t tried making this without it but I don’t think it would make that big of a difference to leave it out.
If I use arrowroot flour or cornstarch instead of tapioca flour- is the ratio the same? Can’t wait to try this recipe. Thanks.
The ratio should be the same for both arrowroot flour and tapioca flour. I’m not sure about cornstarch, but I think it should be similar. Let me know if you try it! 🙂
Absolutely love potato pancakes. And these look amazing!
Thank you!
It’s been ages since I’ve had potato pancakes. This is just the inspiration I need to make them again!
🙂 🙂 🙂
I love potato pancakes! I like that you use a mixture of potato textures…I’ve never thought about doing that before. I’m pinning this one to make soon!
It makes for a great texture. 🙂
I love crispy potatoes. These savory pancakes would make a great side dish or appetizer.
Agreed!