Fried Mashed Potato Balls
These delicious Fried Mashed Potato Balls with a crispy Panko breading are filled with garlic, chives and cheesy leftover mashed potatoes for the perfect appetizer for your next holiday gathering or dinner party. You can even make them in the Air Fryer!
- Prep10 minutes
- Cook10 minutes
- Total20 minutes
- Serves16
Cheese Potato Balls
Most everyone loves a good hearty scoop of mashed potatoes on holiday dinner plate. Any good host will make far too many, to be sure not to run out. But what do you do with those leftover mashed potatoes?
These Fried Mashed Potato Balls are the perfect way to transform leftover mashed potatoes into something spectacular. These little bites of seasoned cheese potatoes coated in a crispy panko breading are the perfect appetizer or comfort food.
How to Fry Mashed Potato Balls
When it comes to making Fried Mashed Potato Balls, we are going to fry them in oil for the crispiest golden brown breading. Using an Air Fryer is also a great option for a healthier and less messy recipe. Check out our alternative instructions for that below.
Ingredients for Mashed Potato Balls
Grab the following ingredients to make Fried Mashed Potato Balls.
Mashed potatoes
Onion
Chives
Garlic
Cayenne pepper
White cheddar cheese
Eggs
Breading Mashed Potato Balls
In a large bowl, combine mashed potato, onion, chives, garlic, cayenne pepper and cheddar. Stir everything together until well combined.
Add the eggs to a small bowl and beat until smooth. Add the Panko bread crumbs to a separate small bowl.
Form the mashed potato mixture into 1 1/2 inch balls using a cookie scoop. Roll the mixture into a ball with your palms.
Dip the ball in the egg and shake off any excess. Then dip the egg coated ball in panko bread crumbs. Place on a plate. Repeat the with the remaining mashed potatoes until they are all used up.
When Is Oil Ready for Frying
Fill a small pot with a couple inches of oil. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.
Test the oil to see if it is ready (360F) by placing the end of a wooden spoon in the oil. If it bubbles around the spoon, it is ready.
Frying Potato Balls
Carefully place a few potato balls in the hot oil and cook until golden brown on all sides. Keep a close eye on them as it will take just seconds. Don’t overcrowd the oil or it will lower the temperature of the oil and make them soggy and oil logged.
Remove the fried potato balls carefully with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel to drain off any excess oil. Season with salt and pepper if you like as soon as you remove them from the oil.
Air Fryer Mashed Potato Balls
If you don’t want to smell your house up with oil or just want a quick and healthy alternative to frying, then you can use the Air Fryer to make mashed potato balls.
Prepare the potato balls just as you would for frying, but place them carefully in your Air Fryer basket, being sure to leave space between them so they can crisp up nicely. Spray the breaded balls with a light mist of oil. This will help them brown up nicer when cooking in the Air Fryer.
Cook at 400F for 5-7 minutes, or until the balls are crispy and lightly golden brown.
What kind of cheese to use in mashed potato balls
The possibilities are really endless when it comes to choosing a cheese to pair with mashed potatoes, garlic and chives. Sharp cheddar is our choice when it comes to most any recipe that you want to add a good punch of flavor to as well as lots of cheesy goodness.
We opted for white sharp cheddar, but classic cheddar is also a great selection. Just about any hard or semi-hard cheese will add fantastic flavor to these fried potato balls. Parmigiano, Gruyere and Gouda are all great options.
Holiday Appetizers
If you are looking for more great holiday appetizer recipes, be sure to check these out!
Blueberry Balsamic Goat Cheese Appetizer
Holiday Crab & Shrimp Cocktail Board
Notes
If you have some leftover bacon, crumble it up and add it into the mashed potato mixture.
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