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Eleven Delicious Ways to Use Leftover Mashed Potatoes

Sometimes I make extra on purpose just to make sure I have leftovers because there are so many tasty ways to use them.

Potato patties are just one of many mouthwatering ways to use them up.

1. Make potato patties from your leftover mashed potatoes. (Maybe you call them potato pancakes or potato cakes.) You can serve these with eggs for breakfast or accompanying a meat dish for dinner. I just use my hands to form 1/3 cup cold leftover mashed potatoes into a 1/2 inch thick patty, place the patty in greased and heated non-stick pan, fry it until the bottom is browned, and then turn and brown the other side. Sometimes I add an egg to the potatoes before forming them into patties and sometimes I coat the sides of the patties with flour before frying them up. If you need more specific instructions, here are two recipes: Crispy Potato Patties and Irish Potato Cakes.


2. Use your leftover mashed potatoes in raised breads. Most recipes for potato breads and rolls tell you to use potatoes mashed without butter and milk added, but there are a few recipes that will work with leftover mashed potatoes. I posted a recipe for Mashed Potato Bread last week, and here’s one for dinner rolls that uses 1/2 cup mashed potatoes prepared with butter and milk.


3. Mashed potatoes can go in soup, too. Make a simple potato soup with your leftovers or stir them into any creamed soup.


4. Deep fry leftover mashed potatoes as potato balls or potato cheese puffs.


5. And as long as we’ve got the deep fat fryer out, we might as well make make doughnuts.


6. Mix an egg and some garlic powder in your leftover mashed potatoes and turn them into a baking dish. Top with pats of butter and bake at 400F for 30 minutes. I don’t know what this dish is called, but it’s my sons’ favorite way to have their potatoes served.


7. I’ve never used mashed potatoes in the center of a meatloaf, but some people have and it looks yummy. This recipe uses instant mashed potatoes, but there’s no reason you couldn’t substitute your already made leftover ones.


8. Put leftover mashed potatoes on top of hot dogs. I haven’t tried this, either, but the recipe contributor says that kids love their hot dogs served this way. Who am I to argue?


9. Put together a shepherd’s pie. This is a good way to use leftover meat, gravy and cooked vegetables, too. Just cut the meat into bite-sized pieces, mix the meat and vegies into the gravy, and then spread the mixture in the bottom of baking dish. Top with a layer of leftover mashed potatoes and bake at 400F for 30 minutes. If you want a cheese topping, you can sprinkle the potatoes with grated cheese during the last 15 minutes of baking. Here’s a recipe for Shepherd’s Pie that uses up turkey dinner leftovers: Turkey Shepherd’s Pie with Leftover Mashed Potatoes. This recipe is called Mashed Potato Hot Dish, but I’d call it a shepherd’s pie made with ground beef. Or how about Rachel Ray’s 30 Minute Shepherd’s Pie, which also uses ground beef?


10. Bake muffins. Another way to use leftover mashed potatoes that I haven’t tried, but I bet these muffins are moist.


11. If you have leftover cooked roast beef along with your leftover mashed potatoes, serve Italian Beef Rolls.

What do you do with your leftover mashed potatoes?

Update on Wednesday, May 6, 2009 at 5:56PM by rebecca

Two more suggestions:

• Kim from Hiraeth has a recipe for Mashed Potato Salad. I’ll be trying this next time I have leftover mashed potatoes.
• Kim in On says,” My grandmother just fried them in a big mash with some sauted onions.” Come to think of it, my aunt used leftover mashed potatoes similarly. She made large ranch breakfasts for a whole crew, and if there were any potatoes left from the previous day’s supper, she’d just fry them up with onions and lots of pepper and serve them along with bacon, eggs, pancakes, etc.

Update on Thursday, May 7, 2009 at 12:36PM by rebecca

Pam uses mashed potatoes that have already been whipped up with butter and canned milk for these recipes:

• Gnocchi
• Potato Candy

Update on Tuesday, June 9, 2009 at 9:20AM by rebecca

I can’t wait to try this recipe for potato stacks from the Mennonite Girls.

What is required of those that hear the word preached?

It is required of those that hear the word preached, that they attend upon it with diligence,[1] preparation,[2] and prayer;[3] examine: What they hear by the scriptures;[4] receive the truth with faith,[5] love,[6] meekness,[7] and readiness of mind,[8] as the word of God;[9] meditate,[10] and confer of it;[11] hide it in their hearts,[12] and bring forth the fruit of it in their lives.[13]

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