This is a recipe for truly crispy Potato Rosti that’s beautifully golden on the outside and fluffy on the inside. The secret is pan frying in the right fat! Butter = tasty but not crispy. Oil = crispy but flavourless. The Swiss cracked the code – use clarified butter (or ghee!). Buy it or make your own – it’s super easy!
Make one giant one as I do, though if you have the patience, you can make lots of smaller ones!
Potato Rosti
She who was labelled Potato Girl by her family when she was a mere teenager cannot comprehend how she’s made it through 6 years with a recipe website and not shared a rosti recipe.
At least, not “properly”. A variation of it is buried in this old Smoked Salmon Rosti Stack breakfast recipe.
But – onwards! It has arrived, ready to serve alongside your schnitzels, parmies, an epic standing rib roast or roast chicken!
Difference between potato rosti, hashbrowns and latkes
Broadly speaking, they are similar as they are all made with shredded potatoes that are pan fried until crispy. The other thing they all have in common is that I am a fan of all three.😍
However, there are subtle differences:
Rostis (or properly spelt rösti), which originate from Switzerland, typically are pan fried in a medium(ish) skillet then cut up to serve as a side dish for a meal;
Hash browns are usually individual size – think Macca’s hash browns – and served for breakfast; and
Latkes are also individual size but usually bound with some egg and flour, and because of these additions, they are not as crispy – unless you use basically deep fry them.
What you need for potato rosti
Here’s all you need to make Potato Rosti (I get salt and pepper for free!):
Potatoes
There’s no definitive rule about what type of potatoes to use, and there’s no need to get pedantic about it either! Floury potatoes will make the inside more fluffy, a bit like mashed potato, and waxy potatoes hold those lovely strands better, but still very soft and cooked through.
Both go nice and crispy, albeit waxy potatoes get a bit crispier. In all honesty, use whichever you prefer – I just use all-rounder floury potatoes to get the best of both worlds.
I use Sebago potatoes (Australia, the dirt brushed type) which is a great all rounder that leans towards floury. The equivalent in the US are Russets though Yukon Golds are excellent all-rounders, and in the UK – Maris Pipers, King Edward and Desirée;
Clarified butter or ghee (virtually the same thing)
This is for flavour and crispiness. Make your own (it’s cinch!) or buy it (Indian section of large Australian grocery stores, labelled Ghee). Your rosti won’t be crispy if you pan fry in ordinary butter because butter has water in it. And if you fry in oil, you will miss the buttery flavour!
The solution is clarified butter or ghee.
Ghee and clarified butter is simply pure butter fat, and they are virtually the same thing so they can be used interchangeably. They have a more intense butter flavour than ordinary butter and unlike regular butter, can be used for frying without burning.
What is it actually? Butter is made up of ~84% fat, and the rest is water and dairy (milk solids). For clarified butter and ghee, the water and milk solids are removed leaving pure butter fat which has a much higher smoke point (ever set off your smoke alarm with burning butter??🙋🏻♀️). You also won’t have the little dark brown/black flecks you get when cooking in butter for more than a few minutes, which are the burnt milk solids.
Clarified butter also makes the rosti crispier than using normal butter (because butter has some water content = bad for frying) and also has a more intense butter flavour.
Difference between ghee and clarified butter – While both are made the same way (ie simmering to remove water and milk solids), ghee is simmered a little longer which gives it a slightly nuttier flavour. Clarified butter is from Europe (classically used in French cooking) while ghee is used in Indian cooking (the secret to amazing curries!).
Best alternative: butter and oil combo. Just using butter gives a better flavour but won’t make it as crispy and you get little black bits from the burnt bits of butter. Just using oil doesn’t have as nice a flavour.
How to make Potato Rosti
If you’re staring at the giant rosti and already fretting about The Dreaded Flip – don’t! My trick is to use a wooden board with a handle or even a cutting board – just something with some protrusion that you can grip onto for the flip. Much easier than using a plate (says the girl who has lost more rosti than she cares to remember by attempting a plate flip 😩).
1. Grate the raw potatoes using a standard box grater. I like to do it lengthwise to get nice long strands – but it really doesn’t matter how long or short your strands are. There is no need to parboil – I find that makes the inside too much like mashed potato before the outside gets golden;
2. Squeeze out the excess liquid then transfer to a bowl. No need to be 100% thorough here, squeezing out every drop of water, because we actually need some of that water to help steam-cook the inside (otherwise it takes forever to cook through!). That’s why I just grab handfuls rather than using a tea towel which is more thorough.
However, squeezing out most of the water is necessary because otherwise all that water leeches down to the base of the pan as it cooks and it does eventually evaporate, but it takes longer and stops the base from getting really crispy.
Don’t worry if your potatoes go brown / reddish while sitting around. This is just from oxidation (reaction of potato to air) and it’s all bluster; it doesn’t mean the potato is off. Once you start cooking, it will change back to white;
3. Mix the potatoes with melted butter (or clarified butter, if that’s what you’re using), salt and pepper;
4. Scatter into skillet lightly, don’t pack it down tightly. We want FLUFFY on the inside! It will seem quite deep – around 3.5cm / 1.5″ – but it cooks down to 2cm / 4/5″.
Cook for 12 minutes on medium low to make the underside golden and for the inside to cook through and semi-adhere together. We don’t want mash – we just want the strands to cook through until soft and bond together enough to be sliceable without falling apart. This is the reason it’s best not to rinse the grated potato – because it removes much more starch than just squeezing out excess water. This results in “slippery” potato strands, rather than bonding together.
It takes longer than you think to become golden because residual water from the potato leeches out and that needs to evaporate – which also sort of “steam-cooks” the inside – before the underside goes golden and crispy.
Individual Rosti
If you’re making small ones, just place the potatoes into small rounds. Again, don’t pack them down – place the potato in the skillet, then use a rubber spatula to push the sides in to form rounds. Resist the temptation to use rings – those little pokey bits on the side get extra crispy!!
5. Flip! When the underside is golden (use a rubber spatula to peek), using a round wooden board with a handle or even a large rectangle cutting board (or plate, if you are a pro!) to cover the skillet then quickly turn to flip! Using a plate is a little more difficult because you don’t have anything to hold onto so you need to press the plate and skillet together very firmly and hold them together as you flip. It’s much easier to do that manoeuvre using something with a handle. Once I switched from a plate to a wooden board with a handle, I’ve never lost part of a rosti during The Flip! It’s also easier to slip the rosti back into the skillet if you use a board, rather than a plate with a ridge;
6. Lift the skillet off the board to reveal the golden underside. If at this stage, you realise it’s not as golden as you thought, just flip it back into the skillet and keep cooking;
7. Slide the rosti back in, uncooked side down and cook for a further 12 minutes or until you can slide a knife through the centre easily, with no resistance from uncooked potato; and
8. Slide the rosti onto a serving platter or cutting board. Cut into (large!) wedges and serve immediately!
How to make rosti super crispy
The crispiness of a rosti comes down to the amount of fat you use to cook it – and nothing more. Any type of potato cooked in plenty of fat will become very crispy – waxy or floury.
I use 4 tablespoons / 60g of clarified butter to cook my rosti and it makes it quite crispy on each side, but still fluffy on the inside. You will hear how crispy it is in the recipe video!!
However if you make thin small ones, they can be potato crisp-level crispy. As in, THIS crispy:
They are pretty much like potato crisps when they’re this thin!
So for those of you who rate crispiness very highly, this might beg the question – why would you make a large one instead of small ones?
Sheer practicality.
For small rostis, it takes up to 10 minutes per batch – 3 to 4 in a medium/large skillet. They will stay warm and crisp in the oven, but if you’re feeding a family of 4, that’s a LOT of batches you need to make, and the time quickly adds up.
On the other hand, one giant rosti takes 25 minutes to cook, and it’s low maintenance at that. So for me, it’s a no brainer – I always go the large format.
What to serve with rosti
The first thought for most people is Schnitzel – it’s a pub grub favourite here in Australia!
But actually, I find rosti to be a really handy starch side dish that’s cooked entirely on the stove when a centrepiece requiring exact cook times is hogging the oven. When I’ve invested in a precious prime rib, or I’ve been slaving for hours over the perfect Roast Turkey, or making the best ever Roast Chicken, I do not want to muck up oven temps by cramming the oven full of other stuff. Stay away from the oven, people!
So a grand potato side dish that’s made on the stove is a very handy recipe indeed, especially around the holiday season – Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter.
Of course, rosti also makes a wonderful addition to the breakfast table, whether in lieu of hash browns alongside bacon and eggs, or accompanying grander affairs like last week’s Eggs Benedict. Though that’s one ambitious breakfast spread, even I’ll freely admit! – Potato Girl x
Watch how to make it
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Crispy Potato Rosti
Ingredients
- 1kg/ 2 lb potatoes (skin on weight) – Aus: Sebago (dirt brushed), US: Yukon Gold, Russet, UK: Maris Piper, King Edwards (Note 1)
- 3/4 tsp salt , kosher/cooking salt (or 1/2 tsp table salt)
- 1/2 tsp finely ground black pepper
- 15g/ 1 tbsp clarified butter / ghee or normal butter , melted (Note 2)
Cooking:
- 60g/ 4 tbsp clarified butter / ghee , separated (sub half butter, half vegetable oil) (Note 2)
Instructions
Grate & squeeze:
- Peel then grate the potatoes using a box grater, trying to get nice long strands if you can.
- Grab handfuls of potato and squeeze out excess liquid, then place in bowl. This helps make the potato crispier (otherwise all that water has to steam out in the pan).
- Add butter, salt and pepper then toss. Don’t worry if your potatoes go brown/reddy – it’s still safe to eat, and turns white again when cooked.
Cook
- Melt half the clarified butter in a 26cm / 10.5" (or thereabouts) non-stick pan or skillet over medium low heat. Shallow non-stick pan with sloped sides is best for easy rosti removal.
- Place the potato in pan, but do not pack down. Use rubber spatula to tidy the edges, then lightly pat down to even surface.
- Cook first side: Cook 12 minutes until underside is very golden and crispy, lifting edge with rubber spatula to check. If by 8 minutes it is not going golden, increase heat.
- TIP: Insurance policy – If you didn't use a non stick pan, slide the rubber spatular underneath all the way to the middle and run it around, to be 100% sure nothing is stuck before attempting flip.
- Flip: Cover pan with a round wooden board with a handle (or anything similar with a handle, Note 3). Holding the handle of the board, flip quickly – and with confidence!
- Cook second side: Melt remaining clarified butter in the pan, then slide the rosti back in and cook for 12 minutes until golden crispy, and there is no resistance when a knife is inserted into the middle.
- Slide onto cutting board, cut into 4 or 6 wedges and serve immediately!
Small rosti
- Use 25g / 1 1/2 tbsp clarified butter for each batch, medium heat in a non stick pan. Place potato in rounds in a skillet, around 8cm / 3" wide, 1.5 – 2cm / 2/3" thick (without patting down). Cook 5 minutes until deep golden and crispy, flip, and cook another 5 minutes until done.
To hold / keep warm
- Transfer to rack set over tray in a 120°C/250°F oven until ready to serve.
Recipe Notes:
- Normal melted butter for mix into potato (just a touch helps disperse salt and pepper better, plus touch of extra flavour).
- Cooking: 15g / 1 tbsp butter + 1 tbsp vegetable oil for each side you cook.
Nutrition Information:
More great potato sides
Life of Dozer
Potato Girls’ Potato Boy.
Made this as part of Christmas breakfast this morning. Was so much easier to make than I expected! I kept it warm on a pizza baking tray (one with the big holes in it) in the oven whilst I cooked other things and it was beautiful and crispy when it came time to serving it. I also used a tea towel to wring out the juice and wrung out as much as I could… was super happy with the final result
It’s like a giant tatertot! Next time I’ll add additional seasonings. I’ve never really liked french fries, but I love tatertots and wedges probably because of the seasonings. This was far better than my potato wedges attempts, as my solar oven won’t get those crispy. I worried that the potato shreds wouldn’t fully cook, so I kept a lid partly on the pan for the 1st 5 minutes. It took longer to brown but it turned out good.
It’s like a giant tatertot! Next time I’ll add additional seasonings. I’ve never really liked french fries, but I love tatertots and wedges probably because of the seasonings. This was far better than my potato wedges attempts, as my solar oven won’t get those crispy.
After 60 years of cooking for my family, I am still learning from RTE! I made clarified butter to make rosti as per the recipe. We all enjoyed the potatoes, they came close to Swiss rosti! Thanks Nagi for all your recipes.
This recipe works well. Sure tastes better than the commercially packaged rosti which comes out oily and completely falls apart in the pan.
I’ve made it several times now. In that time I’ve tried various other rosti recipes and served more broken/burnt/underdone rostis than I care to admit, in pursuit of the rostis I remember my mum (who is not Swiss!) cooking in the 1980s.
My conclusions are:
1. There are all kinds of preferences when it comes to how fluffy/crispy/oily a rosti should be. Authenticity questions aside, knowing your preferences will let you adjust any recipe accordingly.
2. This recipe is the most reliable I’ve found, especially the tips on what oil to use and how to flip (we use a big round Ikea tray – way more forgiving than a dinner plate)
3. This recipe does tend to produce somewhat oily, al dente strands of potato in the centre of the rosti. I know from reading online rosti content that some people prefer it this way. But if you prefer a flufflier centre, coinsder very briefly parboiling your potatoes before grating them, or use less oil and cook the rosti for longer.
I just returned from a trip to Denmark and Sweden. I had Rosti while there. I loved the crispness but hated the buttery flavor… which is why (please don’t take it personally) I subbed olive oil for all of the fat.
Clarifying the butter was the longest step, but now I have plenty for next time. So easy – I ground some toasted fennel seeds with coarse salt and pepper for seasoning (I’m a fennel addict!) and made two generous rosti in my smallest frying pans – a compromise between the large and small and a perfect base for our meals. Easy and delicious, will make again (especially now I have ghee ready!)
I made this in a 12-inch cast iron skillet. Big mistake, because that beastie is a *nightmare* to flip! My husband flipped it onto our pizza stone and then we slid it right back into the skillet.
No need to add more ghee to this at the flip point. There was still plenty in the pan to crisp up the other side. I think the additional ghee would have helped my rösti. It was very crispy on both sides.
The trick of course, is that flip.
The ghee makes all the difference.
I also added smoked paprika to the potato mix in the bowl.
I never make rosti, but this morning I wanted to. I opened up the RTE home page and there it was, top of the page, the most recently posted recipe. It was a sign.
And very delicious.
wow, the precision, the attention for detail, and the result are outstanding ! i have been making rosti for years, and this recipe changed everything, i used waxy potatoes, ghee, the result is extraordinarily crispy 🙂
Just curious: can you salt the potatoes as you grate them to help them release all their water the same you would do with a zucchini or eggplant?
Recipe was well-written and super-easy to follow. Results were spot-on and a hit with the kiddos, whondoesn’t love crispy potatoes? 😋 Thank you!
This is a side dish that my family love, made few times now, great recipes as usual!
I’ve always wanted to try rosti, and once I took a bite of this recipe, I fell in love! I recommend.
That chunk that’s missing from your silicon spatula in the video… tinned tomatoes? Don’t ask me how I know.
Holidaying in Portugal from Canada. Airbnb not so well equipped as my kitchen at home, but managed to pull it off to my satisfaction. There is an Indian mini-mercado across the street and the purchase of ghee was worth it! The rostï ‘made’ our New Year brunch for two. Thank you. Done in my own kitchen it would be 5 stars for sure.
Need to mention that I have had several failed rosti attempts previously and this recipie is THE ONE!! THANKYOU
Thankyou, had a craving this morning for rosti & poached egg: just used one baking potato grated and some shredded left over cavelo nero, loads of seasoning butter and olive oil and it was delicious, signed straight up for recipie books, many thanks potato girl, I love your ethos & recipies.
Simple recipe, just what I needed, thanks