Food & Drink

Kelly Senyei's Leftover Mashed Potato Bites Recipe Is Perfect For When You Have Extra Spuds

Mashed potato bites.
Mashed potato bites.

Kelly Senyei, creator of Just a Taste, likes to make her holiday dishes do double duty. And for Kelly Senyei’s Mashed Potato Bites recipe, she uses leftover Thanksgiving potatoes. If you’re anything like me, I always make way too many potatoes (do I really think I can eat 1/2 pound of potatoes along with stuffing, turkey, cranberry sauce + more?!?). So even if it’s not Thanksgiving, we recommend these potato balls-I’ll even say that you should make mashed potatoes just to fry these up!

For Kelly Senyei‘s Mashed Potato Bites recipe, Kelly recommends that if your mashed potatoes are a little thin, you can add all-purpose flour-or even flavored breadcrumbs would be good-until they are a good consistency. It would also be easy to freeze these before frying; make sure you thaw them completely before adding to oil.

Yields

16 Servings

Total Time

Prep Time

Cook Time

Ingredients

  • 11/2 cups leftover mashed potatoes, at room temp.
  • 1/2 cup shredded cheddar
  • 1/4 cup sliced scallions
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
  • Vegetable oil, for frying
  • Cranberry sauce or gravy, for serving

Instructions

In bowl, combine potatoes, cheddar, scallions, egg and a pinch of salt and pepper until well-combined. Place breadcrumbs in separate bowl. Scoop a heaping Tbs. potato mixture and roll it into a ball, then roll ball in crumbs. Repeat rolling and breading process with remaining mashed potato mixture.

Line baking sheet with paper towels. Add 2" oil to large heavy-bottomed pot set over medium heat. Attach deep-fry thermometer. Once oil reaches 360°F, add several potato balls and fry, turning occasionally, until golden brown. (Do not overcrowd pot.)

Using slotted spoon, transfer mashed potato bites to paper towel-lined baking sheet and immediately season with salt. Fry remaining potato balls in batches, returning oil to 360°F between each batch. Serve with cranberry sauce or gravy for dipping.

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This story was originally published December 4, 2025 at 2:16 PM.

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