Irish Boxty Pancakes recipe

For a delicious savoury pancake option, try this Irish boxty pancakes recipe. 

Boxty pancakes are a tasty Irish potato dish, made from a combination of mashed and grated potatoes that have been fried until crispy all over and soft on the inside. A staple in Irish cuisine since the 1700s, the final form of the boxty pancake resembles a hash brown. It's a pancake recipe that's so easy to pull together. It takes just six key store cupboard ingredients and under an hour of cooking time. While we've suggested buttermilk or natural yogurt in our recipe, you can experiment with different binding ingredients. Try butter or milk - to create exciting textures in your pancakes.

Ingredients

• 450g/1lb potatoes, peeled
• 4 spring onions, finely sliced
• 100g/4oz plain flour
• 5ml/1tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 large egg, separated
• 100ml/4 floz buttermilk or natural yogurt
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• A little oil for frying

Method

1. Cut the potatoes into even chunks then cook in a large pan of boiling salted water for 10-15mins or until tender. Drain well, return to the pan then mash until smooth. Stir in the spring onions and leave to cool - spreading them thinly on a plate makes this cool quicker.
2. Place the potatoes in a large bowl, sift over the flour, bicarbonate of soda, egg yolk and buttermilk, beat well and add plenty of salt and pepper. Whisk the egg white in a separate clean bowl, until it form stiff peaks, then fold into the potato mixture.
3. Heat a large non-stick frying pan until hot, drizzle a little oil over the centre and wipe around the pan with a piece of kitchen paper. Drop 3-4 spoonfuls of the mixture into the pan and cook over a medium heat for about 8 mins, turning once until golden - don’t cook over too high a heat or the outside will be golden before the centre is ready. Remove from the pan and keep warm.
4. Repeat to make about 16 pancakes in total. Serve hot with grilled bacon, tomato and fried eggs.

Top tips for making Boxty pancakes:

When frying your pancake, try a lower heat. Because this pancake recipe uses raw grated potato, it needs plenty of time to cook to ensure that the crispy outside and soft interior are done to perfection. If your heat is too high, your pancake will be crispy (or slightly burnt) on the outside and undercooked on the inside.

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Banana pancakes

American pancakes

Vegan pancakes