Cheesy, crispy feta potato rösti with caramelized onions (gluten-free, vegetarian)

Faster and more forgiving than fries and less fussy when it comes to nailing a crispy, deep golden brown, pan-fried, potato rösti are one of my favorite potato dishes.

Although not traditional, this recipe adds briny feta and oregano into the shredded potato mixture, and is topped with a scattering of caramelized onions and garlicky sour cream.

Savory is my preferred breakfast, but for sweeter mornings, try this lemon ricotta corn pancakes recipe.

Table of contents

• Why this recipe works
• Ingredient notes
• Step-by-step instructions (with photos and GIFs)
• Tips for making this recipe
• FAQs
• Recipe card

Why this recipe works

The base of a potato rösti is made with just a few pantry ingredients. Potatoes that are probably halfway to sprouted, oil, and salt. Shallow fry over medium and–BAM! Presenting a simple, plain potato rösti.

That’s great and if you prefer that, do that. But this recipe bumps it up a notch with the addition of feta, caramelized onions, and garlicky sour cream (totally optional, but highly recommended). Röstis by nature sit heavy. After all, they were traditionally served as breakfast for Swiss farmers, who needed hearty meals that would keep them full. The addition of acidic sour cream and feta as well as the hot, pungent bite of raw garlic work together to brighten up the bland heaviness of potato and cut the oil. The caramelized onions add a fun, natural sweetness.

Flavor aside, technique to the forefront:

• Ensuring the shredded potato is as dry as possible by first squeezing as much liquid out as possible, then drying it between kitchen towels sets the rösti up for a crisp exterior.
• Sandwiching the feta between two layers of potato in the middle of the potato pancake ensures that the cheese doesn’t stick to the pan.
• Using ghee allows you to get crispier exterior since the temperature at which ghee burns is higher than plain butter and extra-virgin olive oil. 😋

Ingredient notes

Potato

I tested both Yukon Gold and Russet potatoes and liked both the texture and taste of the Russet potatoes more. Because Russet potatoes are higher in starch than Yukon Gold, they’ll stick together more easily than Yukon Gold and they’ll crisp up more for a more aggressively crunchy exterior. Resist the urge to rinse the shredded potato in cold water after you shred them: you’ll need the starch content to hold everything together and get the potato pancake crisp.

Feta

I love feta. I put it in my eggs, in my mashed potatoes, all over my pasta (depending on the sauce), and sprinkled over my shakshuka. I eat it on the side with breakfast. I always have about a pound of feta in brine in my refrigerator, ready and waiting.

Obviously I put feta in these rostis. I love the briny, acidic, intensely salty flavor, but not everyone likes the funkiness of sheep and/or sheep and goat milk cheeses. Feel free to omit it or substitute it with another crumbly or shredded cheese. Just make sure to sandwich it in the middle of the rosti to avoid the cheese sticking to the pan!

Ghee

This is the secret to a crispy rosti. Because of this, there isn’t a substitute for ghee. I call for ghee here to shallow fry the rösti in because ghee has a high smoke point (that is, the temperature at which an oil or fat begins to smoke and burn) of up to 450°F. Compare this to a smoke point of the extra-virgin olive oil (325-375°F), and butter and coconut oil (350°F), which I typically have stocked in my pantry (thank you, Serious Eats, for your expertise on smoke points!).

Because ghee has such a high smoke point, you can fry your rosti away without worrying about nasty burning and bitter brown bits in the same way you would if you were using butter or olive oil.

Theoretically, you could use an oil with a similar smoke point to ghee such as corn, peanut, light/refined olive oil, etc. but I haven’t tested this recipe with any of those other oils.

Step-by-step instructions (with photos and GIFs)

Slice the onions. Sauté them for 20 to 30 minutes, until the onions are sweet and caramelized.

Wash, peel (or don’t peel if you prefer), and grate your potatoes. Then place the shredded potato into a nut milk bag, cheesecloth, or thin kitchen towel and squeeze as much water out as possible.

Sandwich the shredded potato between two clean dish towels.

Roll everything up.

Then twist to wring out as much potato liquid out as possible.

Place the shredded potato into a bowl. Add oregano, salt, and ghee and mix to combine.

Spoon half the potato into a cast-iron or heavy-bottom skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle feta into the middle. Cover the feta with the other half of the shredded potato in, building a slight mound in the middle.

Cook for 10 minutes. Next comes the flip! Unstick your rösti if he’s a little stuck…

…then give your rösti a flip with a plate.

Tips for making this recipe

Resist the urge to rinse the potato after shredding

Don’t rinse the potato after shredding it. We want to keep as much starch as possible because the starch is what’s going to bind the shredded potato together and keep it from falling apart.

Dry the shredded potato for maximum crunch

The shredded potato should be as dry as possible for maximum crispy, crunch exterior. If your shredded potato is too wet, the rösti will steam into something between mashed potatoes and sad hash browns instead of crisp up. This is the reason why you should squeeze as much water as you can muscle out of the shredded potatoes and then follow up with further ringing the shredded potato between two clean kitchen towels. Trust me: the effort is worth it.

Use cast iron for a deeper, crunchier crust.

Use cast iron if you can.

Sandwich the cheese

During development, I tried mixing the feta in. It melted and stuck to the pan and I tore the rösti trying to unstick it. Nightmare. Sandwiching the cheese between two layers of shredded potato to prevent the rösti from sticking! Sandwiching keeps the cheese from direct contact with the pan. Whatever cheese you use, try to keep it as in the middle of the rösti as possible to make flipping and clean up easier.

Don't fuss with the shredded potato when it's cooking

Once the potato is in the frying away, leave it be! If you let the potato and ghee do their things, you'll be rewarded with an evenly browned, crispy surface. Moving the shredded potato around, especially at the start of cooking, won't give the shredded potato directly on the pan the chance to properly crisp up, and won't give the other shredded potato the chance to bond together and stick.

FAQs

What are the origins of potato rösti?

Rösti is a Swiss-Germanic dish. Originally rösti was eaten by farmers, but is now eaten worldwide.

What do you serve rösti with?

Keep it simple and eat it plain. Smother it in sour cream or Greek yogurt. Scatter sweet caramelized onions over the top. Top it with a sunny-side up egg and bacon on the side. Serve it with Salisbury steak instead of mashed potatoes. Add a vinegary side salad. Throw some French ham or smoked salmon on it. One of the joys of cooking is making and serving a dish to your tastes. The world is your oyster.

What's the difference between latke, potato galettes, pommes dauphine, hash brown, and potato rösti?

Latke usually include binding ingredients such as eggs, and flour or matzo meal. Rösti does not.

Potato galette are typically made with sliced potatoes. Rösti are made with grated.

I haven't been able to find anything explaining the difference between hash browns, pommes dauphine, and rösti. All three consist of shredded or julienned potato, and are typically made without binding ingredients. More traditionally though, the potatoes in rösti are parboiled before they are shredded. I have yet to find a hash brown or pommes dauphine recipe that calls for parboiled potatoes.

Why are my raw shredded potatoes pink or red?