There’s no need to deep fry these Crispy Baked Potato Puffs to get a perfectly crispy golden brown exterior with a soft interior. Bake them in the oven or in an air fryer. Next time you have leftover mashed potatoes, why not whip up a batch?
Leftovers don’t always have to be boring. Take mashed potatoes. They reheat well, freeze well and are pretty good with any extra gravy. But I love repurposing leftovers. Like in Shepherd’s Pie. These Potato Puffs are so good your family probably won’t know they’re eating leftovers. You might even want to cook some potatoes just to make them. If so, add a splash of milk and butter to the potato mixture.
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If you add too many ingredients to the potatoes you won’t be able to form them into balls. And, assuming your mashed potatoes already have milk and butter in them, all you need are a few extra flavours. Sour cream or yogurt add some tang and the egg helps hold everything together. My recipes calls for white pepper because I like the interior to be pure white. And white pepper has a bit of heat which I love. Salt, Dijon mustard and some fresh Parmesan cheese round out the potato interior.
Use a hand mixer to whip everything well so it’s nice and light and fluffy. If you have trouble rolling the potato into balls, drop a large spoonful into the coating mixture and roll around. That will help them keep their shape. Depending on the size you make, you’ll get around 12 – 16 Baked Potato Puffs. Mr. H asked me to make them smaller so there was a higher ratio of crunchy coating to potato filling. I’ll leave that up to you.
One of the secrets to getting that crispy coating is using Panko breadcrumbs. They’re lighter and crispier than regular breadcrumbs so you get an excellent crunch. As well, cooking them on a rack set over a baking sheet allows the air to circulate all around them so they’re evenly browned all over, even on the bottom. You might be wondering if it would help to give them a spritz of cooking spray before baking but they don’t need it.
Another point I want to mention might surprise you. It’s the dry grated Parmesan that comes in a shaker can. I don’t normally buy it but I’m working on a post that compares real Parm vs deli grated and the cheap stuff we shouldn’t buy. That’s a story for another day. But it’s perfectly ok mixed with the panko for the crumb coating. I wouldn’t recommend using it in the potato mixture though. And of course you can use real freshly grated Parmesan cheese for the coating too.
If you don’t have convection bake setting on your oven, don’t worry. Just use a regular bake setting. A secret I’ve learned is that most ovens have a fan that runs during the preheating stage. Which is what convection cooking is. Heat with a fan. So, if your Crispy Baked Potato Puffs aren’t quite brown enough at the end, turn the heat up and allow the oven fan to circulate for a few minutes with that extra blast of heat. That should do the trick.
UPDATE – I now have an Air Fryer. Yup, these guys are awesome cooked in there! They only take about 12 minutes give or take, depending on their size.
My favourite way to enjoy Crispy Baked Potato Puffs is with Salmon Cakes. Or crab. I mean, hey, you’ve already got the Panko out already right? Might as well make it a double dip! Speaking of dipping, you could serve these with ketchup or all kinds of creamy sauces like sour cream and mayo with dill, sriracha mayo if you like some heat or just make up your own concoction! My favourite? Blue cheese melted in some cream. Yum.
If you try Crispy Baked Potato Puffs, consider leaving a comment or rating below. Here’s the recipe:
Crispy Baked Potato Puffs
Ingredients
Potato Puffs
- 1 ½ cups leftover mashed potatoes or cooked potatoes with a splash of milk and butter
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 2 Tbsp sour cream or yogurt
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp white pepper
Breadcrumb Coating
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- 2 Tbsp parmesan cheese dried type is ok for coating but not for interior
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° and set to convection bake setting if oven has that option. Position rack in middle of oven. Lay a cooling rack over a baking sheet for best results.
- Combine all ingredients in Potato Puffs and whip well with hand mixer. If potatoes are very cold, microwave briefly to soften but not to heat.
- In a shallow pan or pie plate combine breadcrumbs, parmesan and salt and pepper.
- Using a large spoon, scoop potatoes and gently roll into balls. Mixture will be soft but should form balls. Roll in breadcrumb coating to cover completely. Arrange balls on cooling rack over baking sheet without overcrowding.
- Bake in the centre of the oven for 25 - 30 minutes until coating is crispy and golden. Increase heat at the end for a few minutes if Potato Puffs aren't quite brown enough.
- If using an air fryer, preheat to 375 degrees and cook for 12-14 minutes.
This is definitely a must try recipe. I can’t wait for mashed potato leftovers.