Bulviniai Blynai are Lithuania's everyday potato pancakes — raw potatoes grated and fried into golden, crispy, lacy-edged pancakes, served with sour cream and applesauce. Different from Žemaičių blynai (which are stuffed), these are the simple, flat, crispy pancakes of every Lithuanian kitchen, the food of cold autumn evenings.
Bulviniai Blynai (literally 'potato pancakes') are the everyday pancakes of Lithuanian cuisine, distinct from Žemaičių blynai (Samogitian pancakes, already in this database, which are thicker and stuffed with meat). Bulviniai blynai are simple, flat, lacy, and crispy — made from raw grated potatoes, an egg, and a little flour, fried thin in oil. They are the Lithuanian version of the Eastern European potato pancake family (Latvian, Polish placki ziemniaczane, Belarusian draniki), but in Lithuania they are served specifically with sour cream and applesauce (or lingonberry). They are everyday food, made when potatoes are abundant and the weather is cold.
A stack of golden, lacy, crispy potato pancakes, the edges frizzled and brown. Bite in: crisp outside, soft and almost creamy inside, with the pure taste of fried potato. Dip in cold sour cream; add a spoonful of sweet applesauce. The contrast of crisp, tangy, and sweet is perfect.
The potatoes must be grated raw (not pre-cooked) and fried immediately (raw grated potato oxidizes and turns gray within minutes — add a little lemon juice or onion to slow this). The grated potato releases starch, which binds the pancake; a little flour and egg hold it together. The oil must be hot (the pancakes should sizzle on contact) and the pancakes spread thin — they should be crisp, not doughy. They are eaten immediately (cold potato pancakes are not good).
Variations
Some add grated onion to the batter; some use less flour; some add garlic; the topping varies (sour cream + applesauce is standard).
On the Palate
Where Bulviniai Blynai sits in the Lithuanian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
8 steps · 30 min active + 15 min waiting
- 18 min
Peel 800 g potatoes; grate finely (or use a food processor with a grating disk).
Watch outGrate the potatoes and use them at once — raw grated potato greys within minutes, so keep going and get them into the pan before they oxidize.
- 25 min
Squeeze out excess moisture from the grated potato.
Watch outWring the grated potato as dry as you can — leftover water makes the batter loose and the pancakes steam soggy instead of frying crisp.
- 33 min
Mix with 1 egg, 2 tbsp flour, 1 grated onion, salt, and pepper.
- 42 min
Heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat.
- 51 min
Drop 2-tbsp portions into the oil; flatten into thin pancakes.
Watch outSpread each portion thin and make sure the oil's hot enough to sizzle on contact — a thick, cool-oil pancake stays doughy in the middle.
- 68 min
Fry 2-3 minutes per side until golden and crisp.
- 72 min
Drain on paper.
- 81 min
Serve immediately with sour cream and applesauce.
