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Turnip and Potato Patties

Turnip and Potato Patties

Dad found this recipe for turnip and potato patties in an old (1985) issue of Gourmet magazine and made them the other night. They were terrific, not too turnipy. Sort of a cross between a pancake and a fritter.

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Turnip and Potato Patties

Ingredients

1/2 pound turnips, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch cubes (about 1 1/3 cups)
6 oz potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 1 cup)
2 1/2 Tbsp thinly sliced scallion greens
1 egg, beaten lightly
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Grapeseed oil, peanut oil, or canola oil (high smoke point vegetable oils)
Salt and pepper

Method

1 In a large saucepan of boiling salted water, cook the turnip and potato cubes for 15 to 17 minutes, until they are tender, and drain them. In a bowl, mash them with a fork and stir in the scallions, the egg, flour, and salt and pepper to taste.

2 Coat the bottom of a large, heavy bottomed skillet with about 1/4-inch of the oil. Heat the pan on medium high heat until the surface of the oil begins to shimmer, but not smoke. Spoon 1/4-cup mounds of the turnip potato batter into the pan, flattening them into 1/2-inch thick patties with the back of a spatula. Fry the patties until they are golden, turning them once, about 4 minutes on each side. Transfer the patties to paper towels to drain off excess oil.

Makes six patties.

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13 Comments

These sound really good. When we get sick of potato pancakes at Chanukah, we often experiment with different root vegetables instead. I'll have to give these a try next year.

Posted by: Lady Amalthea on March 21, 2006 12:31 AM

I have a silly, silly question.
When a recipe calls for sliced green onions/scallions, are you supposed to use the top where it's just thin and green, or lower where it has the inner white part?

Posted by: cvh on March 21, 2006 6:52 AM

These sound great. any suggestions for garnishes or dipping sauces?

Posted by: lucena on March 21, 2006 11:03 AM

Hi Lady Amalthea - they are indeed yummy. I could see doing this with any of the root veggies - parsnips, rutabagas, etc.

Hi cvh - When I cut the scallion greens, I start at the point in the scallion where the color changes from white to green. I then chop as long as the green ends are fresh and not dried out. Sometimes they get a little dicey towards their ends, so I don't use that part.

Hi Lucena - we ate these plain, but I think they would be great with some sour cream and a little chopped parsley.

Posted by: Elise on March 21, 2006 12:13 PM

These sound so very good. I think I might just blow the calorie count sky high today!

Posted by: Lauren on March 21, 2006 1:53 PM

This also sounds like a good veggie burger alternative...

Posted by: Coco on March 22, 2006 10:41 PM

Can it be made without turnips?

Posted by: Chef on April 9, 2006 10:42 AM

Hi Coco,

On St. Patrick's day we had them with cabbage and carrots.

Posted by: Irene Hahn on April 16, 2006 7:32 PM

I've never really cooked turnips before, but I just tried this recipe and the patties turned out nicely. I used cayenne pepper instead of black pepper to add some extra spice. Thanks for posting this recipe.

Posted by: jean on September 28, 2008 3:15 PM

I've never really cooked turnips before, but I just tried this recipe and the patties turned out nicely. I used cayenne pepper instead of black pepper to add some extra spice. Thanks for posting this recipe.

Posted by: jean on September 28, 2008 3:15 PM

These were surprisingly tasty! I'm no fan of turnips, but we got some in our CSA share and I hate to waste food, so I gave this recipe a whirl. We ate them with bratwurst and applesauce, and it was a nice autumnal meal. I had to up the flour a little to get them to hold together (although I may have used slightly more turnip and tater than called for, I didn't measure it out). Added some paprika and garlic powder, but otherwise didn't tinker with the recipe. They had a mild sweetness from the turnip, were crispy-on-the-outside-and-tender-on-the-inside, and were all around a hit. Will definitely make these again. Thanks, Elise!

Posted by: Nick on November 6, 2008 4:25 PM

I signed up for a CSA program this summer, and have been getting all sorts of fun veggies I've never tasted before. I found this recipe and thought "this will ease me into a new taste quite nicely!"

I was about halfway through frying up the patties when I finally realized that they didn't look quite like the picture on the recipe.

Um. For some strange reason, every time I read the word 'turnip' in the recipe, my brain replaced it with 'beet.' My patties were HOT PINK and very sweet. Not the best way to ease my way into a new taste, I think.

If I get beets again, I think I'll stick with borsht. And I'll have to try these guys again in turnip season!

Too funny! ~Elise

Posted by: Jeska on June 20, 2009 8:24 PM

These were really good. My mom smelled them and demanded the recipe so that she could tinker with them and make them gluten-free. I love creamy latke pancakes, and these are somewhat like those, but the root veggies add to the flavor. I wonder what it would taste like with parsnips rather than turnips? Mmmm... These are a tasty, filling (and budget-friendly) food...

Posted by: Kirsten on September 6, 2009 6:25 PM

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