Potato Croquettes are deep fried mashed potatoes balls and are the perfect way to use leftovers. They’re basically just like adult tater tots, only better! (Jump directly to the recipe.)
I adore Thanksgiving and all that comes with it. My partner AJ and I go all out and make everything we can for it but with all those dishes, also comes a ton of leftovers. And though we certainly enjoy duplicate Thanksgiving leftover meals the following few days, repetitive meals of the same thing do wear us down.
Worse still, is when we have varying different amounts of dishes, meaning we end up with a bunch of side with no turkey (not the worse thing). Or worse, a ton of mashed potatoes without gravy (no gravy – definitely the worse thing). GRAVY is everything to me, so the lack of gravy is pretty much the worse-case scenario for me. I’ve been known to actually make a second batch of gravy for myself just for the meal. JUST FOR MYSELF.
Thankfully, getting creative in the kitchen means I can repurpose all those extra mashed potatoes (which I inevitably have more of than other leftovers) into potato croquettes. If you’ve never made potato croquettes before, it’s one of the easiest and most fun things to do. Think of them as adult tater tots, a coated and fried mashed potato that even the most jaded weary done-with-Thanksgiving grinch can get behind. One taste of these and you might actually consider making extra mashed potatoes for them.
Potato Croquettes
Ingredients
- 2 cups cold mashed potatoes (I like to use this recipe)
- 2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese 57 g
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 70 g
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs 115 g
- Oil for frying
- Flaky salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place the mashed potatoes, parsley and cheese in a large bowl and mix together. Place a rimmed baking sheet or large plate on the table.
- Scoop up some of the mashed potatoes mixture (roughly 3 to 4 tablespoons) and roll a 1-inch by 2 1/2-inch oval football shape. Beat the egg and salt together in a medium bowl. Place the flour in another bowl and the panko bread crumbs in a third bowl.
- Roll one of the balls in the flour to coat. Then dunk and roll in the beaten egg. Let any excess egg drip off.
- The roll the croquette in the bread crumbs until coated. Place on the baking sheet/plate and repeat with the remaining mashed potato mixture.
- Once all the mashed potatoes are coated, pour enough frying oil in a medium sized skillet for it to be 1/2-inch deep. Heat the oil until it reaches 350°F or until a pinch of panko crumbs sizzles and immediately turns brown when dropped in.
- Carefully place a batch of croquettes in the hot oil, making sure not to crowd the pan too much. Fry for 45 to 60 seconds on one side, until it starts to get golden brown, then turn the croquette 1/3 the way over, and fry for an additional 45 to 60 second, repeating a third time until the entire croquette is golden brown.
- Move the fried croquettes to a wire rack placed over a rimmed baking sheet or a plate lined with paper towels. Repeat with the remaining croquettes, waiting for the oil to reheat to the hot temperature between batches.
- Sprinkle salt, pepper and parsley to garnish and serve while hot.
Carlin Breinig says
Oh my goodness! Yes, had leftover garlic leek mashed potatoes so had pinned this. Perfection. Great recipe, directions, results. Friday breakfast with eggs.
Irvin says
That sounds like a marvelous Friday breakfast!
Don Odiorne says
Loved the golden color and the variety of angles of all the shots.
Mary Anne says
Fantastic directions, recipe, photos. Of all of the recipes out there to choose from, I came to this one, and SAVED this one because it was the most elegant, no nonsense presentation, and yet, it was also the most fun to make. I also loved the creative recipes alongside it; especially the way they did not interrupt the recipe I was trying to make with videos and suggestions for other unrelated bits like certain other websites. Nice job on the entire site and your blogs also. Those who wish to read them can read them, or they can cut straight to the recipes. Keep up your amazing level of creativity!
Katherine says
These were delicious. Only had gruyere cheese, so I used that. Method was fool proof. Thanks for sharing the recipe. Family ate them all.
Julie da Silva says
How would these hold up at room temperature?
Annette DeFino says
Excellent! Easy to follow Definitely will make again!
Tracey B says
Just made these today. Yum! So delicious! I was wondering if this would work in the air fryer? Anyone tried it? I’m going to next time I have leftover mashed potatoes. So simple but big flavor!
Victoria Bell says
Not my favourite. I thought they tasted a bit eggy, but I am sensitive to the flavour of egg so it’s probably just me. My six-year-old refused to eat them, I think maybe if I had put a bit of powder chicken stock through the potatoes they would have tasted better. I found they tasted a bit Bland. Not bad, but I am Dutch and used to eating Croquettes made with beef or chicken. I guess these just are not what I was expecting, but with a few tweaks to the recipe oh, I’m sure they would taste more to my liking next time. Thanks for the inspiration.
friday night funkin says
Made these for my kids the other night and they absolutely loved them! Thank you!
Nettie says
Made these little pocket rockets tonight! I loved how easy the recipe was! I actually did these in the airfryer. Nice n crunchy! And to add a different twist to it, I used the croquette mixture and covered a boneless porkchop! It was a porkchop I had made the night before. 😉 I did put in the freezer for about 20 min to make handling easier. Cooked them in the airfryer for 6-8 min depending on how crunchy you wanted them. Porkchop encrusted one for maybe about 10 min. With the leftovers I put in the freezer. Very tastie! Will definitely make them
Again!!!