RataterraFirst edition in progress
My atlas

Searches names, synonyms and regional names, with or without accents.

    Potatoes · Recipe · Switzerland · Reference page

    Rösti

    Rösti / Röschti

    Potatoes boiled in their skins the day before, grated coarsely and fried slowly in clarified butter into a single golden cake, turned once with a plate. The recipe is from Swissmilk, the Swiss milk producers. Rösti is so Swiss that it names the country's language divide.

    A whole golden Swiss rosti with coarse potato shreds and a browned crust on a white plate,in brown ink and watercolor.
    Editorial illustration of the documented recipe; not a photograph of a kitchen-tested result.
    Servings
    4
    Preparation
    10 min
    Cooking
    30 min
    Total
    40 min
    Difficulty
    Moderate

    Equipment

    • Coarse grater
    • Wide non-stick frying pan (about 28 cm)
    • Large plate or lid for turning
    Servings4

    Ingredients

    Shopping list

    Method

    1. Peel the cold potatoes if you like and grate them coarsely into a bowl. Season with salt.

      Why Boiled and chilled potatoes hold together when grated and brown without turning gluey.

    2. Heat the clarified butter in the wide non-stick pan. Add the potatoes and fry over a low to medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring several times.

      Timer · 5 min5:00

    3. Press them into a compact cake and fry for 10 minutes more without stirring.

      Why Left alone, the bottom forms a continuous crust that holds the cake together.

      Timer · 10 min10:00

    4. To turn, lay a large plate or lid over the pan, hold it tight and flip the rösti onto it, then slide it back into the pan, browned side up.

    5. Fry the second side over a low heat for 12–15 minutes, without moving it, until a good brown crust has formed. Dot with butter flakes, slide onto a plate and serve.

      Timer · 14 min14:00

    To drink & serve with

    • Served as a side for meat or sausages, or topped with a fried egg.

    Substitutions

    • Boiled potatoes → Raw potatoes, grated and fried 10–12 minutes a side (The Local's method).
    • Plain rösti → Ham, bacon or cheese mixed in, or a fried egg on top, as The Local notes.

    Common mistakes

    • Grating freshly boiled, warm potatoes: they turn to paste.
    • Moving the cake in the pan before it has formed a crust.

    Storage & reheating

    Eat at once. Grated potatoes for rösti can be prepared a few hours ahead, covered and chilled.

    Safety

    Contains milk (butter). Chill boiled potatoes within 2 hours and use within 2 days.

    Allergens

    Milk

    Check labels: stock, bacon and sauces can contain further allergens.

    Dietary

    vegetarian · gluten-free

    A farmers' breakfast that named a border

    The Local Switzerland describes rösti as an inexpensive, simple dish once eaten by farmers working in the fields, associated above all with German-speaking Switzerland, where it originated. Its name was borrowed for the Röstigraben, the "rösti ditch" used to describe the cultural divide between German- and French-speaking Swiss. In September 2022 the Swiss Farmers' Association marked its 125th anniversary by frying about 1,300 kg of potatoes in a 13.7 m² pan shaped like the Swiss cross outside parliament in Bern.

    [1]

    Boiled the day before

    Swissmilk's recipe uses Gschwellti, potatoes boiled in their skins the day before. Chilling firms the starch, so the potatoes grate into distinct strands that stick together in the pan without going gluey. The cake is fried slowly in clarified butter, which does not burn, and turned once with a plate. Raw-potato rösti is the other school, cooked a little longer on each side.

    [2][1]

    How it connects

    Place

    • origin Switzerland In preparation

    Potato

    Wine region

    Continue exploring