Viral Cheese Potato Hotteok: Easy Sweet Korean Pancake

This sweet cheese potato hotteok recipe is made with mashed potatoes and cheese. It’s simmered in a sweet and savory soy sauce glaze that elevates this Korean dish.

But wait! This isn’t your typical hotteok. The flavor is completely different. That’s why some people call it a pancake. But honestly? I like this way more than regular hotteok! You might end up feeling the same way!

What Is Cheese Potato Hotteok?

Technically, this isn’t a traditional hotteok. So why do I still call it that? Let’s take a closer look. You might already be familiar with the hotteok, one of Korea’s most beloved winter street snacks. It’s made by filling dough, typically a mixture of flour and glutinous rice flour, with brown sugar syrup. The dough is flattened and pan-fried in oil until the outside is lightly crispy while the inside stays soft and chewy thanks to the glutinous rice flour. The result is a warm, sweet, sticky treat with a molten sugar filling.

However, making authentic hotteok at home can be challenging. In Korea, pre-made Korean hotteok mix is widely available, making it easy to recreate the flavor at home. But after moving to Belgium, I had difficulty finding this mix. That’s why I decided to use something much more accessible — potatoes — to create a simplified version.

This cheese potato hotteok is a popular Korean snack that many people enjoy making at home. While the cooking method is similar — filling wrapped in dough and pan-fried flat in oil — the taste is entirely different. I’ll explain more about the flavor below.

What Does It Taste Like?

Its flavor is completely different from that of traditional hotteok. You can think of it as an entirely different dish. This version uses mashed potatoes for the dough and is stuffed with mozzarella cheese instead of a brown sugar filling. The result is a rich, savory, slightly salty flavor. It’s delicious on its own, but many Koreans love sweet and salty flavors together.

To achieve that, we simmer it in a soy sauce–based glaze. As the sauce thickens and blends with the potato starch, it creates a chewier texture and brings out the perfectly balanced sweet and savory taste that Koreans love.

How Is It Different from Regular Potato Pancakes?

This dish is also quite different from the usual Korean pancakes made with potatoes. In Korea, there are generally two types of potato pancakes.

The traditional potato pancake is made by grating potatoes into a batter and pan-frying it. This creates a dense and chewy texture, which is quite different from the crispy Korean pancakes you might expect. The more trendy version uses thinly julienned potatoes, which are pan-fried in a way that makes the outside extra crispy — almost like they’re fried.

How Is It Different from Traditional Hotteok?

Here’s a breakdown of the key differences between traditional hotteok and this potato-based version.

Dough: Traditional hotteok dough is made with a mix of wheat flour and glutinous rice flour, which gives it a chewy, stretchy texture. The potato version uses mashed potatoes and potato starch instead, resulting in a crispier exterior with a softer bite.

Filling: In the classic version, the hotteok fillings are sweet mix of brown sugar, cinnamon, and chopped nuts. It’s known for its syrupy sweetness and the crunchy texture of the nuts. The potato version, on the other hand, is filled with mozzarella cheese, giving it a rich, savory flavor with a deliciously melty center.

Sauce: Traditional hotteok doesn’t come with a separate sauce — the melted brown sugar filling acts as its own syrup. The potato version can be enjoyed without any sauce, but it’s often glazed with a sweet and savory soy sauce, like in today’s recipe. This adds an extra layer of flavor and gives the dish that signature Korean “sweet and salty” balance.

The Secret to This Delicious Sauce

The sauce I’m making today is a sweet and salty soy sauce commonly found in many Korean dishes. It’s made by simmering soy sauce, sugar, and water into a savory syrup that’s cooked down with the potatoes. This sauce enhances the umami flavor of the potatoes and, when combined with the starch, creates a chewy texture similar to that of hoddeok.

Just 4 Ingredients

There are just four main ingredients: potatoes, potato starch, milk, and mozzarella cheese. The potatoes and starch give the dough a chewy texture, and the soft cheese creates a smooth, creamy bite from start to finish. This combination results in a truly delicious and satisfying snack.

Easy Hotteok Recipe with Potato and Cheese

• No need to boil water! Simply steam the potato in the microwave.
• Mash the steamed potato, then mix it with starch and milk to form the dough.
• Add cheese into the dough and shape it into round, flat discs.

• Generously heat oil in a pan, then fry the discs until golden and crispy on both sides.
• Finally, pour the sweet soy sauce over the pancake and let it simmer to coat.

Want It Crispy?

If you prefer a crispy exterior, simply skip the step of simmering the hotteok in the sauce. This way, the outside will stay slightly crunchy, as if it had been fried, while the inside will be filled with gooey, stretchy cheese—just like a delicious pancake!

When to Eat

Since this Korean pancake with potatoes and cheese is sweet, it’s perfect as a snack between meals rather than a main dish. It’s mild enough for kids to enjoy, and because it’s a bit greasy, it also pairs wonderfully as anju—Korean snack food served with beer.

Kitchen Guide

• Korean Soy Sauce (Jin Ganjang) : US | UK

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