Mashed Potato Cakes Recipe
Take your leftover mashed potato and make this crispy yet fluffy potato cakes recipe. They’ll simply melt in your mouth!
Wondering what to do with the leftover mashed potato from Thanksgiving? I highly recommend transforming them into a serving of these flavorful mashed potato cakes. This old-fashioned potato cakes recipe is quick and easy to follow and you’ll have a delicious new side dish in no time. Crispy on the outside but tender on the inside, these easy potato cakes are sure to be a hit!
Serve your potato cakes with turkey leftovers over the holidays, or as a side alongside main dishes like meatloaf, roasted chicken, or beef brisket any time of the year. You can even serve them with bacon and eggs for breakfast or as an appetizer with apple sauce or sour cream for dipping. The choice is yours!
Recipe Ingredients
- Flour (either self-rising or all-purpose flour; whatever you have on hand)
- Cold mashed potatoes (don’t use instant. Trust me).
- Eggs
To your mashed potatoes, add egg and mix up really well. Then add flour. Stir it up really well with a fork until well blended like this. It will be very thick and sticky.
You can also add some finely diced onion or green onion at this point as well.
Heat just a little bit of butter or oil (about two tablespoons of either or , it doesn’t take much) in the bottom of a large skillet and place over medium heat for two to three minutes, or until hot.
This is important because if you don’t heat your oil first, your potato cakes will be greasy.
Scoop out heaping spoonfuls of potato mixture into the hot oil.
Dip the back of your spoon into the oil and then press down with it onto the mashed potato patties to flatten them a bit.
Fry until browned and then carefully flip them over and brown on the other side.
Once they are golden brown on both sides, remove them to a paper towel-lined plate and eat up!
Storage
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. You can reheat them in the oven, the air fryer, or over low heat in a skillet.
- You can also individually wrap your potato cakes in foil and store them in a freezer bag in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Recipe Notes
- If you can’t resist the addition of cheese, add 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese or shredded cheddar cheese to this potato cakes recipe.
- Add some seasoning to your crispy potato cakes with dried herbs, like thyme, parsley, basil, or rosemary. Alternatively, opt for spices like or .
- If you want to sneak some veggies into these potato cakes, add some mashed cauliflower, chopped spinach, or finely shredded carrots.
- I strongly recommend using real mashed potatoes. Save those instant mashed potatoes to thicken your stews and use them in the crust on my taco casserole recipe instead.
- The flour and egg act as a binder to keep these together. But you can also refrigerate the batter before frying to ensure they don’t fall apart.
- There are several variations on this potato cakes recipe if you want to change things up! For example, add diced pepperoni and mozzarella cheese to your batter to make pizza potato cakes. You could also add leftover taco meat, cheese, and diced bell pepper for taco cakes. If you’re feeling Greek-inspired, opt for sundried tomatoes and feta cheese.
Recipe FAQs
How do you serve this mashed potato cakes recipe?
This potato cakes recipe is the definition of versatile. Serve them as a side dish alongside any meat main course, like grilled chicken or pork chops. You can also enjoy them as an appetizer and dip them in ketchup, apple sauce, salsa, or make a homemade sauce with mustard and mayonnaise or sour cream. Another option is to serve them as a side with soup and green salad.
Can I make these potato cakes gluten-free?
Absolutely! Simply use gluten-free flour and you have yourself some gluten-free potato cakes.
Check out these other popular potato recipes:
Fried Potatoes Recipe (Steppin’ Up The Flavor)
Greek Potatoes With A Twist: Meet Big Fat Greek Taters
The BEST German Potato Salad Recipe
Loaded Twice Baked Potatoes Recipe (Freezer Friendly)
Ingredients
- 2 cups cold leftover mashed potatoes
- 1 whole egg
- 1/4 cup flour all-purpose or self-rising
- 2 tbsp finely diced onions optional
Instructions
- Mix the egg into the mashed potatoes with a fork until well blended. Add the flour and onions (if using onions) and mix well. The mixture will be very stiff.2 cups cold leftover mashed potatoes, 1 whole egg, 1/4 cup flour, 2 tbsp finely diced onions
- Pour approximately 2 tablespoons of oil into a cast-iron skillet and heat over medium heat.
- Scoop out heaping tablespoons of mixture into the hot oil. Dip the back of a spoon into the oil and then the mashed potato mixture to flatten to about a 1/4-inch thick. By dipping the back of the spoon into the oil, the spoon will not stick to the potatoes, making flattening them much easier.
- Fry until golden brown and then flip and continue to brown the potato patty on the other side.
- Remove to a paper towel-lined plate to serve.
Thanks so much for the recipe. I so enjoyed these as a kid and wanted to make for mine. Just finished a serving….brought back warm childhood memories. : )
Thank you so much for this recipe. I have been trying to find this recipe as this is how my mother use to make potato cakes and i couldn’t remember exactly how she did it. I love these so much, so thank you again for putting this old fashion recipe on line. i am so grateful to you.
Thank YOU Susan!! I hope you get to try these soon, I can’t wait to hear what you think.
Omg !!! Thank you so much for this recipe I’m 52 years old my kids are grown I used to take them to my mom and grandma’s every weekend and she would make these potatoes cakes . They have both passed ay momma in 1995 grandma inot 1996 me and my husband live by ourselves we both love old fashion cooking I thought I knew how to make them I tried twice we ate them but was not so good I knew I was doing something wrong and now I know it was the EGG
Thank you so much .. Debbie
You are so welcome!! The egg makes all the difference in the world doesn’t it?
My grandmother always added a little mustard to the mix.
How interesting, I bet they were so good with that little bit of twang added!!
All so the cakes that come apart i just fried then very good.
I made some potatoes cake but put some hot pepper in the mix.Taste good
I’ve been haunting your site for the last few days (ever since I discovered it!) searching recipes and saving them. What I am getting a real kick out of are the number of recipes you have that I grew up on that I thought were Pennsylvania Dutch (my mom’s mom) or farm cooking (my dad’s mom). We’re talking generations of Pennsyvania hillbillies here… not a Southerner in the bunch! But I remember these growing up 🙂 I guess good food is good food.
First off, Welcome to Southern Plate Kerry!!!! I am so glad you decided to quit that lurking around and join us!! Second, that cracks me up!! Good food is definitely good food no matter what area or background you come from.
One of my very favorites, when my mom made these or fried green tomatoes, she had to stand there and fry for a long time before the platter was full but somehow we would almost be full before we got to the table! 🙂 She used baking mix instead of flour and bacon grease to fry in. Thanks for all the wonderful stories, they make your site!
Thank you Lorinda, but it is really folks like you that “make” it!! I appreciate YOU!!
Growing up in an old Boarding House and serving meals to the public, we were only gigged one time in 17 years by the Health Department. They came by one evening and we made Potato Patties by this same recipe that I still use today. The Health Department said since milk was used to cream the potatoes, it was not safe to reuse them as Potato Patties. Well, we never killed anyone with them, and besides, if we did – What a way to go! After that, we never served them again, but the upside was it just left more for the family. Be careful not to get too much flour or they taste like dough. Also, bacon grease adds more flavor if used for fring. My kitchen is undergoing a complete gut and remake. Today I bought a new Grease Bowl for the new stove top. 🙂