Fried Mashed Potato Balls
The key to making this recipe is to use chilled, firm mashed potatoes. Serve these fried mashed potatoes with sour cream or ranch salad dressing on the side. —Taste of Home Test Kitchen
Ingredients
- 2 cups cold mashed potatoes
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup chopped green onions
- 1/4 cup real bacon bits
- 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
- Oil for frying
Reviews
I actually came here as I wanted ideas on what to serve this beside as I already have worked out my own recipe. Seeing reviews and looking over this one, it is definitely incomplete. First change needed is a full breading. Egg wash, flour, and then bread crumbs. A single breading is enough to keep it all together, doing more makes the ball too big and creates an unpleasant crust. Second is to specify type of mashed potatoes, a thin creamy style will always fail. Personally I used a baked potato mash with just enough butter and preferred cream to keep it from drying out in the oil. You then add egg to it as if youand#039;re making meatballs or meatloaf, the egg is your binding agent and it should effortlessly hold its shape even before breading. And it is more of a personal preference, but the cheese works much better as the center of the ball than mixed throughout it. Take a small bite sized block of your preferred cheese and wrap the potatoes around it. Once fried you will have a nice gooey center. The next is to place a chilling period, the cooking process is much more even if you chill the breaded balls. 10 minutes in a fridge should do fine for most people. Because of the chilling, the cook time increases, I used beef tallow friers set at 350°F and it took around 4.5-5 minutes. These are also pretty dense and wont really float, so make sure you roll them around to get them cooked consistently. I also recommend cooking them in small batches and testing the first few to tune in on times and temperatures.
Awful! These fall apart when you attempt to fry them.
Can't leave lower than one star. If you are leaving good reviews but altered the recipe, please stop. The first eight dissolved completely because the original recipe is not complete. They require an egg wash and another breading, MINIMUM, if not more binding. Also, the mashed potatoes themselves could use a little explanation.
I made theses about 2 hrs. ahead; it was a good thing I made ahead cuz I had my 7 yr. old granddaughter help me. It took almost 1/2 hr. to 1gr. to make. I put in fridge for about 1/2 hr. before frying in deep fryer. I substituted cayenne pepper to BBQ spice, added 1 extra bacon & only 2 cups firm mashed potatoes. It turned out great. My husband, granddaughter & I couldn't stop raving at how good they were. Even with adding less potatoes we still had about 25-30 leg. melon ball size scoop balls. Granddaughter wanted to take recipe home to make with her Mom. Thanks for this great recipe.
This was just so fun to make. It came out perfect and it tasted amazing. I boiled potatoes then added salt and pepper to taste. I then made bacon and cut it up instead of using bacon bits. I mixed everything together and put it in the fridge for about an hour to two hours because I had to leave. When I got back I made breadcrumbs by lightly toasting white bread then blending out into crumbs. I dipped the potato balls in a bowl with two beat eggs then rolled them in the breadcrumbs. I did this a total of two times then fried them on high. After I had made three of them I checked them and the cheese wasn't melted. So I fried those again then turned the heat down to medium and fried til it was evenly brown on all sides. They came out nice and crunchy on the outside and cheesy and good on the inside. Overall a great experience.
Use an egg wash and "double bread" to create a great crust on the balls, simply rolling in breadcrumbs will not cut it. Use panko breadcrumbs, make sure to put at least a half cup into the potato mixture before rolling the balls. People that say they fall apart may not be experienced deep fryers.
I was doing fine up to frying these. The fell apart. Luckily I had just three in the pan. I put the rest on parchment paper on a cookie sheet into a 450 oven for 20 minutes then lightly brushed the tops with melted butter and turned the broiler on to complete the browning.
I made potato skins 3 days ago. I had about 3 cups of potato insides that I needed to use. It was NOT turned into "mashed potatoes" (with butter, salt, pepper, milk, etc). Just straight potato gizzards sitting in the fridge. I was making chicken and waffles tonight, and figured mashed potatoes would suck with that, but that maybe some sort of cheesy potato ball concoction might do well with my already unhealthy meal. I looked at lots of ideas before deciding to try this. I wasn't sure if this recipe was calling for potatoes that had been mashed with butter and milk, or just potatoes like I had, but I wasn't about to make mashed potatoes and chill them again. So I didn't. I did smash up the potatoes a bit more using my electric masher type Hamilton Beach thing, then since I had 1c more potatoes than the recipe called for, I altered it accordingly. I added about 1/2c more cheese, using both cheddar and a bit of Monterey Jack. I used real bacon that I diced and cooked instead of bacon bits, and I probably used about 3/4c, maybe 1/2c, which may have been too much. I used 4 stalls of green onions which I imsgine would translate to about what the recipe calls for. Then since my potatoes weren't "mashed" with salt and pepper, I added some to taste. Then I mixed it all together with 2 eggs instead of 1 because of my increased about of potato and inability to cut an egg in half.I used an ice cream scoop to ball them, and I would say they were about golf ball sized, maybe slightly smaller. I then rolled them all up smooth. I dipped them in an egg wash (just egg, beaten), then very lightly rolled them in Panko breadcrumbs. They then ended up in the fridge while I ran to the store for a beer after all the hard work I did. This was for about 20 minutes. I used a deep fryer (the kind with a basket) and fried 8 at a time until they were golden brown, then drained them on paper towels.They are really, really good. They did not fall apart. They could use a bit more seasoning and a bit less bacon, maybe a bit more cheese. I think I made them too bacon-y, something I didn't previously think was possible. But they are still darn good, and my recipe is a bit different, so maybe if they're mashed with butter and stuff, they would be better ;D It was an excellent idea that I altered only because of my on-hand ingredients.
I didn't have any trouble at all and everyone loved these! I made baked potatoes scooped out the potatoe allowed to cool completely. I added cheddar green onion and bacon to taste.mat first I forgot the egg before frying and like others my ball disintegrated in the oil. Oops... Added the egg then rolled in bread crumbs... Problem solved ?? . So key is fresh baked potatoe and don't forget the egg!
MimiFL4.......The recipe calls for "Mashed Potatoes", but doesn't say "Mashed Potatoes Made w/Butter & Milk". Perhaps the outcome might have been more successful if made w/potatoes that were just peeled, boiled & mashed........w/o adding any other ingredients except seasoning(?) Also, a few comments advised adding flour/bread crumbs to the Mashed Potatoes. When I first read this recipe, my first question was, "What does Mashed Potatoes really mean? My own Mashed Potatoes made w/butter, milk, garlic, S&P? Or literally, just Potatoes that have been Mashed?" It would be very helpful if the "Mashed Potato" step was clarified in the recipe. There's nothing more frustrating than a recipe that fails when frying w/oil is involved.