Stuffed Potato Pancakes – Draniki (VIDEO)
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This is a variation of my Mom’s classic draniki recipe. Draniki (also known as deruny), are unusual but tasty Russian stuffed potato pancakes made with ground potatoes.
These are stuffed and cooked with a juicy meat patty inside. It is a delicious surprise! This recipe starts with raw potatoes so the texture is nothing like the mashed potato pancakes we posted earlier.
It’s difficult to improve on this classic, but wow these are sure delicious!
Watch How to Make Stuffed Potato Pancakes – Draniki:
These are made on the star grater of a box grater. Be sure to use safety gloves for the process – these gloves (affiliate link) have saved my fingers countless times, especially with mandolin slicing. The potatoes can be diced and pureed in a food processor or blender to speed up the process and they will still be super tasty, but for the most authentic draniki texture, the box grater works best.
One of the things I love most about the Russian and Ukrainian cuisine is the use of basic, inexpensive ingredients to make foods that are truly delicious.
⬇Print-Friendly Recipe for Stuffed Potato Pancakes:
Stuffed Potato Pancakes - Draniki (VIDEO)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs yukon gold potatoes, peeled, (5 to 6 medium potatoes)
- 1 medium onion, peeled
- 1 large egg
- 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp sour cream, plus more to serve
- 1 tsp salt, or to taste
- 1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste
- 3 Tbsp Olive oil, (or other cooking oil)
- 1/2 lb ground pork, (or ground chicken or turkey)
- 1/4 tsp salt and pinch of black pepper
Instructions
- Into a large bowl, grate all of your peeled potatoes using the star grater side of a box grater (protect your hands with safety gloves!) Use a spoon to skim off and discard any excess liquid at the top (I removed about 1/3 cup).
- In the same bowl, grate the medium onion on the same star-grater side of the box grater (no need to wash the grater). Reserve and set aside 1 Tbsp of the grated onion for your meat mixture.
- Into the potato and onion mix, add 1 large egg, 3 Tbsp flour, 1 Tbsp sour cream, 1 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp black pepper. Stir to combine and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine 1/2 lb ground meat, 1/4 tsp salt, pinch of black pepper and reserved 1 Tbsp grated onion. Mix just until well combined. Divide the meat into 16 thin patties, each about 2" wide and set aside.
- Heat a large non-stick pan* over medium heat with 2-3 Tbsp oil. Once oil is hot, add potato mixture 1 Tbsp at a time, flattening out the top with the back of your spoon. Immediately top each pancake with a meat patty and cover each one with another Tablespoon of potato mixture**. Saute 4 minutes per side or until cooked through and golden brown. Remove to a paper towel lined plate and serve right away. Repeat with remaining ingredients, adding more oil as needed.
Notes
**If liquid starts to rise to the top of the potato mixture, give it a quick stir to incorporate it back into the batter. I typically stir between each batch.
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
These are tasty as is, but we love these best served with sour cream. They are a real treat any time of day!
Did you also grow up eating draniki? Have you tried stuffing them yet?
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Hi Natasha!
These look great, i can’t wait to try them. I just wanted to know if they freeze/reheat well?
Thanks!
Hi Ashley, these pancakes freeze well. I would recommend freezing them on the baking sheet that has been covered with plastic wrap. After pancakes freeze, remove them from the baking pan and store them in freezer-friendly plastic bags.
I couldn’t get mine to cook the potato thoroughly. I removed the excess water at the beginning like you said. I even tried to make them without the meat and they still felt raw inside. One tablespoon for bottom and top and I spread them flat. Any suggestions???
Hi AJ, if the heat is too high, they can brown too quickly without cooking through fully. Also, with these types of potato pancakes, the potato texture is different than mashed potatoes – the key is to make sure the meat center is fully cooked through and at that point, the rest of pancake is done. I do make those patties inside very thin.
Hi Natasha just stared following, all your recipes look amazing.
I’m greek so i cant wait to try this recipe with some tzatziki
I hope you love this recipe Theoni!
Hi, Natasha.
Love your recipes.
Will try to make your Draniki recipe. The only thing Draniki or deruni, a potato pancakes. The meat stuffed potatoes are zrazi.
Looking forward for more appetizers recipes.
Thank you
Eugenia
Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
We love Mr. Bean! *in voice* BEAN! lol
I love that Sarah!
Absolutely delicious!!
Hi Melissa! I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
I made these for the first time today for dinner, and they were a huge hit! We used to have these on a regular basis when we lived in Kyiv, so it was like a taste of “home” for dinner tonight. I made a nice coleslaw with dill and apple to go with the deruny, so it was Ukrainian flavours all through the meal. Thanks for another wonderful Ukrainian recipe!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it
Draniki is not Russian, but Belarusian dish. Of course there are variations of that in every country with different names
Hi Natasha,
Do you think ground beef (hamburger) would work instead of the ground pork?
Thanks,
I don’t see why not Katie! Just make sure it has some fat to beef ratio to make sure its not too dry
Natashinka, thank you so much for this recipe! Reminds me of my babushkas latkes with a twist! I made this for my husband and I, thinking there would be leftovers, but I was wrong. My husband loved these so much! I followed your recipe step by step, and there is not anything I would change! (currently making your creamy chicken noodle soup, super stoked!)
That’s so great Veronica! I’m so happy you all loved that! Soup sounds perfect right about now! Thanks for the great review!
All the videos I have seen, Mr. Bean NEVER “talks”! lol
I haven’t seen them all but that’s interesting!
I just used the grinder attachment to the kitchen aid mixer to grind/grate the potatoes and onion. It saves a lot of time and comes out the same as grating it.
What a great idea! Thank you for sharing that with us Marina!
I was looking through your recipes to make blueberry vareniki (still plan to do this week, bc I’m pregnant and want to freeze them for post-partum) & stumbled across these babies that I haven’t had for years! Def a delicious childhood food. I did them without meat (just how my mom did them) they came out delicious! And so easy!! And I can freeze these too! Score! You’re a life saver Natasha! Thank you!
Also an idea, maybe you could do a video on easy foods a pregnant mama can freeze for postpartum care.? An idea:)
My pleasure! I’m happy to hear how much you enjoy the recipe. I will definitely keep your request in mind. Thanks for following and sharing your fantastic review!
Do you know if I can freeze them? I love these but want to freeze some before I deliver my baby so it can be easier postpartum.
Hi Olga, these pancakes freeze well. I would recommend freezing them on the baking sheet that has been covered with plastic wrap. After pancakes freeze, remove them from the baking pan and store them in freezer friendly plastic bags. I wish you a very successful delivery, blessings to you and your family 😀
The Persians mix the meat with the rest of the ingredients and call it (Persian) Cutlet. It’s so good.
Yum! There are a lot of variations of this loved recipe!
HI Natasha, what kind of flour can I substitute to make this gluten free?
Hi Galina, I haven’t experimented that way but since there is a minimal amount of flour, you could probably use any all-purpose gluten free baking flour to make these work, such as Bob’s Red Mill. I think that should work fine.
My aunt was very recently telling me about a meal she loved as a little girl. She described it as a potato and meat pancake (we’re Ukrainian) and my grandmother would serve it with a brown gravy, but didn’t remember the name. This sound like it could be the one! thanks!
My pleasure Christine! I hope you love the recipe!
I thought Draniki is plain potato pancakes without meat–with meat these are Belorussian (according to the expert-ie my wife) and are called Kalduny!
Hi Andrew, we have never called them kalduny but I have heard that reference before from other readers. It may be a regional naming :).
Kolduny are not sautéed …they are broil ..and they have different shape
Kolduny are sautéed if they are thin enough. I remember my grandma making it in Belarus and they were huge, so she would fry them in a skillet first to get color and than would put them in the oven to finish cooking the stuffing-meat. She would pour pork fat all over it and bake it.
Thank you for sharing that with us, Diana!
Hi,
What the texture of drannik should be inside after it has been fried?(on outside it is crispy what about inside?) Is 8 minutes enough to cook potato through?
Thanks
Julia
Hi Julia, they are moist inside and if they are made as shown and aren’t made overly thick, 8 minutes is sufficient to fully cook through the potato and meat.
Ah, I love simple snacks like these, and with such pantry staple ingredients, too!
Me too! I hope you love the recipe James!
These look amazing, can’t wait to try making ’em. 🙂
They are super popular for good reason! Please let me know what you think when you decide to make them!
My mom made these when we were growing up except we mixed the ground meat together with the potato mixture:)
Thank you for sharing that with us! I honestly have not considered that but now I will have to try it! 🙂
Hi, Natasha! Thank you for the recipe! I want to try it. Will chicken ground meat work the same as pork?
Hi Liliya, yes that should work great 🙂
Thank you, Natasha!
They were amazing! Kids were surprised that there were pelmeni inside draniki😁.
The hardest part for me to shred potatoes and onions…
Very yummy!
You’re welcome! I’m glad everyone enjoys the recipe! Thanks for sharing Liliya!
Hi,
I love all your recipes! Just wondering, does the pork cook through in the time that the potatoes are cooking? I’m worried about the pork not being fully cooked.
Thanks!
Hi Sam, yes it is fully cooked through after a total of 8 minutes (4 minutes per side) over medium heat.
Is this a Russian recipe?
Hi Kris, it is! I’m not sure if it originated in Russia or Ukraine but is is called different things in Russia, Ukraine and even has a different name in the Belarusian language.
It could also be Polish. We Poles love potato pancakes..
I’m guessing this recipe is probably known by many different names based on region. Do you make yours slightly differently or similar?
Yes they do, I am married to one and also the Germans love their potato pancake as well.
The Germans eat these with applesauce. I prefer the sour cream or just maple syrup is good too.
Draniki is not russian or Ukrainian, it is Belarusian dish. There are variations in a lot of Slavic cuisines, like this recipe.
We love draniki! We made some classic ones last night and my 7 year old son ate lots of them. He said that they smelled so good. Thank you for all the good recipes!! Keep it going….
You’re welcome Lena! I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying the recipes so much! Thanks for following and sharing your great review!
I totally agree! I made some potato pancakes yesterday, and processed potatoes in the food processor. Yeah, the taste is the same, but I prefer the texture of the pancakes when potatoes are grated on a box grater. The best!
Right! It does make a huge difference, totally worth the effort! 🙂