How to Make Potato Rösti  | Mum In The Madhouse

How to Make Potato Rösti 

We really love Potato Rösti and it is something we always order from Bettys which is a local institution that is a Yorkshire/Swiss tearoom that serves amazing food. I always assumed that there was some magical ingredient involved in addition to potatoes to make potato rosti and they would be hard to make, but I was wrong. Once you follow a few simple tips, this potato rösti will be easy to make.

Potato Rösti on a white plate

I have recently had to go through a pretty restrictive diet which meant thoroughly checking what I eat, so I looked into what the ingredients were and believe it other than grated potatoes and salt the only other ingredients were the butter or oil to cook it in. This was a revelation for me and I love that I have found an alternative way to cook a familiar food that we all love as a family.

Rösti is the classic hiking food in Switzerland, a traditional dish of fried grated potatoes often topped with a fried egg, bacon and/or cheese. You’ll find this hearty meal served at many mountain huts and restaurants both in summer and winter.

Potato Rösti in a frying pan
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The Best Potatoes for Rösti

Personally, I feel the best potatoes for Rösti are general all-purpose ones like Maris Piper, Russets or Yukon Golds. Neither waxy or flowery. In fact in Switzerland, they call them rosti potatoes!

To parboil or not?

Now on to the next issue, do you parboil them? I am a busy mum of two and I have no time to parboil and cool my spuds before frying them, so nope I cook mine from raw!

My Secret to Delicious Rösti

My Secret to golden Rösti’s is the fact that I cook them in Ghee (which is like clarified butter), so you get the delicious buttery taste but also a crispy golden brown outside without burning them. Ghee is super easy to make from a block of butter, in fact, all you need to do is simmer it for 20 minutes and sieve it. I use it a lot as it has a much higher smoking point and you get the butter flavour without the burnt black bits (which are the dairy part of butter).

How to Make Potato Rösti 

You start by peeling and grating your potatoes into a bowl. I allow 300 to 400 grams per person and prefer to cook in a smaller frying pan (I use an 8 inch pan). You can use a box grater for your potatoes, however, I am really lazy and use my food processor as it whizzes through the work in possibly a tenth of the time it would take me to hand grate it. I have a 20 odd-year-old Magimix. I love it, it was expensive, but the cost per use has obviously been minimal and it is a real workhorse.

Once grated I then squeeze out most of the excess liquid. I don’t use the tea towel method as I want to retain some of the moisture as it helps cook the potatoes in the inside of the rösti. Then I will cover the potatoes until I need them. Sometimes they will oxidise and change colour (slightly red or purple) but as soon as you cook them that disappears.

grated potato

Before cooking the rösti then I add my salt and ghee before adding to a warmed frying pan. I like to add around 3cm of grated potato and compress it slightly during the cooking process with a spatula. You don’t want to press it too hard as you want to retain the texture. Fo me the cooking takes around 25 minutes in total, so around 12 mins each side on medium heat. I cook on medium-high heat for the last couple of minutes on each side to give a lovely golden finish to the rösti.

When it comes to flipping the rösti I use a wooden chopping or cutting board larger than my pan and place it on top and then flip it over before sliding it back into the frying pan. I really think a good non stick frying or skillet pan is essential for sliding out your rösti in one piece. If you are making more than one rösti you can keep it warm in the oven but it will lose some of the crispness.

What to serve with rösti

My family love theirs served with bacon and egg (the more eggs the better) for brunch! But basically, you can serve it anywhere you would usually serve potatoes. They work really well with steak or salmon. Some people add onion or chives into their rösti but we prefer plain. They make the perfect side to our Chicken Parmesan.

Potato Rösti

Swiss Potato Dish

Course Breakfast, Main
Cuisine Swiss
Keyword potatoes
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

  • 300/400 grams Potato per person
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 2 tblesp Ghee

Instructions

  1. Start by peeling and grating your potatoes into a bowl. I allow 300 to 400 grams per person and prefer to cook in a smaller frying pan (I use an 8 inch pan). You can use a box grater for your potatoes, however, I am really lazy and use my food processor as it whizzes through the work in possibly a tenth of the time it would take me to hand grate it.
  2. Once grated I then squeeze out most of the excess liquid. I don’t use the tea towel method as I want to retain some of the moisture as it helps cook the potatoes in the inside of the rösti. Then I will cover the potatoes until I need them. Sometimes they will oxidise and change colour (slightly red or purple) but as soon as you cook them that disappears.
  3. Before cooking the rösti then I add my salt and ghee before adding to a warmed frying pan. I like to add around 3cm of grated potato and compress slightly during the cooking process with a spatula. You don’t want to press it too hard as you want to retain the texture. Fo me the cooking takes around 25 minutes in total, so around 12 mins each side on a medium heat. I cook on a medium-high heat for the last couple of minutes on each side to give a lovely golden finish to the rösti.
  4. When it comes to flipping the rösti I use a wooden chopping or cutting board larger than my pan and place it on top and then flip it cover before sliding it back into the frying pan. I really think a good non stick frying or skillet pan is essential for sliding out your rösti out in one piece. If you are making more than one rösti you can keep it warm in the oven but it will lose some of the crispness.