My Simple Recipe for Butternut Squash Latkes is the answer to your low carb prayers.
While I love a traditional latke as much as the next person, I can’t digest potatoes, so the classic potato latke is not on the menu for me.
Simple Recipe for Butternut Squash Latkes
In its place, I’ve created my Simple Recipe for Butternut Squash Latkes. It’s not only low carb, this gluten free recipe is also SCD compliant!
Side Dishes Low Carb
This Simple Recipe for Butternut Squash Latke is one of my all time favorite dishes because the crispiness of these vegetable pancakes is delightful, along with the hint of sweetness added by the squash.
Gluten Free Latkes
Below is my recipe with 4 Ingredients for low carb, gluten free, SCD butternut squash latkes.
I hope they light up your holiday and fill your family’s bellies with cheer!
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Butternut Squash Latkes
Ingredients
- 4 cups butternut squash, peeled and grated (about 22 ounces)
- 1 small onion, peeled and grated
- 3 large eggs, whisked
- ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- grapeseed oil or olive oil, for frying
Instructions
- In a large bowl combine squash, onion, eggs, and salt
- Squeeze excess liquid from mixture and discard
- Heat ¼ inch oil in a 9 inch skillet
- Scoop ¼ cup of batter at a time onto skillet and flatten
- Fry each side over medium heat until browned and crispy
- Transfer latkes to a paper towel lined baking sheet
- Repeat process with remaining batter
- Serve with Homemade Applesauce and sour cream or yogurt
Equipment
How to Reheat Latkes
Need to reheat your latkes? Here’s what to do!
First, as you’re making the latkes, you’ll want to place them on a paper towel lined baking sheet after you fry them.
If you need to reheat the latkes, transfer from the paper towels to a wire rack that sits on top of the baking sheet, then throw them back in the oven at 350°F for 5-8 minutes to re-crisp.
What is a Latke?
What are latkes? Traditional latkes are a fried potato pancake that often contain wheat flour or gluten.
Latke Pronunciation
For those of you wondering about the proper latke pronunciation, I’m here to help.
You may be wondering, is it latke or latka? The word latke is pronounced “lot-kuh,” with the draw in the vowels.
Is Latke a Yiddish Word?
You might be wondering, is latke a Yiddish word? Actually, while the word is Yiddish, it is derived from the East Slavic oladka, the diminutive of “small fried pancake.”
Diagnosed with Celiac Disease
I wish I could partake in every traditional food, such as latkes (as is), under the sun. Once I was diagnosed with celiac disease, that was no longer possible.
So, I made it my mission to create healthy gluten free versions of my favorite recipes.
Recipes for Low Carb Latke
Now, I’m not only gluten free, I follow a low carb diet as well. That’s where my recipes for low carb latkes come into play.
Low Carb Latkes
While butternut squash is not really a low carb food, it does contain approximately 60% of the carbohydrates found in potatoes.
If you want to celebrate Hanukkah with tasty fried foods and don’t want to stray too far from your Low Carb Diet, this is one of those recipes for low carb latkes that makes sense to indulge in.
SCD Latkes
Additionally, my Butternut Squash Latkes are fabulous if you can’t digest potatoes, and since they do not contain potatoes, they are also SCD compliant.
I love the SCD, also referred to as the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. This diet heals the gut by eliminating certain starchy foods.
I started following the SCD over 20 years ago, and it provides a fantastic framework for keeping my gut happy and healthy. Goodbye potatoes, hello Hannukkah with butternut squash latkes.
When is Hanukkah and Why Do We Eat Latkes?
Now, on to some other pertinent details pertaining to Hanukkah or Chanukkah. This year (2022), the celebration of lights begins at sundown on Sunday, December 18th.
What is Chanukkah?
Chanukkah is referred to as the Festival of Lights. During this Jewish festival, which is not a Holy Day, we celebrate an incident of divine intervention that occurred over two thousand years ago.
The Chanukkah miracle involved a very tiny flask of pure olive oil that lasted for 8 days until a refill of oil could be retrieved.
To honor this, Ashkenazi Jews celebrate by frying a variety of foods in oil, including, but not limited to, latkes, as well as sweet things like donuts (aka sufganiyot), and much more.
Incidentally, one of our family traditions is my Almond Flour Fried Apples recipe.
Carrot Scallion Latkes: Vegetable Pancakes
Another one of our cherished Hanukkah traditions is making veggie pancakes with all sorts of fun, healthy ingredients.
That includes my savory Carrot and Scallion Latka that have a coconut flour batter –as you can see above, this beta carotene rich mixture browns to a beautiful crisp!
Recipes for Gluten Free Hanukkah Food
Every year at Hanukkah, I make the boys Homemade Apple Sauce to serve over their latkes. Here’s that recipe and more for you!
Happy Hanukkah
All in all, when it comes to Hanukkah and frying, latkes aren’t the only way, but they’re my favorite Hanukkah when it comes to using vegetables for side dishes.
I hope the Festival of Lights brightens up your life in the dark of winter!
This post is an oldie but goodie from the archives. I first shared Butternut Squash Latkes in 2007.
Alyssa says
Hi Elana,
Tonight was the first night of hanaukkah, and did a search for SCD latkes since I have been on the SCD way of eating for 4 months now. I was so excited to have found your recipe! However, nothing binds them together even though I followed the recipe exactly and they completely fell apart in the oil and got destroyed when I flipped them. So the next batch I added some almond flour which helped, maybe I didn’t add enough. Ay ideas why mine went wrong? Your don’t fall apart? Doesn’t it need a binding agent! But they still were delicious! We gobbled them up!
Happy Hanukkah!
Alyssa
Elana says
Alyssa, try packing them down a bit once they’re in the pan and they’ll hold together perfectly. I’m so happy to hear that these latkes were delicious and gobbled up :-)
Tiffany says
Do you grate the butternut squash when it is uncooked?
Elana says
Tiffany, when it is uncooked :-)
Maria-Elena says
Wonderful recipe – thank you so much for the idea! We made these last night and fried them in tallow. While it is true that olive oil is perhaps more authentic, it does not hold up well to frying. Coconut oil works well too, but may impart a coconutty flavor. The tallow (collected from the top of a large batch of bone broth) worked really well for us.
Elana says
Maria-Elena, I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe :-)
Rachel says
My husband made them tonight with what we had on hand: sweet potatoes, no onion, egg, garlic, salt and pepper. They were SO, SO good . . . Happy Hanukah . . .
Elana says
Rachael, thanks for letting me know that these were SO SO good!
Dani says
Those look awesome. What would you substitute for egg to make them vegan?
Elana says
Dani, I haven’t tried that so not sure. Here’s a link to my Vegan Recipes page for you:
https://elanaspantry.com/diets/vegan-diet/
Enjoy!
Elana
Michelle says
Has anyone ever tried freezing and reheating these? I often did this with my potato latkes and then i didn’t have to fry when I had company. They reheated well in the oven. Would like to try these instead…
Elana says
Michelle, I haven’t tried that so not sure if it would work :-)
Edie Zaprir says
Thanks Elana for this recipe. I love butternut squash and since I’m making latkes for my Hanukkah party this Saturday night, I’m switching from the potatoes.
I need a recipe for sufganiyot (donuts)
Happy Holidays !
Elana says
Edie, you’re welcome! Here’s a recipe for Jelly Doughnut Cupcakes:
https://elanaspantry.com/jelly-donut-cupcakes/
Enjoy!
Elana
rachel sebell graveline says
These look fabulous. My family switched to rice flour in latkes years ago for me and they come out fabulously but these look interesting and a fun spin to an old recipe. Question, do you soften the squash before you peel it if so how? I find it hard to peel squash when it is raw. Do you have any advice?
Amanda says
I do not peel squash with a peeler. Rather I cut the top and bottom off so that I have the straight piece of sqush and then using my chef’s knife cut straight down the sides (standing the squash on a flat end). The more bulbous part takes a bit more finessing but I do the same way. If you want to peel it, I find it easier if you chop it into smaller pieces first.
Wenonah says
I was surprised that these held together so well. It almost makes the effort of peeling and grating a butternut squash worth it. I used red onions instead of yellow and these tasted fantastic. It is incredibly time consuming to peel and grate a squash though. I might not make these very often esp since I am not Jewish and I almost feel like I am breaking some sort of religious law by making these in November. Go Fig. Anyway, I like them. I hope my husband does too! He hates “healthy” food I always have to trick him.
Jen Blackmon says
These are delicious!!! I used the grating attachment to my food processor and it made quick work of grating the squash and onion. I have tried serving my three children butternut squash roasted in the oven and in soup, but this is the first time they have eaten it and asked for seconds!
Elana says
Jen, I’m so happy to hear these are delicious!
Alex says
I love this recipe however I would like to use sweet potato….Can I still use the same ingred?
Elana says
Alex, I haven’t tried that so not sure :-)