Transform your leftover mashed potatoes into yummy loaded mashed potato cakes!
Mix leftover spuds with crispy bacon bits, green onions, and lots of cheddar cheese, and then panfry them until golden brown and crisp.
Serve with a dollop of sour cream & chives, a squeeze of ketchup, or top them with leftover turkey and gravy.
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We Love These Mashed Potato Cakes (and so will you!)
- Transform leftover mashed potatoes into fried potato patties with a few extra ingredients and seasonings.
- Mashed potato cakes are budget friendly, and kids love ’em.
- Mix and match the cheese and other add-ins to create new flavors and use up your leftovers.
- Fry them up in bacon grease and top with a runny fried egg for a great breakfast (or use them as a base for eggs benedict).
- These potato cakes can be served alone as a light dinner or as a side dish to meat or chicken.
Ingredients for Mashed Potato Cakes
Mashed Potatoes – Use leftover mashed potatoes if you have some or use instant mashed potatoes (or pre-made) if you don’t have any. Even cauliflower mashed potatoes can be used for a low-carb recipe.
Cheese – Experiment with different types of cheese, such as cheddar, parmesan cheese, Mexican blend, or pizza mozzarella.
Bacon – Bacon and mashed potatoes go hand in hand. Bacon can be oven baked or use real bacon bits.
Leftovers – As a variation, you can add leftovers like chopped chicken or turkey, leftover roasted veggies, etc.
Seasonings – Green onions are a favorite, add in other fresh herbs if you have them.
How to Make Mashed Potato Cakes
- Fry bacon until crispy. Cook onion and garlic in the bacon grease (per recipe below).
- Add the remaining ingredients and form into potato cakes.
- Pan fry in bacon fat or butter until golden brown on both sides.
Serve hot with extra green onions, sour cream, or ketchup.
Leftovers & Reheating
- Keep leftover mashed potato pancakes in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Reheat them in the microwave, oven, or air fryer until heated through.
- Mashed potato cakes made in batches can be chilled and frozen for up to 6 weeks in zippered bags. Simply crisp them up on the stovetop or in the air fryer!
More Leftover Mashed Potato Recipes
Did you enjoy these Loaded Mashed Potatoes? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 slices bacon
- ½ cup finely diced white onion or ¼ cup sliced green onion
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cups prepared mashed potatoes chilled
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil or ½ teaspoon dried
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley or 2 teaspoons dried
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup all-purpose flour *see note
- 4 tablespoons butter for frying
Instructions
- In a large skillet, fry the bacon over medium heat until crispy. Drain on paper towels and once cooled, crumble.
- Reserve 2 tablespoons of bacon fat in the frying pan. Cook the onion and garlic over medium heat until translucent. (If using green onion, no need to precook).
- In a medium bowl, combine crumbled bacon, mashed potatoes, cooked onion, shredded cheese, basil, parsley, eggs, salt & pepper. Mix well and add flour a bit at a time until the potato cakes hold together. You may not need all of the flour.
- Melt 1 tablespoon of butter (or leftover bacon fat) in a clean skillet over medium heat.
- Scoop about ¼ of a cup of the potato mixture and form it into a ball. Place it in the hot pan and flatten it with a spatula until it’s about ½ – ¾″ thick. Repeat with remaining potato cakes (cooking in batches if needed).
- Fry for about 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until the potato patties are golden brown and crisp.
- For best results, serve immediately while hot and crispy.
- Top with green onions, sour cream, or ketchup.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Side Dish
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* which i was going for since im used to latkes and wanted something entirely different. Delish recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it! I agree, definitely not a latke (which are one of my personal favorite!!). I use a cheese shredder for my Latkes!
I made these tonight using instant mashed potatoes. The outside was crispy and the inside was smooth mashed potato texture… These are nothing like Potato Latkes…These taste like mashed potatoes had a baby with a baked potato and then eloped with a tater tot. The only latke recipe i use is very authentic and prepared entirely different. No mashing of anything!
Wow these look awesome, will be giving this recipe a try soon!
My mom made these for years, she only added the two eggs to whatever potatoes she had left. Then she would not even measure the flour, she just added until it stuck together. She didn’t add any more salt and pepper because they were already in the potatoes. Then she would cook them like pan cakes. The kids ate them better that way and just after World War II there wasn’t a lot of extra things to add.
Brenda – during WW II, we could not get many things in the grocery stores. My dad was a store manager, but we had to have stamps to get what we were allowed. No sugar, margarine came as a white greasy substance in a cellophane bag with a yellow capsule to burst and mix. I made potato cakes for my daughters growing up with left over mashed potatoes, chopped onion, flour and fry them in hot oil.
This is not a new idea. These were fairly standard fare when I was growing up. They were called potato latkes. The version I grew up on contained no meat of any kind. They contained potato, the seasonings of your choice and enough fat to fry them. Theey were delicious!1
do they freeze well? I’m sure it is delicious, and I’d love to make some extra to throw in the freezer for right after my little guy gets here in Oct, since I won’t be cooking so much then… I would probably reheat in the oven, I think.
I’ve never tried it!! You can buy frozen stuffed potatoes which is very similar so I would think it would work!
Question for you – can you make these potato cakes using instant potatoes? They look so darn yummy!
I am sure you could! I have never tried but the consistency is the same so I would think it would work! If you do try it, please let us know how they turn out! :)
I just tried these and they were really good. They were also pretty simple to throw together. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
These are also delicious with applesauce on top, jalapeño jelly, peach or apricot preserves, just adds that net little taste
Making tonight. Will try them with apple sauce. sounds like a neat addition
Can these be baked instead?
I haven’t tried it but I bet they could! I would suggest brushing with a little bit of butter before putting them in the oven! Let us know how it works out for you!
Betty
I have been looking for a recipe like this for years. My mother used to bake these often and we loved them! She took the basic recipe (just potatoes, flour, eggs S&P I think) mixed it well and shaped it into a large disk on a cookie sheet. She didn’t brush the top with anything, that I remember anyway, and baked it at 350* until it was baked. I just tried one recently and it baked for about an hour, but I guess it depends upon the size, too. They were so crispy and full of mashed potato flavor and a great way to use up the left over mashed potatoes (OK we never had any left over mashed potatoes, there were too many of us!)
That sounds delicious too! And really nice and simple to just pop it in the oven! Thank you for sharing!
I’m gona use creamed corn in mine today and see how they turn out
They w/b delish! My gram used to make these all the time – (she NEVER wasted ANYTHING)! – and she varied the add-Ins but creamedcorn was one of the kids’ faves – ( I know – I was one of them and LOVED them with cream-style corn)!
Thank you for sharing Jeani!
Love potatoes, these are a great idea! Pinning :)
Lori
Not Your Average Super Moms!
These look absolutely incredible! Just pinned!
I’m drooling over here, looks soooo yummy. Thanks for the recipe!
Good morning! I found your post at Lil’ Luna’s link party! This is such a great recipe idea and it’s definitely a must-try! I would like to invite you to my party to link up this recipe for others to see!
YUM! I pnned this so I can remember to make them when we have an overload of potatoes from the garden in the fall/winter :-)
I love this idea and can be so savory and a different texture on the plate. YUM
This is a fantastic idea. Love the play on a loaded baked potato. Pinning these to try. Saw them on melt in your month monday.
WOW…Potato heaven here. I saw this post on Melt in your Mouth Mondays Blog Hop and had to see it to save it! Thanks :o)
I grew up eating tater cakes. They’re delicious!
Thank so much will definitely be trying this soon. :)