Leftover Mashed Potato Cakes
If you’ve got leftover mashed potatoes then these Leftover Mashed Potato Cakes are the perfect solution! During the holiday I always seem to make more mashed potatoes than we need. If you’ve got a pressure cooker then check out my easy Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes. But having leftovers isn’t a bad thing when you have this delicious recipe.
Let me show you how easy these are to make!
How to Make Leftover Mashed Potato Cakes
For this recipe, I have about 2 cups of leftover mashed potatoes.
Give it a good stir as it will stiffen up while sitting in the refrigerator.
To your leftover mashed potatoes, you’ll add flour, eggs, minced garlic, chives, salt, and pepper.
Mix it together well until it’s smooth, make sure you have no lumps of flour.
Put just enough oil in the base of a frying pan to the coat the bottom of the pan well. Put the heat to medium and when the oil starts to shimmer I like to put the handle of a wooden spoon into the oil. If it starts to bubble then your oil is oil and ready to use.
It takes about 2 minutes per side to cook. Once you have that nice golden brown you’ll want to flip.
Repeat on the other side and then remove them to a paper towel-lined plate. Give the hot potato cakes a sprinkle of salt.
Repeat until all the mashed potatoes have been used up.
These potato cakes are great to serve up with other holiday leftovers or they are great with a roast… or even an after school snack, one of my kid’s favorites.
You can store the potato cakes in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. You can reheat them in the oven at 350 degrees for 6-8 minutes.

Leftover Mashed Potato Cakes
Equipment
- frying pan
Ingredients
- 2 cups leftover mashed potatoes
- ¾ cup flour
- 2 tsp chives chopped
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 2 eggs
- ½ tsp salt more if needed
- ¼ tsp pepper more if needed
- oil I prefer canola
Instructions
- Stir your leftover mashed potatoes to loosen them up.
- To the leftover mashed potatoes add the flour, 1 tsp of the chopped chives, garlic, eggs, salt, and pepper. Taste and see if you need more salt and pepper, depends on how seasoned your original mashed potatoes were.
- Stir together until smooth making sure there are no lumps of flour.
- In a frying pan, add a few tablespoons of oil, just enough to coat the bottom of the pan really well. Put the heat to medium and let it heat up. Once you see the oil shimmering, I like to put the end of a wooden spoon in the oil and if it forms a lot of bubbles around the handle, your oil is hot and ready.
- Using a large spoon scoop some of the potato cake mixture and gently place it into the oil, gently pressing down a little to form a cake. It will be about 1/2 inch thick.
- Let it cook about 2 minutes on the first side. Once you notice the edges browning nicely you can take a peek and see how the bottom is looking. Once browed, flip your potato cake. Cut the second side for about 2 minutes also.
- Once both sides are nicely browned, remove and place onto a paper towel-lined plate and sprinkle with some salt.
- Repeat for the remaining potato cake mixture, adding more oil if needed to the pan.
- Sprinkle with the remaining chives and serve alone or with some sour cream.
Notes
These are such a fun way to use up those leftovers.
I just happen to have some leftover potatoes from last night. Guess what side we’re having for dinner tonight!