You can turn leftover mashed potatoes into something much more spectacular. Mashed potato pancakes turn ordinary mashed potatoes into crispy potato treats that everyone will love. Turn leftovers into something amazing in a matter of minutes.
Mashed potato cakes are some of the best uses for leftover potatoes! When mixed with egg, onion, and a little bit of seasoning, you get little heavenly mashed potato pancakes.
Table of Contents
What do you do with leftover mashed potatoes?
If the answer isn’t obvious, you need to make this delicious potato pancake recipe, with all of your leftover potatoes!
Recipe Ingredients
Here’s a list of what you need:
- Mashed potatoes
- Large egg
- Lawry’s seasoned salt
- Ground black pepper
- All-purpose flour
- Green onion
- Butter or vegetable oil
Best Potatoes for Potato Pancakes
This style of potato pancake is best suited for potatoes that make great mashed potatoes. I like to make these with either Russet potatoes because they are wonderfully starchy. I also like to make them with Yukon gold potatoes. Yukon gold potatoes are prized for their naturally buttery flavor.
How to Make Potato Pancakes from Mashed Potatoes
- Combine mashed potatoes, egg, seasoned salt, ground black pepper, flour, and onion in a medium bowl.
- Shape potato mixture into 3-inch patties.
- Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.
- Add butter and cook the potato pancakes on both sides until heated through and browned.
- Be sure not to overcrowd the pan, you may need to cook the potato pancakes in small batches.
Do you need to make potato pancakes with leftover potatoes
No, you don’t. You can boil some potatoes and mash them. This is a great way to turn mashed potatoes into something else. Sometimes after large family meals, you might have a lot of leftover mashed potatoes. This is a great way to use up those potatoes.
Can You Use Sweet Potatoes?
Yes! You can use sweet potatoes for this recipe too if you want a sweeter potato pancake recipe. Serve them with some syrup or a brown sugar sauce, and enjoy a sweet treat!
What to Serve with Leftover Mashed Potato Pancakes
You can serve these delicious pancakes with some scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, basically, any breakfast item will do!
Or you can even switch it up a bit and serve these with a juicy burger! You can also make this the star of the show and serve it with sour cream and applesauce.
Best toppings for mashed potato cakes
You can spice up the potato cakes with different toppings! Here are a few suggestions:
- Avocado
- Cheddar cheese (shredded or melted)
- Ketchup
- Cheese spread
- Sour cream and green onions
- Fresh herbs like dill, parsley, thyme, or tarragon
Feel free to try some of your own ideas that you can think of!
How to Store, Freeze, or Reheat Mashed Potato Pancakes
After you have made the potato cakes, place them in an airtight container and store them in an airtight container and place them in the fridge.
If you want to freeze them, put them on a cookie sheet with parchment paper and line the cookie sheet. Place the cookie sheet in the freezer. Once the potato cakes are frozen, you can take them off and place them carefully in a freezer-safe ziplock bag until you are ready to eat them.
To reheat potato cakes, place them in the oven at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until they are cooked all the way through.
Best Mashed Potato Recipes
- Old Fashioned Mashed Potatoes
- Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
- Steakhouse Mashed Potatoes
- Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes
Love potatoes? Try these easy potato recipes!
- Lyonnaise Potatoes
- Parsley Potatoes
- Plain Potato Soup
- Roasted Red Potatoes
- Scalloped Potatoes
- Scalloped Potatoes with Ham
- Shredded Potato Pancakes
Check out my easy side dish recipes and the best Thanksgiving dinner recipes here on CopyKat!
Mashed Potato Pancakes
Ingredients
- 2 cups mashed potatoes
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon finely sliced green onion
- 2 tablespoons butter
Instructions
- Combine the mashed potatoes, egg, seasoned salt, ground black pepper, flour, and green onion in a large bowl and mix well.
- Shape the potato mixture into 3-inch patties.
- Heat a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Add the butter.
- When the butter is melted, cook the potato pancakes on both sides until they’re heated through and browned. This should take 4 to 5 minutes on the first side, and 3 to 4 minutes on the other side.
- You may need to cook the potato pancakes in small batches. You may also need to add addtional butter to the bottom of the pan in the additional batches.
Video
Notes
- If you want to keep these warm just until serving, place the potato pancakes in an oven-proof dish and place into an oven heated to 200 degrees.Â
My mother has made these for years and we all loved them! The only difference is that we never used flour. My mashed potatoes are lumpier than most (we love them this way) so you get more chunky potato bits!
needed a bit more flour to hold together; served under chicken alfredo…wonderful!
I am so excited to try this recipe. My mother would use left over mashed potatoes to make potato pancakes, but sadly I never got the recipe or watched her make them.So I haven’t tried this recipe but will as soon as I have some leftovers. Thanks!
This was a great recipe. I had leftover mashed potatoes, I added the other ingredients and it turned out scrumptious! My kids like them with ketchup,I do prefer the sour cream.