Potato Nuggets (using Leftover Mashed Potatoes!)
Hi Kneaders!
Mashed potatoes…creamy, hearty, stick-to-your-ribs goodness…you really can’t go wrong. But, sometimes, you have leftover mash and you want something different. Or, at least, I do. For years, I’ve been using my leftover mash to make my foolproof Potato Bread but sometimes I just want a savory, crunchy snack. This creation was born from leftovers and a craving!
They’re creamy, crispy and satisfying. You might just find yourself making extra mashed potatoes so you can make this easy customizable snack.
What Ingredients Do I Need?
These balls of crispy, gooey, fluffy goodness are so versatile. The goal with this kind of recipe is using what you have on hand. If you have leftover mashed potatoes and some cheese, use that.
If you have leftover meats, veggies & toppings…add that in! Keep it vegetarian or load it up with meat. It’s totally up to you.
All you’ll need for these bad boys is:
- Leftover mashed potatoes
- Cheese
- Filling of choice: meat, veggie, etc.
- Beaten egg
- All purpose flour
- Breadcrumbs
For the filling, less is more. The key is to not overstuff them or they’ll leak a bit during the cooking process.
How Do I Make It?
The beauty of these besides how customizable they are is how easy they are. It might take a little time to shape and cook them depending on how many you’re making. But, get the kids to help!
Scoop about 1 tablespoon of leftover mashed potatoes into a ball. I like to use an ice cream scoop so they’re all the same size. Roll the mixture into a ball, place onto a dish that fits in your freezer, and flatten each one.
Freeze the flatten discs until almost solid. Remove from the freezer and begin adding your filling to the center of each.
Gently fold up the sides, forming a ball, until the filling is enclosed in the mashed potatoes. Freeze these until solid.
Dredge your frozen stuffed balls in flour, egg and then bread crumbs.
Fry, bake or air fry your potato nuggets. If you air fry or bake, spritz with cooking oil to ensure browning.
How Do I Store It?
These can easily be frozen after you’ve fried them (and allowed them to cool). I store them in freezer bags and re-heat when I’m ready to eat.
If you plan on eating them the same day, you can pop them in the fridge. Otherwise, the best bet is freezing and re-heating straight from frozen.
These are kid-friendly, freezer-friendly and perfect for snack time (or anytime)! They would even be great for camping as they can be whipped up with minimal ingredients!
Happy eating!
How to Make (Stuffed) Potato Nuggets with Leftover Mash!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup mashed potatoes leftover and chilled
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs homemade, panko or italian
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cheese, meat or veggies of choice for stuffing diced into small cubes
Instructions
- Scoop about 1 Tablespoon of leftover mashed potatoes (that have been chilled in the fridge overnight, if possible) and roll into balls.
- Press each ball down a bit to flatten and place them on a tray that fits in your freezer.
- Place your tray into the freezer and flash freeze until almost solid.
- Once frozen, get your toppings ready (if any) by dicing them up into small cubes. I love to use cheddar and chorizo (or bacon!) here.
- Take a small amount of toppings (one or two little cubes of cheese/meat) and place smack-dab in the center of your little potato disc. Then, start to gather the sides together to enclose the whole thing. You're basically sealing the toppings inside. Remember for the stuffing – less is more here!
- Place each disc back onto your freezer tray and pop into the freezer to solidify one more time! You basically just want them firm enough to handle so you can dredge them without everything falling apart.
- Prepare a dredging station with three shallow bowls. One should have all purpose flour, the second should have beaten egg and the third is your bread crumbs.
- Dredge each potato nugget as you would any other fried food. First, coat in the flour mixture. This will help the egg adhere to the nugget!
- Next, dip your nuggets into the beaten egg. Make sure to let any excess mixture drip off.
- Lastly, coat your nuggets completely in the bread crumbs. This is where the nice crunch will come from so make sure you coat each nugget evenly.
- At this point, if the nuggets have gotten too warm from the environment, you can refrigerate or freeze them until firm. If they are too soft, they will fall apart when frying!
- Heat frying oil to 350F and fry your potato nuggets until golden brown. Remember, everything is already cooked so you just want to fry until you get a nice, crispy exterior and a warm, melty middle! This won't take very long. Make sure to move them around as they fry and keep an eye on them so they don't burn.
- Remove potato nuggets with a spider strainer or slotted spoon onto paper towels to absorb any excess oil. Personally, I like to use good ole brown paper bags instead of paper towels.
Notes
The refrigeration really firms up the potatoes and makes them much easier to work with, which is why leftover mash is perfect here. If you don’t have any mashed potatoes leftover and still want to make this recipe, you totally can. Just make sure your mash isn’t runny and let chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before moving forward with the recipe as written.
If you are prepping these nuggets for the freezer, you can flash freeze them on a baking tray after you dredge them. Once they are frozen solid, remove them from the tray and place into a freezer bag for future use! This step is important so that the nuggets don’t get all frozen and stuck together.
These really do freeze beautifully. These are a fantastic and quick snack that I almost always have ready to go in my freezer.
Quick Tip: Make sure to write on the outside of your freezer bag what the contents are along with cooking time & temp. I promise you that even though you think you’ll remember what’s in there and how to heat it up….you won’t 😛
These are so customizable and can really be stuffed with anything (just don’t overstuff them). Feel free to leave the toppings out altogether. I used to make these as is long before I ever decided to stuff them and I promise they are just as scrumptious!