Celery Root-Parsnip Latkes Recipe (2025)

I've made these for a few years and they have become my favorite latkes: the vegetables make them more tasty and less starchy than the potato version. I cut the amount of matzo meal to about 3/4 cup, but found recipe was correct, that amount of salt really is needed. These freeze beautifully, uncooked, which makes them much easier to handle when cooking--and the kitchen is clean when you start frying.

These were a hit. No laborious straining, blotting, or messy squeezing of excess liquid as you do with regular potato latkes. They held together wonderfully and had a great flavor. Though I must admit (shhh...) that I opted to fry them in chicken fat rather than the safflower oil.

Made these for Hannukah dinner (half the recipe, though) and used a sweet and savory rice cracker brand instead of matzo meal. They came out perfectly and were eaten up in one night. Now I'm rooting through the trash, looking for the packaging the rice crackers were in so I can make the same exact recipe next year. Some fancy-pants brand, I think...

Really yummy and a great way to use up those root veggies from the farm box. We used carrots instead of parsnips with no ill effect, and substituted some of the parsley with minced green onion tips. Hubby thinks these taste better than potato latkes, and I agree. Be aware this makes an army-size portion of latkes!

That's because you used potatoes! Potatoes give off a lot of liquid. If you had followed the recipe, you wouldn't have had the problem!

Absolutely delicious. I played with the recipie a bit and combined celery root with russets, and pulsed it twice through the food processor to get the pancakes finer. I also used flour and two eggs as a binder. For cooking I used ghee as its healthier than most other oils.

Rutabaga (from CSA)Parsnip (from CSA)Panko instead of matzo meal

Wow! Only thing I would do differently next time is a bit more black pepper in the mix. Very tasty.

1 C matzo meal, make small so they fry quickly. Make 4 dozen!!! Freeze before frying.

These were delicious! We couldn't find matzo meal, so we we used water crackers ground in the food processor.

Wonderful flavor! Ground up a box of Glutino "original" crackers in lieu of the matzo meal to make these gluten-free; seemed to work fine

Just delicious, followed the recipe except I did have regular onions so I substituted with green onions.One suggestion, cook them on medium-low so the vegetables soften while browning. My hat to the chef

This recipe is amazing and so healthy! It’s my new go-to latke recipe. Thank you for introducing me to celery root / celeriac!

Should I defrost them before frying, if I freeze some? Pleasantly surprised and great way to use CSA veggies. Made 2/5 of the recipe like another commenter to use 2 eggs: ~13oz celery root + parsnip + rutabaga, 1 very small onion, 1/2 cup matzo meal, 1/3 cup parsley, 3/4 tsp Morton kosher salt. Used an ice cream scoop to measure. Cooked ~10 and froze ~10 for another day.

Excellent alternative to traditional potato latkes. Everyone loved them and was surprised when I said they were potato-free!

I met 2/5 of the recipe in order to use 2 eggs. Still made about 16 silver dollar sized latkes. Definite cohesion problem but still tasty even the crispy shreds.

Just wow. So delicious. I also mixed and matched veggies (1 celery root, 1 lb turnips, and 1 straggler parsnip). They were packed with flavor.

We tried this last night and are disappointed. All the measurements are off: 2 pounds of shredded root vegetables yields enough latkes to serve 8-10 people. Far more eggs are needed to moisten the mix, and it needs quite a bit of salt, pepper, and even a bit of cayenne pepper to engage the senses. These soak up a lot of oil (we used olive oil), and are prone to burning, Serve with yogurt or sour cream or labne… tasty, but the recipe needs improvement.

What can I use as substitute for matzo meal?

Forgot to halve this and ended up with a huge batch of batter. So the next day I pulled out my underused appliance and WAFFLED IT for lunch. Worked very nicely. About 8 minutes in my proctor silex Belgian waffle maker.

Best ever. Never another potato latke in this kitchen! Followed recipe to the dot. Having no matzo, made my own. So easy, much nuttier fresh taste than purchased. Forget draining on paper towels: these were so greaseless that we tossed them back as they came off griddle - just a bit of sour cream or yogurt. Such a mass of veggies: for easier mixing, combine eggs, salt, pepper and parsley before adding to veggies. Leftovers? Duck fat fried latkes for dinner. Thanks, Steph, for schmaltz tip.

Rutabaga (from CSA)Parsnip (from CSA)Panko instead of matzo meal

I made these today exactly as written with one exception: I had no matzoh meal on hand so subbed one-for-one with panko bread crumbs. Really delicious! The family loved these. They didn’t need as much oil to fry them up as the potato variety. A great twist benefit of more fiber. These will be my new go-to when I’m craving latkes but would rather avoid the starchier potato variety - thank you, Melissa!

Better than potato! And kids loved them.

Made these tonight subbing plain bread crumbs for matzo meal. They were delicious. This is a recipe I will return to.

I made this dish with some intentional and accidental substitutions: rutabaga instead of celery root, rice cracker meal instead of matzah, cilantro instead of parsley, This was my first time making latkes. They were outstandingly delicious! I did freeze a lot (uncooked) so I can look forward to more tomorrow! Thanks for the recipe!

These were both easier and faster than traditional potato latkes. My husband and even some potato-loving friends agreed. I think these will become my staple.