What You Need
Just a few simple ingredients! Keep scrolling for the full recipe and ingredient list.
- Mashed potatoes. Any leftover mashed potatoes will work (I’ve even used my garlic mashed potatoes). We especially love using leftover mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving to make these. Important note: your mashed potatoes should be COLD when you make these. Do not reheat them or let them get too warm, they’ll just fall apart.
- Cheese. Use your favorite! I like sharp cheddar, but a mild cheddar or Colby Jack are both tasty. I prefer to shred my own cheese, but that’s not mandatory with this recipe like it is with my macaroni and cheese.
- Spices. Even though mashed potatoes usually have seasoning added to them, I like to add extra seasoning like garlic and onion powder to give these potato pancakes even more flavor. Feel free to leave these out if your mashed potatoes are already well-seasoned, but because we’re also adding egg and flour the added seasonings help.
- Binding agents. Including one egg and just a few tablespoons of flour. These help our pancakes hold their shape.
SAM
- Toppings. Sour cream and chives or scallions (or even bacon!) are all great toppings.
’S TIP: The less flour you add, the better; however, it is very important for you to be able to pick up the pancakes and flip them over while cooking without them falling apart. Two tablespoons of flour is a safe amount to add, but if your mashed potatoes are already super thick, you might not even need to add any.
Steps:
- Stir together the mashed potatoes, cheese, egg, flour, spices, and salt until well combined.
- Scoop by ¼ cup portions and drop onto a floured baking sheet. Dust the tops of each scoop with flour and flatten into ¾” thick discs.
- Cook: heat your pan until the oil shimmers (make sure you add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan or your pancakes will stick and fall apart), then add a few pancakes. Cook until golden brown on both sides and heated through; if you’re not sure whether they are done or not, the centers should be 165F if you check them with a thermometer.
Transfer to a paper towel lined plate or wire rack to drain while you cook your remaining pancakes. Serve warm–we like to add sour cream and chives, but they are tasty on their own too!
SAM’S TIP: You pancakes will be soggy if your oil isn’t hot enough. Make sure it shimmers before you add your pancakes, and always let it come back to temperature between batches!
Frequently Asked Questions
Honestly, any time of day! They make a great breakfast option alongside scrambled eggs or quiche (ooh, or dip them in sausage gravy!). Or serve them as a side or appetizer with lunch or dinner–they’d make a great alternative to fries with smash burgers or sloppy joes!
Believe it or not, you can make potato candy with leftover mashed potatoes! Just note that you don’t want to use mashed potatoes made with butter or flavorings for this–they must be plain. This is also how I make my Easter egg candy!
If you aren’t a candy person, you can also use leftover mashed potatoes to make potato buns. Again, just make sure they don’t have any added ingredients though.
Your pancakes will fall apart if your potatoes are too warm or if you didn’t add enough flour. Make sure you are able to handle your potato pancakes without them falling apart before adding them to the oil; if you can’t, you need to add more flour.
