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!

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
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.




My new favorite way to eat potatoes
Great to hear!
Made these with leftover mashed potatoes. They were delicious. I mean cheesy mashed potatoes with a crispy exterior so why wouldn’t they be great! No not a pancake but a fantastic recipe to repurpose leftovers.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me. I’m happy you enjoyed this recipe, Laney!
THANK YOU A HUNDRED TIMES. SON BROUGHT US A MEAL WITH HUGE POTOTOES, WHAT TO DO….GO TO NATASHAS’ KITCHEN…SHE ALWAYS KNOWS. CAN’T WAIT TO EAT THEM. YOUR SON IS A GREAT ADVERTISER…CUTE
You are most welcome. I’m glad were able to find this recipe, I hope you love it!
Love your recipes, alot of them are very simple BUT sooo goood.
Thank you for putting the option to change serving quantity!
It is super helpful!!!
You’re welcome, I’m glad you use that part in the recipe!
Hi Natasha-
I love your recipes and can’t wait to try this one. Can you help me understand why boxed potatoes wont work? We have leftovers from a fast-food fried chicken location and I can pretty much guarantee the potatoes from a box. I had wanted to use them up and make these, but now I’m heasitant.
Thank you!
Hi Melissa, boxed potatoes will have difficulty holding the patty shape.
Just made these with leftover mashed potatoes from 3 days ago. They took less than 10 minutes to mix up and get into the frying pan, and they were delicious. Breathed new life into stale leftovers. Fantastic!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing that with me!
Hi Natasha, I’m from South Africa, I tried out a few of you recipes, any every one of them was SO delicious, I will never use anyone else’s recipes ever again. Thank you for all the beautiful recipies. God Bless!!
Thank you so much for trusting my recipes, Veronika. That feels so good to know that you always rely on my recipes!
Hi Natasha, I have just made your Cheesy Pancakes they were beautiful. I froze some to see how they kept. Had two last night with a salad and a drizzle of sweet chilli sauce they were smashing. Going to keep a supply in freezer from now on. Thank you again.
You’re welcome, Pauline! I’m so glad you enjoyed these!
Could you use frozen hash browns In place of the mashed potatoes?
Hi Ginger, I haven’t tested that with frozen hash browns to advise.
Our girl scout leader gave us a bag of potatoes so off I went googling potato recipes. This browness and crispiness on the picture looked intriguing. Plus I already had all of the ingredients on hand except for chives. I put in parsley instead and it was perfect. Thank you for sharing! We’re going camping in a few weeks and I’m thinking of putting this on the menu.
I’m so glad you enjoyed that Nerissa! Thank you for that great review!
These look great! Looking forward to making them this weekend. Just wondering if I can freeze any leftovers…if there are any leftovers.
Hi Earl, it might be better to refrigerate overnight so they cook more evenly the next day without requiring thawing.
These look good, for sure, but I’m not particularly fond of cheese. Will the mixture hold together if I omit the cheese?
Hi Steve, the cheese helps keep it together but here is what one of our readers wrote “been making these for years better without the cheese use onions instead of chives but need to add a bottle of ketchup” I hope that helps.
Yes, it does. Thanks for the quick response; I can’t wait to give it a go!
Just made these for the first time and it’s a definitely a RECIPE KEEPER! My hubby loved it as well. Looks like we’ll be eating it tomorrow as well since it’s just the two of us. LOL!
This isn’t the first recipe I’ve tried from your website. I’ve never been disappointed and I’ve been pinning your recipes for several years now. Plus I get posts from your FB page.
Thank you for the many inspirations for “What’s for Dinner”!
Awww that’s the best! Thank you so much for sharing that with me! I’m all smiles
Hi natasha. Loved watching ur recipe. Can u Pl tell me substitute for eggs in this recipe.
Hi Naina, I haven’t tried it without egg (it might still work just omitting it), One of my readers suggested a vegan egg replacer which might work if you have something like that on hand.
I was wondering can you use green onions instead of the chives?
That should work great Kenneth!
I plan on making these tonight I will let you know how they turn out.
Hi! These are delicious! I was wondering how many of these counts as a serving?
Hi Kailee, it really depends on how large you mold the pancakes. It would be easier count-wise to make 24 slightly smaller pancakes then each serving would be exactly 3 pancakes.
Natasha, you my dear are indeed a mind reader. When we read your recipes for today we found ourselves with several pounds of mashed potatoes in the fridge looking for something to make out of them. Needless to say the pancakes came out delicious. Mama came back for seconds. I guess the mozzarella tickled her fancy as she said “did you put mozarella in these?” She loves mozzarella. Thanks again for another wonderful recipe. Grampa Joe
PS. Forgot to mention, we added two huge fried minced cloves of Music garlic in EVOO and added all to the tater pancakes. Mama just loves garlic.
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite!
Hi Natasha, will this work on Air Fryer? I tried this but I don’t like how greasy it gets after pan fried.
Hi Janet, I haven’t tried it in an air fryer so I can’t say but please let me know how you like it if you experiment.
Hi Natasha, what other cheese would you recommend instead of mozzarella. Mozzarella cheese and I don’t get along!! Thank-you.
Hi Nancy, I have had readers report great results with using cheddar so I think Colby jack cheese would work fine
I wonder how these would be if you used cauliflower mashed potatoes?
I’m keto and potatoes are a definite NO on keto.
Hi Mary, I have not tested this recipe with cauliflower alone. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
This weekend is Family Day weekend in Ontario and I’m super excited to make these for my family!
This will be so perfect for a family get together! I hope you all love this recipe!