Loaded Mashed Potato Balls
What do you do with leftover mashed potatoes? You make melt-in-your-mouth, crisp yet creamy mashed potato balls of course!
Sorry, guys. I have another mashed potato recipe today.
Except I’m basically using the garlic ranch mashed potatoes I posted the other day, adding in bacon and cheese, rolling them into balls, and then deep frying them.
Again, I’m sorry. No, wait. I’m sorry I’m not sorry.
Because fried mashed potato balls are, well, pretty darn epic.
And it’s a great way to use up those leftovers during the holidays.
You win either way.
Loaded Mashed Potato Balls
What do you do with leftover mashed potatoes? You make melt-in-your-mouth, crisp yet creamy mashed potato balls of course!
Ingredients
- 4 slices bacon, diced
- 2 cups vegetable oil, or more, as needed
- 3 cups leftover mashed potatoes
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1 ½ cups Panko*
- 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate; set aside.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium high heat.
- In a large bowl, combine mashed potatoes, cheese, chives, cayenne pepper and bacon.
- Using a small cookie scoop, roll the mixture into 1 1/4-to-1 1/2-inch balls, forming about 25.
- Working one at a time, dip balls into eggs, then dredge in Panko, pressing to coat.
- Working in batches, add balls to the Dutch oven and cook until evenly golden and crispy, about 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Serve immediately, garnished with Parmesan, if desired.
Notes
*Panko is a Japanese-style breadcrumb and can be found in the Asian section of your local grocery store.
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This recipe needs a few upgrades.
1.) place the potato balls into the freezer for an hour or two before you deep fry them
2.) coat the potato balls with flour or corn starch before you do the egg and bread crumb dredge
3.) Do a double dredge! (steps 1, 2, 3 here help prevent the balls from falling apart during frying.)
4.) Consider substituting pork rind crumbs instead of bread crumbs to cut carbs and add a twist of flavor
5.) Putting a cube of Velveeta cheese in the middle when you form the balls will give them a burst of melty flavor
Chris – good point on the freezing! I have actually made these waaay in advance, frozen them, then just fried whatever we wanted for dinner that night. Works great!
I made these and they sadly didn’t stay together. I think my oil wasn’t hot enough but they were tasty. I will try again but with hotter oil.
Made them today, outstanding. Thanks
These were amazing! I make them using a leftover Ina parmesan smashed potato recipe (I hope you don’t mind me saying that…I put you in the same category as her anyway, as you both have fabulous recipes!!!!!). SO I assembled everything in advance, refrigerated, then fried right before we ate. These did NOT fall apart at all, but I think maybe people who didn’t have success maybe didn’t heat the oil up enough. I heated mine to 350 degrees and they stayed together just fine.
Made these and deep fried some and used the air fryer for some. The air fryer is fantastic do everything the same just put in air fryer. Crispy and lovely. I did at 400 for 20 minutes but it would depend on the size you make. Mine were about 1.5 inche in diameter
Excellent side. My spuds were on their way out so I made the balls only to the point of shaping. I froze for about a month took them out frozen egged and breaded into deep fryer until golden. My picky Grandson gobbled this up. Very good.
I think these sound wonderful. My question is, can I cook these in a hot air convection oven? I got rid of all of my “deep fryer” appliances when I spent $200 on a large, hot air fryer oven. I might add, that it works wonderfully and items cook up nice and crispy in this oven. Anyway, I’d love to hear what you think. Trying to eat a little healthier, tho mashed potatoes don’t normally fall into that category. We love them, however!
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
Delicious! Everyone enjoyed these I just added another piece of bacon though but this is a perfect way to use left over mashed potatoes!
Lovely recipe! However is there any way I could substitute the eggs?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
I feel like they need a dip, any suggestions?
Try cheese dip.
I am a huge fan of ranch dip or maybe a garlic aioli
Sour cream!
I always heat jalapeño jelly and serve the balls on top – my family talks about them all year. Only at Thanksgiving in my house
Wow they look soooo dang tasty! (:
I just wonder if you can make these in the NuWave or an air fryer.
It’s hard to say – I have never actually tried it myself!
Didn’t use bacon. Used different types of turkey ham and it still came out great! They went as fast as I made them :).
I would make them as a potato pancake and they would probably stay together and be just as tasty. Kinda like latkes…
I made these and tried to fry them with two iterations. They tasted great but were a structural disaster both times. They fell apart. I froze them both times after constructing them. I followed the recipe exactly. 1st attempt using the exact directions, i took them out of the freezer, let them thaw for 4 hours…. fell apart…. 2nd attempt (same batch).. i took them directly from the freezer to the fryer… same thing.. they fell apart… I am thinking it may be the potatoes… I used Idaho potatoes… this time I am going to use Red potatoes. Reds have less starch and more sugars than Russet potatoes… We will see
I failed horribly at making these. I will try again the balls were to big and I didn’t have Panko had trader Joe’s bread crumbs and they just fell apart so much wasted I blame the bread crumbs will def use the Panko next time!
I tried these, they didn’t work. The mashed potatoes (followed the potato recipe exactly) were to liquidy so I tried to freeze it first and then form into balls and it did not work. They feel apart in the eggs mixture so it came out in a big goopy mess.
I wonder if you could flatten them and then coat so you can pan fry or bake…. hummm??
Yes!
I cannot wait to put these balls in my mouth!!!
I love the mashed potato ball recipes!
It is amazing!