This Potato Pancakes Recipe is the best way to use up leftover mashed potatoes. This cheesy mashed potato pancakes recipe is well loved by everyone in our family. This is just about the only way that my kids will eat mashed potatoes and by “eat,” I mean they wolf them down!
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There’s just something about that beautiful cheese pull with each one that makes these completely irresistible. Potato pancakes are quick and easy to make and have the simplest ingredients.
Sometimes the best recipes are the simplest and YES, it’s totally worth it to make mashed potatoes just to have these potato pancakes! P.S. Don’t miss the sweet little taste test with my son at the end of the video!
Watch How To Make Mashed Potato Pancakes:
All that melty cheese! I want these all over again. Seriously my friends, these are GOOD! I love how forgiving these potato pancakes are. We usually wing it and “eye-ball” the recipe except for when we measured everything just for you!
Ingredients for Potato Pancake Recipe:
4 cups mashed potatoes*
2 cups (8 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese
1 large egg
1/4 cup flour (or up to 1/2 cup flour for creamier potatoes)
2 to 3 Tbsp chives, chopped
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
Light Olive oil or Canola oil to sauté
Sour cream to serve
*This recipe works best with mashed potatoes that are not ultra creamy and buttery, and if they are, you may need a little more flour for them to hold a patty shape. This recipe is not intended for use with instant mashed potatoes.
Time Saving Tip: Use a trigger release ice cream scoop, scraping the scoop against the side of the bowl to quickly and easily create uniform patties.
⬇ Print-Friendly Mashed Potato Pancakes Recipe:
Cheesy Potato Pancakes Recipe (VIDEO)

Ingredients
- 4 cups mashed potatoes, *
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, (8 oz)
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, or up to 1/2 cup flour for creamier potatoes
- 2 1/2 Tbsp chives, chopped
- 1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
- 2 Tbsp Light Olive oil , or Canola oil to sauté
- Sour cream to serve
Instructions
How to Make Mashed Potatoes:
- Fill a 5 Qt pot with water. Add 1 Tbsp salt and peeled quartered russet potatoes (2 lbs or about 7 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered). Cook until easily pierced with fork. Drain well and mash in 4 Tbsp butter then let cool to room temp. Mashed potatoes can be made 1 - 3 days ahead.
How to Make Mashed Potato Pancakes:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine 4 cups mashed potatoes, 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, 1 large egg, 1/4 cup flour and 2 Tbsp chopped chives. Use a potato masher to mash the mixture together until well mixed. If the potatoes are too loose to hold a patty shape, add flour a Tablespoon at a time.
- Place a heaping tablespoonful of potato mixture between your palms and form into a round, 1/3" thick patty. Dredge both sides of the pancake in bread crumbs and set on a cutting board. Repeat with remaining pancakes.
- Heat a large non-stick pan over medium heat with enough oil to lightly cover the bottom of the pan. Once oil is hot, add patties in a single layer and sauté 3-4 minutes per side or until golden brown. Repeat with remaining patties, adding more oil as needed. I usually have 2 skillets going at once to finish sooner.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
If you try this mashed potato pancakes recipe, let me know!! Oh p.s. you can also use dill if you don’t have chives.
Made these today and everyone loved them…they were awesome!!!
I’m happy to hear everyone enjoyed the recipe Sharon! Thanks for sharing your great review! 😀
How to make the sour cream?tnx,,,
Hi Janet, I don’t typically make my own sour cream, but with a quick google search, there are recipes online if you wanted to make your own.
Anything you show is a great experiance
Thank you so much Ed!
Made the potatoes and it is like paste. In your recipe for mashed potatoes were you supposed to put milk.
Hi Desiree – My guess is that it probably has to do with the way the potatoes were prepared. I have added milk before and it worked well, but you definitely don’t want to overdo it since ideally you want the potatoes to be firmer rather than creamier. I have instructions for how to prepare the potatoes in the print-friendly recipe area. I hope that helps for next time!
My potatoes are gooey what am I doing wrong they are sticking to my hand cannot form patties
Hi Patricia, it is unusual that they would be gooey. I’m always happy to help troubleshoot though. A few things that might cause this; if the potatoes were too watery/gooey before adding anything into them, also overmixing the mixture for too long might cause this. And also, make sure never to use instant potato flakes for making potatoes in this recipe. I hope that helps!
Can I freeze the mashed potato cakes?
Hi D, I haven’t tried freezing them but I imagine it would work.
Hi, are these potato pancake freezable ?
Hi Dianne, haven’t tried but I don’t see why not! I think that would work fine 🙂
Made these yesterday for my family, they were so delicious! I mixed ranch seasoning into our sour cream, made it even more amazing. Even my picky eight-year-old, who hates mashed potatoes, enjoyed them and asked for them to be put on his “favorites list.” I did cheat a little by making instant potatoes, but they still turned out perfectly. Thanks for the recipe!
You’re welcome Brenda! I’m glad to hear the family enjoys the recipe! 😀
Would you recommend using cheddar cheese instead?
Hi Jacqueline, I think this would work great with cheddar! 🙂
Hello,
Can you tell me how many potatoes I need to make 4 cups mashed potatoes?
What kind of potatoes
Hi Sara, I used russet potatoes and for 1 recipe, it is about 2 lbs of potatoes or about 7 medium russet potatoes, peeled and quartered.
wow just made them and they are so good will make them often
That’s great Jeanette! Thanks for sharing 🙂
These look lovely. I make potato pancakes with leftover mashed potatoes. I just make patties, flour both sides and fry. Of course, I learned this from my mother. I add a slice of American cheese and a scoop of sour cream to my mash potatoes. I can’t wait to try your recipe, they look so good.
They are so delicious! Please let me know what you think of the recipe Kristeena! 🙂
Can you use Panco bread crumbs instead?
Hi Jane, if using panko, you may want to dip in beaten egg before the bread crumbs for them to adhere easier. I love panko crumbs and prefer them in most recipes but they are larger crumbs and won’t adhere as easilly as smaller crumbs without the extra dip in beaten eggs first.
Thanks Natasha. I’ll get the regular ones for this then.
My pleasure Jan!
Could these be made completely (except frying) the night before and left in the fridge over night and then fry them the next day?
Hi Julianna, yes you can mold them, then cover and refrigerate and sauté the next day 🙂
can you ‘bake’ them?
Hi Linda, I haven’t tried baking but I imagine it would be similar in process to baked cheese sticks. I would spray both sides with cooking spray and then bake in preheated oven at 400˚F for 5 min per side. I haven’t tested this but it’s where I would start 🙂
Oh, they came out just perfect fried. I like frying in the canola oil and getting those good omega 3 & 6 fats in us!………..Laura
YES! I’m happy to hear that! Thanks for sharing Laura 😀
I baked mine last night…I was not having much luck with frying because they were falling apart (I realize now, I think I was using too much oil to fry them in).
I sprayed them with cooking spray on each side and I baked them at 400F for about 7-8 mins per side. They were wonderful!
Hi Danielle, thank you for sharing your experience baking them! I’m so glad you liked them 🙂
can I use scallions instead of chives?
Hi Claire, yes that would work fine if they are finely sliced 🙂
thank you! Don’t want to fry so will definitely try the baking!!
Looks great, will defenitely try it.
Could this also work with Sweet Potatos?
I honestly have never tried but now I’m intrigued. If you give it a try, let me know how it goes! 🙂
I made these for the first time. They where good but didn’t have much flavor.
Hi Lori, it can depend on how the mashed potatoes are prepared. Did you salt your potatoes when cooking? You can definitely taste the mixture and add salt to taste before adding the raw egg. I hope that helps for next time! 🙂
Doh! Sorry – just noticed the ‘8oz’ in the ingredient list!
Oh perfect! I’m glad you found your answer 🙂
Thanks for clarifying the weight of the potatoes, but what does 2 cups of shredded mozzarella weigh?? Normally I can take stab at guessing but in this case the variation in weight caused by size of shred and tightness of packing makes it almost impossible! Thanks!
I made these pancakes and they were so good. My mom says that when she was a girl she had very similar pancakes. I love these!
Mashed potato pancakes really are a classic! I’m happy to hear you love the recipe! Thanks for sharing Olga 🙂