Cheese Latkes Recipe With Farmer Cheese: Make-Ahead and Freeze

Name: Make-Ahead Farmer Cheese Latkes
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: About 20 latkes, 3 inches each
Cuisine: Jewish
Ingredients: 1 lb farmer cheese, crumbled; 3 large eggs; 1/4 cup sugar; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest (optional); 1/2 tsp kosher salt; 3/4 cup all-purpose flour; 1 tsp baking powder; Vegetable oil for frying, plus 1 Tbsp butter for flavor (optional); To serve: sour cream, berry sauce, or powdered sugar

Make-Ahead Cheese Latkes With Farmer Cheese (Freezer-Friendly)

Sweet farmer cheese latkes for a dairy Chanukah meal. Fry them days ahead, freeze them flat, and rewarm them in the oven. Exact times and topping ideas.

Potato latkes get all the attention, but in many homes cheese latkes are the Chanukah food people wait for all year. They are softer than potato latkes, closer to a small pancake, and lightly sweet. They also freeze better than almost anything else you will fry this Chanukah.

Why cheese latkes are a make-ahead dream

Potato latkes depend on a crisp crust, so you have to reheat them hot and fast. Cheese latkes are soft by nature. There is no crust to lose, so a gentle rewarm from the freezer brings them right back. You can fry the whole batch two weeks before Chanukah and pull out exactly as many as you need on any night.

Make-ahead timeline

When	Task
Up to 2 months ahead	Fry, cool on a rack, freeze flat, bag with parchment between layers
Up to 5 days ahead	Make the berry sauce and refrigerate
Serving day, 15 minutes before	Oven to 350 F, frozen latkes onto a sheet pan
10 to 12 minutes later	Flip once, serve warm with toppings

Toppings

Sour cream, the classic
Berry sauce (recipe in the notes) or warm blueberry compote
Powdered sugar and a little cinnamon
Honey and lemon zest

Serving them at a party

Cheese latkes are the centerpiece of a dairy Chanukah night. Put them next to make-ahead potato latkes (which are pareve, so they fit a dairy table) and finish with sufganiyot. The full plan, with a shopping list and timeline, is in our dairy Chanukah party menu.

A note on kitchens

Because these are dairy, fry them in your dairy pans and serve them at a dairy meal. If you are making both cheese latkes and a meat dinner this Chanukah, cook them on different days or follow your own kitchen’s routine for keeping things separate.

Recipe card · Dairy

Make-Ahead Farmer Cheese Latkes

Soft, lightly sweet cheese latkes made with farmer cheese, eggs, and a little flour, pan-fried in oil, then frozen and rewarmed in the oven.

Prep: 10 min
Cook: 25 min
Total: 35 min
Yield: About 20 latkes, 3 inches each
Kashrus: Dairy

Ingredients

1 lb farmer cheese, crumbled
3 large eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest (optional)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
Vegetable oil for frying, plus 1 Tbsp butter for flavor (optional)
To serve: sour cream, berry sauce, or powdered sugar

Instructions

Mix: In a bowl, mash the farmer cheese with a fork. Whisk in the eggs, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest, and salt until mostly smooth. Small lumps are fine.
Add the flour: Stir in the flour and baking powder just until combined. The batter should be thick, like a soft drop cookie dough. If it is runny, add 1 to 2 Tbsp more flour.
Heat the pan: Heat a thin layer of oil (with the butter, if using) in a large nonstick or cast iron skillet over medium heat.
Fry: Drop heaping tablespoons of batter into the pan and flatten gently to about 1/2 inch. Fry 2 to 3 minutes per side, until golden and set in the middle. Lower the heat if they brown too fast.
Drain: Move to a wire rack. Add more oil between batches as needed.

Make-ahead and storage

Refrigerator: cool completely and refrigerate in a covered container up to 2 days. Rewarm on a sheet pan at 350 F for 6 to 8 minutes.
Freezer: cool, freeze in a single layer on a parchment-lined tray until firm, then bag with parchment between layers. Keeps up to 2 months.
From frozen: rewarm in a single layer at 350 F for 10 to 12 minutes, flipping once. Or thaw overnight in the fridge and warm 6 to 8 minutes.
Make berry sauce up to 5 days ahead and keep it in the fridge, or freeze it for up to 3 months.

Notes

Farmer cheese is drier than ricotta or cottage cheese. If you substitute, drain the cheese in a strainer for 30 minutes first, and expect to add a little more flour.
These are dairy. Serve them at a dairy meal, and use your dairy pans and utensils.
Quick berry sauce: simmer 2 cups frozen berries, 2 Tbsp sugar, and 1 Tbsp lemon juice for 10 minutes, then mash.

Questions people ask

Can you freeze cheese latkes?

Yes. Fry them, cool them, freeze them flat on a tray, and bag them. They keep up to 2 months and rewarm from frozen at 350 F in 10 to 12 minutes.

What can I use instead of farmer cheese?

Well-drained ricotta or small-curd cottage cheese pressed through a strainer both work. They are wetter, so add 1 to 3 Tbsp more flour until the batter is thick enough to hold its shape.

Why are cheese latkes eaten on Chanukah?

Many families eat dairy foods on Chanukah in memory of Yehudit (Judith), whose story is connected to the holiday and to cheese. Cheese latkes are one of the most popular ways to keep the custom.

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Make-Ahead Cheese Latkes With Farmer Cheese

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