Elevate your week-night meal with this Easy Potato Fritters Recipe! Use up your leftovers to recreate a classic your whole family will love!
This is probably my kids favorite way to consume potatoes, and that’s saying a lot since I would qualify them as miniature potato connoisseurs. Baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, French fries, hash browns, they love them all. But if I’m feeling burnt out in the kitchen and need the whole family to praise my handywork, I just make these. It’s quick, easy, and this crispy potato fritters recipe does not disappoint!
On another note…we call these potato patties in our house. Before posting and doing some research, it looks like “fritter” is more common to non-Southerners. Some call them potato cakes, potato pancakes, or potato latkes. No matter what you call them, all have similar ingredients, preparation and cooking instructions. You can make them with shredded potatoes for more of a fried hashbrown consistency or leftover mashed potatoes for a soft interior consistency. I’m telling you my family loves them and will eat them with ANYHING, but this round, we make them with a quick bacon and eggs, or breakfast for dinner!
See full recipe card at the bottom of the page with detailed ingredients list and full instructions to make these Easy Potato Fritters Recipe with Leftover Mashed Potatoes. Print to save in your cookbook binder or bookmark this page!
Why I Love Making these Potato Fritters
- It’s something that we can eat as an appetizer or a side
- I always make it with leftovers, reducing our food waste and prep time
- You don’t need any special tools to make these fritters
- You can add other things like bacon bits, jalapenos, and cheese for some amped up fritters
- You can even make a sweet potatoes version of these as a dessert with a sweet pecan syrup
- It’s a fried treat! I don’t fry all of the time. It’s messy and not the healthiest.
- My family clears their plate and leaves no leftovers, EVERY TIME
Ingredients Needed for Potato Fritters Recipe
- Leftover Mashed Potatoes
- All Purpose Flour
- Egg
- Salt, as needed
- Black Pepper, as needed
- Garlic Powder, as needed
- Onion Powder, as needed
- Frying Oil
Y’all, I make these potato fritters from my leftover potatoes whether it’s my chunky mashed potatoes recipe or whipped mashed potatoes recipe every time. Follow the links for full recipe details. These are perfect to start your week off with for leftovers that can be used as sides for a couple of nights. You can eat the potatoes just as plain mashed potatoes again, add some sour cream, chives or green onions, cheese and bacon bits for a loaded mashed potato side, or you can turn them right on into our homemade potato fritters here.
I also use the leftover potatoes because I don’t want to spend time on grated potatoes to make these patties. It defeats my purpose in it being quick, easy, and using what you have. And I don’t currently have a food processor, and box grater or the attachment I have for my Kitchen Aid Mixer just seems really excessive for a recipe like this. I’m here to save you time.
You want your potatoes to be cold right out of the fridge.
These are the ingredients you need, but you can feel free to experiment and add other potato combinations you think you will enjoy, like cheddar cheese or other fresh herbs. You can use russet potatoes, Yukon Gold potatoes, or even red potatoes as your base. The same concept can be used to make sweet potato fritters.
I use peanut oil to fry in most of the time. It has a higher smoke point and when we remodeled our kitchen, I opted for a hanging pot rack in lieu of a vent-a-hood. I thought that was a very demure, very mindful, very modest choice instead of a big honking vent a hood. But to each their own…so, peanut oil! If you want the best tasting potato fritters I’ve ever made, fry them in some bacon grease. You won’t be sorry, but make sure you pay attention to what you are doing. Bacon grease can get smokey very fast. A neutral oil like vegetable oil, canola oil, or avocado oil are fine as well. We are already frying potatoes, so bad seed oils probably don’t matter much at this point.
Instructions for Potato Fritters Recipe
Pour your frying oil in a large skillet or a Dutch oven. If I deep fry anything, I typically just do it in the Dutch oven. Plenty of room, and the high sides make less mess. I can also cover and easily keep my oil for a next round of frying. If frying in the dutch oven with more room, you can add more oil. If frying in your skillet, put 1/2 to 1 inch of oil in your pan and start heating on medium heat. You want your oil to reach 350-360 degrees. If your temp gets up to 370, your patties will burn on the outside and not be cooked thoroughly in the middle. Use that thermometer and make your life easier!
While your oil is coming up to temperature, put your potatoes in a medium to large mixing bowl. Add your egg, flour, and additional seasonings, salt and pepper, if needed. Now…you could form patties the nice, pretty way and put it in your hot oil, but I like to get really rough edges that make super crunchy pieces. To achieve that, what I do is spoon a dollop of my potato mixture into the hot skillet. Then I get oil on my silicone spatula, or back of large spoon and smoosh the fritter out while it is in the oil. Make sure you get oil on your smooshing utensil first, so your patty doesn’t stick to the back of it. Don’t over crowd your pan. Smaller patties make for easier cooking.
Now fry on each side for about 3-4 minutes or until the outside is your perfect golden brown and the internal temp has reached about 150 degrees.
Remove your fritters from the heat and place on a plate lined with paper towels or baking sheet in a single layer to absorb the excess oil. Let rest and cool. When your oil reaches 350-360 degrees, put your next round of fritters in the frying pan following the same steps as before.
Once all of your potato fritters have been fried, enjoy them with a garnish and dipping sauce of your choice! Homemade ranch dressing is our favorite at Farmhouse 181, or plain-o ketchup. But really, if you are eating as a side dish with your meal, you don’t need anything extra. These are fantastic as is, no dipping sauce needed!
Find both of our potato recipes here that will give you some leftover potatoes needed for this recipe. Kill two birds with one stone!
- Simple Whipped Potatoes Recipe with Powerhouse Ingredient (Evaporated Milk)
- The Easiest Chunky Gold Mashed Potatoes Ever
- Homemade Ranch Dressing (coming soon)
- Homemade Ranch Powder Mix (coming soon)
Easy Potato Fritters Recipe with Leftover Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- ½-1 cup All purpose flour
- 1 Egg
- 2 cups Leftover Mashed Potatoes
- Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Etc, If Needed
Instructions
- Pour your frying oil of choice in your pan at least 1/2 inch deep.
- Start heating your grease. You want it from 350-360 degrees.
- Put your cold leftover mashed potatoes in a mixing bowl. Add your flour, egg, and other seasonings, if needed, and mix together until incorporated. You will want a thick potato mixture.
- Spoon your potato mixture into your hot oil. Dip your silicone spatula or back of spoon in frying grease so it doesn’t stick to potato fritter, then gently smash out a patty from your potato dollop. You can put them in the skillet in patty form, but we prefer the more crumbly edges this way.
- Fry for 3-4 minutes on each side, or until the internal temp is around 150 degrees and the fritters are a golden brown color.
- Let rest on a paper towel lined plate to absorb any excess oil.
- Serve with your favorite dipping sauce, garnishes, or enjoy as is!
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