We Taste-Tested 3 Popular Latke Brands for Hanukkah—Only 1 Delivered True Crispiness

Hanukkah, the Jewish "Festival of Lights," is the most wonderful time of the year. My Chrismukkah-celebrating family loves lighting the menorah, playing with dreidels, and stuffing our faces with fried food. After all, it's a rare moment when fried foods are encouraged and even celebrated. For my husband and me, that means making batches of homemade latkes for friends and family. Though making latkes isn't difficult, grating and frying pounds of potatoes can be extremely time-consuming, which is why many people turn to mixes or frozen options. The question is: Which is worth buying?

To find the best latkes, our editors taste-tested three widely available brands, including two mixes and one frozen option. We prepared each according to the package directions: We whisked the latke mixes with water, eggs, and oil, then let them sit for about 10 minutes before cooking, and baked the frozen latkes until warmed through. We sampled all three in random order, without knowing which was which, then tabulated the results and crowned an overall winner and one worthy runner-up.

The Criteria

A great latke should be crisp and savory. It should be nicely seasoned and taste like potatoes. As Serious Eats contributor Max Falkowitz wrote in his recipe for old-fashioned latkes, a latke "should be plump and slightly cakey, but yielding, with recognizably rustic strands of potato intertwined with onion. To put it in burger terms, a latke should combine a pub burger's heft with a smash burger's crust—the best of all possible potato worlds."

Overall Winner

Manischewitz Homestyle Potato Latke Mix

Almost all of our tasters commented on two things: how desperately these latkes needed salt and how nicely crisp they were. "This is like if a hash brown and a latke had a baby," wrote our editorial director, Daniel, who thought they needed more salt and—gasp!—found them slightly too crisp. "It's edible and not bad, definitely not gummy." 

Our associate editorial director, Megan, enjoyed its crispness and crowned it her winning latke: "This one tastes the most like homemade. It needed salt, but once added, it was good." Our visuals editor, Jessie, thought it was "not bad," and our associate visuals director, Amanda, liked that it had a decent crunch. On the opposite end of the spectrum, our associate culinary editor, Laila, thought these were slightly too dense.

Runner-Up

Golden Potato Pancakes (Traditional Latkes)

Laila liked how onion-forward these latkes were and appreciated that the potatoes and onions still had some structure, happily exclaiming, "I'd eat these!" Both Megan and Daniel thought the flavor of these latkes was good, but found the interior was far too thick in consistency. Other editors echoed this, noting that these were far too mushy and would have been better had they been crispier. 

The Contenders

• Golden Potato Pancakes (Traditional Latkes)
• Manischewitz Homestyle Potato Latke Mix
• Streits Potato Pancake Latke Mix

Editor's Note: We were unable to locate Gefen Latke Mix for our taste test.

Key Takeaways and Conclusion

Latke mixes are made with both dehydrated potatoes and onions, oil (typically palm, canola, or vegetable), and may contain other seasonings, such as salt and pepper. Our winner, Manischewitz Homestyle Potato Latke Mix, is made with just four ingredients: a blend of dehydrated potatoes with sodium acid pyrophosphate (a leavening agent) and monoglycerides (an emulsifier and stabilizer), onion, palm oil, and pepper. Notably, it is the only option we tried that does not contain salt. Though Manischewitz's latkes were the crispiest of the bunch, they did not contain any salt, nor did they provide instructions for seasoning. We suggest adding salt to this product when mixing its ingredients together to address this.

Our runner-up, Golden Potato Pancakes (Traditional Latkes), is the only frozen option we tried, and the only one that also contains wheat flour and both egg whites and whole eggs. They were very easy to prepare and required nothing more than baking at 400°F (205°C) until warmed through. Though they had great flavor, there were no distinct potato strands, and they were not very crisp.

Though none of the brands we tried are as good as homemade, they're a convenient option when you're in a pinch—and would likely taste even better with a dollop of sour cream and applesauce. Ultimately, the best latke mix for you comes down to whether you value texture or flavor more, since none of the mixes checked both those boxes for us.

Our Testing Methodology

All taste tests are conducted with brands completely hidden and without discussion. Tasters taste samples in random order. For example, taster A may taste sample one first, while taster B will taste sample six first. This is to prevent palate fatigue from unfairly giving any one sample an advantage. Tasters are asked to fill out tasting sheets, ranking the samples according to various criteria. All data is tabulated, and results are calculated with no editorial input to provide the most impartial representation of actual results possible.