Got leftover taters? Make these easy Mashed Potato Pancakes that are crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Perfect as a vegetarian entree or side dish. Try making them using leftover colcannon from tonight’s St. Patrick’s Day dinner.
Mashed potatoes for days
It’s happened to you before. You’re making a big holiday dinner and you didn’t think the 5 pound bag of potatoes would be enough, so you mashed 10 pounds instead. Now there’s 4 extra large Tupperware containers full of this starchy veg in the refrigerator and you’re screwed because there’s no more gravy left. How are you going to eat all of those leftover mashed potatoes with no gravy? If this sounds familiar, then keeping on reading because you need this basic leftover mashed potato pancakes recipe in your life.
3 simple ingredients
These mashed potato pancakes are made up of only 3 simple ingredients: leftover mashed taters, flour, and an egg. Trust me, you won’t even miss the gravy.
This recipe is a very versatile one, as any kind of leftover mashed potatoes will do. For a side dish, keep it light and use the potatoes as is or add some spices or fresh herbs. Want to make it the star of the meal? Add cheese and a cooked protein like bacon, ham, corned beef, short rib or even duck confit for an even heartier entree pancake.
So, I recently found myself in this type of leftover situation. This time it was a rather large amount of the slow cooker colcannon from a couple of posts ago, but I didn’t worry. Tater cakes to the rescue!
The cabbage and kale vegetables in the colcannon mixture seemed to almost melt into the buttery mashed potatoes and the exterior crunch was absolute perfection. I’ll also be perfectly honest here, I fried these in a little lot more oil than I normally would, but the extra calories were definitely worth it because the result was an unbelievably crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, potato pancake. I served them with sour cream and chives and it was just like eating a fried baked potato. I love a good crunchy potato more than anything.
To make a successful potato pancake, the chilled leftover mashed potatoes should be thick and not too loose. I don’t like to use more than 1/2 cup of flour for 3 cups of potatoes. If more flour is needed, feel free to add up to 3/4 cup, but be careful with adding any more, because the pancakes will taste too much like flour and not like potatoes.
Serve the mashed potato pancakes with sour cream, applesauce, salsa, hot sauce, cheese sauce, kimchi…basically serve them with whatever you want. Tater cakes don’t judge!
Hope you all have a very happy St. Patrick’s Day today and, if you have any potato leftovers, make these Mashed Potato Pancakes tomorrow morning for brunch!
- 3 cups mashed potatoes, chilled {I used leftover colcannon for mine}
- ½ cup of all-purpose flour
- 1 egg, beaten
- an oil for frying (vegetable, avocado, etc)
- optional additional ingredients: any cooked meats or vegetables, cheese, spices, etc
- optional accompaniments: chopped green onions, sour cream, applesauce, etc
- Place the mashed potatoes in a large bowl. Gently mix in the flour and beaten egg (and any additional ingredients if using). Form mixture into 9 pancakes and place them on a plate. Cover and refrigerate the potato pancakes until ready to use.
- In a large cast iron skillet or suitable frying pan, heat about ½ inch of oil over medium-high heat to 360F degrees. Add 3 pancakes at a time to the hot oil, being careful not to crowd pan. Shallow fry for about 5 minutes on one side, then flip over and cook 5 minutes on the other side, until the cakes are browned and crispy on both sides.
- Remove the finished pancakes to a baking sheet lined with a cooling rack or paper towels and keep warm in a 200F oven. Repeat process with remaining potato mixture two more times or until all the pancakes are made.
- Sprinkle with the chopped green onions and serve with sour cream, applesauce, etc.
Great way to make good use of leftovers! Waste not, want not, right? This is definitely a case of a recipe using leftovers being just as good as or better than the original. I don’t blame ya for using more olive oil than you normally would, cause you gots to get those crispy brown bits. My fave part. You know what would be deadly with this? A poached egg. Slice that sucker up all over this and I’m set. Way to go. Now, I’m hungry, so thanks for that 😉 Happy St. Patrick’s day to you too! XOXO
Beautiful pancakes, Karrie! Sometimes I think I like savory pancakes/waffles more than sweet versions. I would serve these guys with some sour cream and dill…and maybe chives (not for a breakfast/lunch version though)…and smoked salmon too…(oh perhaps, with maple bacon?):) And I love when we have some potatoe leftovers (rarely happens indeed cause I try to limit our potatoe intake). In this rare situations, I like to slightly roast them in a skillet and then optionally (Depending on my mood) beat in a couple of eggs. Perfect brunch/breakfast:)
This is a great idea, but with the greens, it’s a really great idea!
These look amazing! and with the greens they are basically healthy right?
OMG you perfectly described be with a 10 pound bag of potatoes and an overflow of mashed potato filled Tupperware in my fridge. Next time I’m making these awesome potato pancakes and topping them with anything I want since, thank goodness, taters don’t judge! Pinned!
im glad im not the only one who over potatoes dinners haha! These look so tasty I want them on my breakfast plate x
I think I’d make an extra huge batch of mashed potatoes just so I could make these potato cakes! They look so yummy. I’d definitely eat mine with sour cream!
How friggin’ fun are these!!! I wonder if my husband would like them. He hinted yesterday about how much he loves mashed potatoes – I think he wants me to MAKE them! haha!
OMG! If these taste as good as they look, they will be my new favorite dish!!! These looks like the best potato cakes ever. I am totally drooling.
I ALWAYS have left over mashed potatoes. I love the idea of making potato cakes with them. I’ve had trouble with them falling apart in the past so I’m going to try your method. Thanks!