Swiss Rosti Recipe
- Details
- September 05
This Swiss rosti recipe is a great one for making potatoes in a bit of a different way. Potato pancakes are common all around the world, but the Swiss have a bit of a special technique.
Phil and I spent 2 very nice days in Basel, Switzerland. When we arrived, there was a marathon happening in town so we got to watch the runners finishing across a bridge spanning the Reine. We found a cool water feature, which is shown at the beginning of the video.
Swiss cuisine uses a lot of cheese, dairy, eggs and meat - very heavy, warming foods for the cold winters in the Alps. Vegetarians can get by pretty easily, but vegans might have a bit more difficulty.
One dish that is found all over Switzerland is rosti - grated potato pancakes, similar to latkes or hash browns. They might eat these for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The base of most Swiss rosti is butter, so be careful if ordering in a restaurant.
I made these in our fantastic YMCA hostel, so I used a bit of the shared olive oil instead. If you have it, coconut oil would be wonderful too.
The Swiss will make variations of flavors in their rosti, so try different things out if you like. One of the more common additions is bacon, but try adding some different herbs and/or a bit of grated carrot, beet or zucchini to change it up.
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Time from start to eating: 30 minutes
Makes 4-6 rosti
Swiss Rosti Ingredients
- 6 small potatoes
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 Tbsp olive or coconut oil
- pinch sea salt
Swiss Rosti Directions
- Scrub the potatoes and cut off any eyes or rough bits. Put them in a pot of boiling water and cook until they are just soft enough to spear with a fork. Drain them and cool them completely, using cold water or putting them in the fridge.
- Once they are fully cool, grate the cooked potatoes into a large bowl. Add the diced onion, a teaspoon or two of olive oil, salt and any other seasonings if you want them. Stir this together.
- Heat a pan to medium, add a bit of oil and place half of the potato mix into the pan. Press it out into a round pancake and leave it to cook for 5-10 minutes, until it is lightly browned on the underside. Flip the rosti and cook on the other side another 5-10 minutes.
- When it's done, remove the pan from the heat and slide the Swiss rosti onto a plate. Cut it into slices and serve. It's fantastic along with a green salad and some chopped tomatoes, or with lots of other light veggie healthy vegan recipes.
