Fried Mashed Potato Cakes

By foodiva

Ingredients

• 2 cups cold left-over mashed potatoes
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup flour (or as needed to make a sticky dough)
• 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley, (optional)
• 1/4 cup minced green onion, (optional)
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup, or as needed, Panko bread crumbs
• 1 - 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon butter, (optional)

Details

Servings 1
Preparation time 5mins
Cooking time 20mins
Adapted from lindysez.com

Preparation

Step 1

My Dad was a meat and potato kind of guy. Vegetables were OK…along with the occasional taco and pasta, but meat and potatoes were a main stay. So growing up, I had a variety of potato preparations. Scallop potato, mashed potato, boiled potato, fried potato…baked potato. But one of my very favorite potato preparations was

Mom used to make hers with just the left-over potato, an egg, flour, salt and pepper. Formed into a patty and fried. Over the years, I’ve been making mine with a light panko crust, which really enhances the crunchiness of the outside of the cake. Even better.

For this recipe, I used leftover mashed potato from dinner a few nights earlier, where I had added some caramelized onions to the mix. While not necessary, it certainly was good. You can use just plain old

When mixing the ingredients together, you will find that the dough is quite sticky. That’s good. It means you have a proper dough like state and the potato cake will stay together when you cook it. I like to make my

a little on the thick side because I love the crunchy outside and tender inside. If you like yours to have more crunch, then just make them thinner. Also, if you are making them with just mashed potatoes, adding some chopped green onion is nice.  One of the most important parts of making this recipe is to make sure your pan and the oil in it is hot before you add the actual cakes so they fry, and don’t just sit there absorbing oil – then you have greasy potato cakes, not crispy potato cakes. You should only need to add a small bit of oil to the pan, just enough to coat the bottom; then I like to add a nice pat of butter to it, just a little added flavor. Once that has finished foaming, add the cakes and cook over a medium heat until nice and browned, turn and finish the other side. If you are making them thick, then you might want to pop them into a 350º oven for about 5 to 10 minutes after you brown them, just to ensure they are warmed all the way through. A cold middle is NOT good eats.

Once you make these, I have a feeling you will be making extra mashed potatoes from here on out!

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/3 cup flour (or as needed to make a sticky dough)

Place the potatoes in a bowl and add the egg along with the flour, parsley and onion. Mix well, until a sticky dough has formed, adding small amounts of flour as needed. (

). Add a small amount of salt and freshly ground pepper and mix well.

Place the panko in a wide bowl or on a plate.

Using a 1/4 measure; take a scoop of the potato mixture, then using your hands form into a patty cake; you can make them thicker or thinner as you prefer. Dip both sides of the cake into the panko, pressing lightly to make the crumbs adhere. Set aside. Proceed until all the potato is used.

Heat your skillet over medium heat; add the oil, when hot add the pat of butter, if using. Swirl this around to mix. Carefully add the potato cakes to the skillet and cook, turning once, until both sides are nicely browned and the center is hot. If the cake is browning too quickly and the center is not hot, place the pan into a 350#&;176F oven for about 5 minutes.

Nutritional information will vary depending on how you made your mashed potatoes in the first place but this will get you in the ball park.