The short answer: yes, and they reheat better than you’d think. Fry the latkes all the way, drain them on a wire rack, and get them into the fridge or freezer within 2 hours. USDA’s food-safety agency gives cooked leftovers 3 to 4 days in the fridge or 3 to 4 months in the freezer for best quality. To serve, lay them in one layer on a rack set over a sheet pan and reheat at 400°F, straight from the freezer if you like, until a thick one reads 165°F. The one thing you can’t make ahead is the raw batter: grated potato turns gray and watery overnight.
This is for the person hosting a Hanukkah party who has done the arithmetic: 20 guests, three or four latkes each, a skillet that fries six at a time. That is a long evening at the stove, smelling of oil while everyone else lights candles and opens presents. It is also for anyone bringing latkes to a school, office or synagogue party, and for anyone whose family keeps Shabbat. In 2026 Hanukkah begins at sundown on Friday, December 4 and ends at nightfall on Saturday, December 12 (Hebcal). The first candle is lit before sundown that Friday, so if your household doesn’t cook on Shabbat, Friday night’s latkes have to be fried before then anyway.
The good news is that latkes are one of the few fried foods that come back almost as good as fresh. They are thin, mostly potato and egg, and the crust re-crisps in a hot oven. What follows is how to fry them for later, how to store them safely, and how to reheat them so nobody can tell.
What you can make ahead, and how far
| Item | How far ahead | How to store it |
|---|---|---|
| Fried latkes, refrigerated | 3 to 4 days | Cooled on a rack, then in a covered container in the fridge within 2 hours of frying (USDA FSIS) |
| Fried latkes, frozen | 3 to 4 months for best quality | Frozen flat on a sheet pan, then bagged with parchment between layers; safe indefinitely at 0°F (USDA FSIS) |
| Peeled whole potatoes | The night before | Whole, fully under cold water, covered, in the fridge; use within 24 hours (Idaho Potato Commission) |
| Grated potato or mixed batter | Don’t | It turns gray and weeps liquid. Grate and mix right before frying |
The 3-to-4-day clock starts the day you fry, not the day you serve. If you fry on Sunday, November 29, you are at the end of the fridge window by Thursday, December 3, one day short of the first night. Anything you make more than a couple of days before you plan to eat it should go in the freezer.
How to fry latkes for the freezer
- Fry them a shade lighter than you would to serve. They brown a little more in the oven, so take them out when they are golden rather than deep brown.
- Drain on a wire rack, not a pile of paper towels. Stacked on towels, the bottom latkes steam and go soft. A rack set over a sheet pan lets the oil drip off and the steam escape from both sides. A quick blot with a towel first is fine.
- Cool them fast. USDA FSIS says leftovers must go into the fridge within 2 hours of cooking. One layer on a rack cools quickly; once they are no longer steaming, move them into the fridge or freezer. Don’t leave the whole batch on the counter until the last pan is done.
- Freeze them flat first. Put the rack or a parchment-lined sheet pan of latkes in the freezer, uncovered, until they are hard (an hour or two). Then stack them in freezer bags with a square of parchment between layers, press out the air and seal. Frozen this way they don’t weld into one block, and you can take out exactly as many as you need.
- Label the bag. What it is, how many, and the date: Latkes, 24, Nov 29.
How to reheat latkes so they’re crisp again
Use the oven. The microwave heats them through but steams the crust soft, which is the whole point of a latke gone.
- Heat the oven to 400°F and set a wire rack on a sheet pan.
- Lay the latkes on the rack in one layer, with space between them, uncovered. Frozen latkes go straight in; USDA FSIS says reheating frozen leftovers without thawing is safe, it just takes longer.
- Turn them once. As a starting point, check refrigerated latkes after about 8 to 10 minutes and frozen ones after about 12 to 15. Thickness varies a lot from one family’s latkes to the next, so let the thermometer decide, not the clock.
- Check a thick one with a food thermometer. USDA FSIS says reheated leftovers should reach 165°F. FSIS’s general advice is to cover leftovers while reheating so they heat through evenly; latkes are thin enough to heat through uncovered on a rack, and leaving them uncovered is what keeps them crisp, so the thermometer check matters more here.
An air fryer works for a small batch: one layer in the basket, turned once, until 165°F. A dry skillet over medium heat also works for a few at a time.
Keeping them warm during the party
Once they are hot, USDA FSIS says hot food has to stay at 140°F or warmer, and anything perishable that sits at room temperature for more than 2 hours (1 hour above 90°F) should be thrown away. A platter of latkes on the table is fine for a couple of hours. For a long evening, keep the rest on the rack in a low oven, around 200°F, and bring them out in rounds. Sour cream belongs in the fridge between rounds, too.
A make-ahead plan for the first night, Friday, December 4
- Weekend of November 28–29: fry the big batch and freeze it. That is well inside the 3-to-4-month quality window, and it keeps the frying away from Thanksgiving week.
- Thursday, December 3, evening: peel the potatoes for any fresh batch and keep them whole under cold water in the fridge. Make the applesauce if you make your own.
- Friday, December 4, afternoon: fry the fresh batch, if you want one, and reheat the frozen latkes on racks. If you don’t cook on Shabbat, finish all of this before candle-lighting; how you keep food warm over Shabbat is a question for your own practice and your rabbi.
- The other seven nights: take out a bag in the afternoon, or bake them straight from the freezer while the candles are lit.
Eight nights of frying: the safety part
Cooking is the leading cause of home fires, according to the U.S. Fire Administration, and the leading factor in the fires it tracks is cooking left unattended. Its advice applies directly to a skillet of hot oil: stand by your pan, and if you leave the kitchen, turn the burner off. If you see smoke or the oil starts to boil, turn the burner off. Turn pot handles toward the back of the stove. Keep a pan lid or a baking sheet within reach, and if the pan catches fire, cover it to put the fire out. Frying one big batch ahead, in a calm kitchen, is also the safer way to do it than frying in a crowd.
Where RecipeScan helps, and where it doesn’t
What it can’t do: RecipeScan doesn’t know food-safety rules and doesn’t read a thermometer. It won’t send a notification when a bag of latkes is getting old; the expiry reminder only appears inside the app, and the only notifications it sends are for timers you start while cooking. It also has no party planner that works out how many latkes 20 guests eat.
What it can do: keep the family latke recipe in one place, whether you paste a link from a recipe site or type it in yourself, and scale it with the ½× to 3× buttons when one batch has to become three. Send the scaled ingredients to one grocery list, so the potatoes, onions, eggs and oil are bought in one trip. On frying day, Cooking Mode walks you through the recipe a step at a time, with a timer button wherever a step gives a time. Saving up to 3 recipes of your own and Cooking Mode are free. Scanning a handwritten card or cookbook page with the camera is Premium, and the scanned recipe doesn’t keep a copy of the card’s photo, so keep your own picture of the original. If Grandma’s recipe is on a stained index card, here is how scanning a handwritten card works.
Frequently asked questions
Can you make latkes the day before?
Yes. Fry them all the way, cool them on a rack, and get them into the fridge within 2 hours of frying. USDA FSIS gives cooked leftovers 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator. Reheat them in a single layer on a rack in a 400°F oven until a thick one reads 165°F, and they come back crisp.
Can you freeze latkes?
Yes, and they freeze better than most fried food because they are mostly dry potato and egg. Freeze them in one layer on a sheet pan until hard, then stack them in freezer bags with parchment between layers. USDA FSIS says frozen leftovers are best within 3 to 4 months and stay safe indefinitely at 0°F.
Do you have to thaw frozen latkes before reheating?
No. USDA FSIS says it is safe to reheat frozen leftovers without thawing; it just takes longer. Put frozen latkes straight onto a rack in a 400°F oven and give them a few more minutes than refrigerated ones, until a thick one reads 165°F.
Can you grate the potatoes the night before?
Not for good latkes. Grated raw potato turns gray and gives off liquid as it sits. Peel the potatoes the night before instead and keep them whole and fully under cold water in the fridge; the Idaho Potato Commission advises using cut potatoes held in water within 24 hours. Grate them just before frying.
How do you keep latkes crisp for a party?
Drain them on a wire rack, not stacked on paper towels, reheat them uncovered in a single layer, and keep them warm on a rack in a low oven so they stay at 140°F or above. USDA FSIS says hot food left at room temperature for more than 2 hours should be thrown away.
Sources: USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, Leftovers and Food Safety (2-hour rule, 3 to 4 days refrigerated, 3 to 4 months frozen, reheating to 165°F, reheating without thawing, holding hot food at 140°F); also searchable in the USDA FoodKeeper app. Idaho Potato Commission, Is It Safe to Leave Cut Potatoes in Water? U.S. Fire Administration, Cooking Fire Safety. Hanukkah 2026 dates: Hebcal.
Get the latke recipe out of the drawer
Save it in RecipeScan, triple it for the party, send the ingredients to one grocery list, and fry from Cooking Mode with a timer on every step.
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