Crispy, Leftover Mashed Potato Pancakes (An Easy Recipe)

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Leftover mashed potatoes? LUCKY YOU! You can make these crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside potato pancakes from mashed potatoes tonight. No flour needed. Just an egg, green onions, seasoning and a fork.

Skip right to the potato pancakes from mashed potatoes recipe.

My favourite potato dishes in order of preference (as of my mood at this exact moment): potato chips, french fries, potato pancakes, gnocchi. TWO of the things on my list are made with leftover mashed potatoes.

I have an easy gnocchi recipe that uses leftover mashed potatoes and then there's my potato pancakes. The love of my life.

I usually get a craving for them just by looking at the jars of homemade chili sauce in my kitchen cupboard. Get my chili sauce recipe here if you're wanting to make some of the good homemade stuff.

I have the same reaction when I spot horseradish in my fridge only that ends with me making an entire roast beef dinner. I think we all know what I end up making when I spot the bottle of ketchup. Yes french fries. In fact, I believe I make some pretty perfect french fries. It's all in the double fry.

I'm highly suggestible when it comes to food condiments.

So you want some potato pancakes? 'Cause you can have some! All you have to do is remember to make extra mashed potatoes the next time you have them. Thennnnn the next night you can have potato pancakes out of the leftovers. It's simple math really.

Obviously these don't have to be made with leftover mashed potatoes, you can cook mashed potatoes specifically for making them. You just need to make sure you have time to cool the cooked potatoes in the fridge before making the mixture. Using cold mashed potatoes help stop the pancakes from falling apart.

I normally just eyeball everything but for those of you who like a recipe I've included one.

Table of Contents

potato Pancake Recipe

Preheat oven to 210 F for keeping finished pancakes warm.
Slice a couple of green onions.
Mix the green onions in with 2 cups of mashed potatoes and one large egg.

* If you're making these from just cooked, hot mashed potatoes, you need to temper the egg with some hot potatoes before adding it to them. But I would recommend cooling the potatoes in the fridge after mashing them and before adding the onions and egg.

Season the mixture with salt and pepper.

Grab a ball of the potatoes. About "this" much. Maybe ¼ cup or so and form the mixture into patties.

Fry in olive or vegetable oil and/or butter. I use both oil and butter in a non stick pan for frying these. It gives flavour and makes sure the pancakes don't stick to the bottom of the pan. Cook over medium/low heat until golden brown. Keep an eye on them to make sure your heat isn't set too high which will burn them.

Once your pancakes are cooked, pop them in the oven on a baking sheet to keep them warm while you cook the remaining ones.

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Serve with chili sauce or sour cream.

Can you see that?? I'm sure you can see that. Crispy on the outside, fluffy and hot on the inside. And just so you know, there's really no such thing as too much chili sauce with potato pancakes. I've been known to go through an entire jar in one sitting.

Not fond of chili sauce? I don't actually understand that but like I mentioned before sour cream is another respectable condiment choice for potato pancakes OR the classic dollop of applesauce.

Mashed Potato Pancakes

This is a recipe for mashed potato pancakes.

4.38 from 35 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Side Dish

Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 10

Total Time: 15

Servings: pancakes

Calories: 191kcal

Author: Karen

Ingredients

2 cups Potatoes mashed
2 Green Onions sliced thin
1 Egg
Salt and Pepper
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoon butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 210 f.
Slice your green onions.
Add green onions and egg to mashed potatoes and mix together.
Season with salt and pepper
Form mixture into hamburger shaped patties.
Heat oil and butter in non stick pan over medium low heat.
Fry patties allowing the underside to brown until crisp before flipping them over to fry the other side. Add more oil or butter if needed once you flip them.
Keep finished potato pancakes on a plate in the preheated oven to keep hot.
Serve potato pancakes with sour cream or chili sauce.

Nutrition

How to keep potato pancakes from falling apart

Egg is what will bind everything together so there's no need to add flour.
If your pancakes aren't sticking together while you form them, you can add a bit more egg, or put the potato mixture into the refrigerator to firm up again.
If your pancakes are feeling too wet and won't form into a patty you can add a bit of flour to act as a binder.
Putting your mashed potato pancakes into the fridge before frying will firm them up and help them hold together while you cook them.

Where's the CHEESE?

Cheese is my favourite food group, but for whatever reason I don't like to add cheese to my potato pancakes. YOU might feel differently. If you'd like cheese, just add ¼ cup of parmesan cheese or ½ cup of shredded cheddar to the mixture.

I know I've mentioned this before but these really do pair well with the fall spices of homemade chili sauce. It's addicting. As an added bonus, while you're simmering this chili sauce your whole house will smell delicious. Less of a bonus is when you start licking your own furniture because of it.

If I've convinced you about the merits of homemade chili sauce you can read my whole recipe and canning instructions for it in this post.

O.K., you have mashed potato pancakes now what are you going to serve them with? If you're having them for breakfast then you can have them in place of hash browns but for dinner this is how I like to serve them.

What are you gonna serve with them?

I'm not sure why you don't want to just eat an entire plate of potato pancakes, but O.K.

My go-to is grilled sausage with some type of greens like swiss chard or green beans with butter.

Meat mains

sausage
pork chops
goulash
roast chicken
brisket
smoked salmon

Vegetarian mains

chana masala
ratatouille
tempeh breakfast sausages
cheesy black bean bake

Can I make potato pancakes out of baked potatoes?

Yes yes yes! Baked potatoes make great mashed potatoes, which in turn make really good potato pancakes.

How do I make them cheesy?

Add 1 cup of grated cheddar or mozzarella cheese per 2 cups of mashed potatoes for really cheesy potato pancakes. Just add the cheese to the mixture after you've incorporated the eggs.

Can you freeze mashed potato pancakes?

You bet you can. They'll freeze best if you cook them first then let them cool. After that you can place them on a parchment lined plate and stick them in the freezer to freeze quickly. Once frozen, separate each pancake with a small piece of parchment or waxed paper and put them in an airtight container or bag.

Do these have gluten?

As long as you don't add flour to the mixture, your potato pancakes will be gluten-free.

Now that I've polished off every one of the potato pancakes seen in this photo I can plan for tonight's dinner. What am I having? Here's a hint. I got the craving while looking at the bottle of squeeze mustard in my fridge.

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Kat - the other 1

July 24, 2022 at 12:49 am

Before all the stupid food allergies found me, I would make something similar to this but more meal like and called them fritters. Exact amounts are not important, no really.
Most importantly, (big batch by the way, freeze great) I'd put in leftover roasted pork, from a Boston butt (shoulder) or picnic, fatty bits removed while pulling. About 1 1/2 - 2 cups.
Start by spiralizing a zucchini into a large bowl, if using mashed potatoes proceed to next step if not spiral potatoes into bowl. Stick scissors in the bowl and chop all over. Mix with lemon or lime juice and a little salt. If desired you can pour out excess liquid, I rarely did. Grate/ shred a carrot, add to bowl, (1/4 -1 cup, whatever you want), 1-2 minced or shredded onions, color of choice. In another bowl beat eggs 4-12, or 6-8 whatever ( I usually used at least 8), add salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder, hot sauce?, whatever you like, curry spices even, 2-4 Tbls oil or half cup, about half a cup of mayo (a good one! Like Duke's ;). Whisk well. Start with about half -1 cup flour(s) of choice, unless using all coconut flour, then start with only 4 tbls, it is VERY absorbent. Whisk well. Add the veggies or pour over the veggies, whichever bowl is bigger, stir well. Add more flour if necessary (& yes, I have used almond flour too, usually a mix of almond, coconut, & rice) 1/4- 1/2 cup at a time. Should still be a little runny but not very, but you want to be able to spoon it out quickly into the pan and not scraping it out of the spoon/ cup for every fritter, or they'll burn while your trying to get them all in the pan. Lastly stir in the pork, slightly warmed so it doesn't stick to itself and will mix in. If desired add 1/2-1 cup shredded cheese, or add 1/4-1 cup nutritional yeast with the flours. Stir up. Plop onto frying pan or griddle over medium or medium high heat, depending on what your pan instructions say. I do medium. Takes approximately 4 minutes per side, if using around about 1/4 cup or a little less per fritter. Flip onto a tray in oven set to warm, but keep one out. Set up your next batch, then taste the set aside fritter. If necessary, adjust seasonings in rest of batter. Repeat with next batch for test tasting if adjusted seasoning. Freeze and reheat beautifully. Oh, I do put maybe 1-3 tsp of oil in pan for first batch, but that's all my pan needs. I usually eat plain, mom, who steals some even though she's intolerant of soy (mayo) & pork, eats them with butter and applesauce. :)

Ps. I prefer asshat. ;)
If I must.

Sadly can no longer eat eggs in addition to the gluten, dairy, garlic, etc. :(
Haven't figured out how to make these without eggs, or mayo, and who can afford meat anymore? *sigh*

Crispy, Leftover Mashed Potato Pancakes