Easy Potato Kugel Recipe – Oma's Baked Potato Pancake (Dibbelabbes)

by: Gerhild Fulson  / Oma Gerhild shares easy, authentic German recipes you can trust—rooted in family tradition and featured in her cookbooks.

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Crispy on the top and bottom and creamy inside, this baked potato Kugel (Dibbelabbes) is mega lecker!

This potato pancakes recipe is my variation of the potato kugel similar to that traditional Dibbelabbes dish from Saarland.

It's baked in the oven, like a potato gratin or casserole, and gets a wonderful crispy dark crust on top and bottom and the insides are lovely tender, almost creamy! 

If, however, you're looking for the fried potato pancakes, check out this easy recipe I make using a blender. I prefer to fry these outside using the side burner of the BBQ to keep the smell outside.

I mentioned Dibbelabbes above. That's from Saarland and is made in a similar fashion, only it has leeks and smoked meat added. It is then baked in a cast iron "Dibbe" or gratin dish.

It may look like many steps, but it's something that can be done in minutes. Then, off into the oven and dinner's ready in an hour. Ratze fatze!

The time it took for my oven to heat up and then melt the butter in the dish was all the time I needed to grate the potatoes and mix everything together. Perfect as a side dish or supper by itself!

In Germany, pancakes are readily available at outdoor markets and festivals. One of the reasons is that it's easier and doesn't smell up the kitchen with the "frying smells".

Never-the-less, fresh, made-at-home potato pancakes are a treat! So, I usually make them outside on the BBQ's side burner. Now, though, this Baked Potato Pancakes recipe (or casserole) will be used instead, especially when it's too cold out!

You Can Make This in an air fryer oven!

If you want your potato pancake to have even more of that delicious, crispy top layer, then you can use a cast iron skillet, like this one, that fits into your air fryer (I have this larger size fryer). Then you just need to halve the recipe (or make two batches), and it'll bake up beautifully!

Just enough for hubby and me, a half recipe done in my cast iron pan and popped into my air fryer oven. OH. SO. GOOD.

Oma says,

I developed this dish one day when I had ½ bag of potatoes that needed to be used up. I really didn't want to smell up the house with frying potato pancakes, although I really wanted to have some.

So, after much searching in my cookbooks and googling, I took several recipes and combined them into this one.

It brought RAVE REVIEWS from hubby. I must admit, we ate almost the whole thing for supper. I served a couple of fried eggs with it to turn it into a dinner, but, in reality, I could have sat and eaten the whole thing!!!! 

I LOVE potatoes. And, this dish will definitely be made often.

Ready to Make This dibbelabbes Dish?

Print Recipe

Easy Potato Kugel Recipe – Oma's Baked Potato Pancake (Dibbelabbes)

This potato pancakes recipe is my variation of the potato kugel similar to that traditional Dibbelabbes dish from Saarland.

It's baked in the oven, like a potato gratin or casserole, and gets a wonderful crispy dark crust on top and bottom and the insides are lovely tender, almost creamy! 

Prep Time 20 minutes

Bake Time 65 minutes

Total Time 85 minutes

Servings:

Makes 4 - 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 small onion
• 3 pounds potatoes, peeled 
• ⅓ cup corn starch
• 2 teaspoons salt
• freshly ground pepper
• 3 large eggs
• ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon butter

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Have a 10×12-inch or 9×13-inch casserole dish ready to use.
2. Finely chop onion and set aside.
3. Grate potatoes, using coarse side of grater (or use food processor).
4. Thoroughly mix together grated potatoes, onions, and cornstarch in a large bowl.
5. Add salt, pepper, and eggs. Mix well. (It's easiest to use your hands.)
6. Put ¼ cup butter into the casserole dish and place in the oven until the butter melts and sizzles (but doesn't brown).
7. Remove the casserole dish from the oven and carefully add potato mixture (be careful the butter doesn't splatter on you), and level it out. Dot the remaining tablespoon of butter on top.
8. Return to oven and bake for 1 hour or until nicely browned on top and tender in the middle. If the top browns too quickly, loosely cover with foil, but remove it for the last 5 minutes.

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Unless otherwise noted recipe, images and content © Just like Oma | www.quick-german-recipes.com

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Easy Potato Kugel Recipe - Oma's Baked Potato Pancake (Dibbelabbes)



By Oma Gerhild Fulson





This potato pancakes recipe is my variation of the potato kugel, that traditional Dibbelabbes dish from Saarland.


Ingredients: onion, corn starch, eggs, potatoes, seasonings, butter,

For the full recipe, scroll up ...

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Hi, I'm Oma Gerhild! As a food writer and cookbook author, I'm always looking to find ways to pass on my German heritage using local ingredients. Quick and easy. That's my goal. Wunderbar food. That's the result.