Work some magic on your mashed potatoes with mashed potato puffs! These loaded potato puffs will breathe some new life into your leftover mashed potatoes!
These little bite-sized puffs are the perfect way to use up leftover mashed potatoes after the holidays. They’re crispy on the outside but warm and creamy on the inside. If you have some cold leftover mashed potatoes sitting in the fridge after Thanksgiving or Christmas, try baking them into these puffs.
We’ll breathe some new life into mashed potatoes by adding some texture and then we’ll load them up with tons of cheddar cheese, bacon bits, and chives. With some eggs, we’ll puff them up in the oven so you’ll get crispy, puffy mashed potatoes that go great with a generous dollop of sour cream on top and some fresh chives.
Making these kinda feels like a little cooking magic. Take a look at the before and after pics; it’s a little hard to believe some eggs and baking can do that. They’re great for little breakfast bites, appetizers, or sides, and get a ton of compliments at potlucks and holiday gatherings. Also, you’re not limited to only making them with leftover mashed potatoes. I’ve made mashed potatoes plenty of times just to make these.
For other potato recipes to serve during the holidays, you can also try these garlic Parmesan sweet potato stacks which also use a muffin tin. Also, try out these crispy garlic Parmesan smashed potatoes or some loaded mashed potato balls which are even crispier than these puffs. There’s also this sweet potato casserole which is a staple with my family during the holidays or this twice-baked potato casserole. But back to the recipe, let’s start making some puffs!
How To Make Mashed Potato Puffs (1 Min Video)
These. are. DELICIOUS. Crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside. I can’t get enough of them. Here’s a warning: you should probably make two batches to avoid family feuding! The more leftover mashed potatoes you have the better. You could make a huge batch of mashed potatoes in the slow cooker with this slow cooker mashed potatoes recipe that uses a whole 5 lb. bag of potatoes and then make these puffs.
These puffs are so good you should make mashed potatoes just to make them. I’ve actually done this before and carried them proudly to a holiday potluck with a cute little place card listing the ingredients because people will ask for the recipe. The good news is you can also cheat by using instant mashed potatoes. No one would know the difference.
MASHED POTATO PUFFS RECIPE TIPS
Mixing – The mashed potatoes mixed with eggs will look mushy and goopy. Don’t worry, it will puff up and change.
Muffin pan – I used a regular non-stick muffin pan for the recipe but you can use almost any kind of muffin pan to get all shapes and sizes. I’ve heard of folks using mini muffin pans or even brownie bar pans. Just make sure to grease the pan beforehand.
Recipe Notes:
The bottom of the puffs are more prone to sticking so spray the muffin pan well and/or use a paper towel to grease the whole muffin well evenly so the nonstick spray is not just concentrated in one spot.
Filling it up – Fill in the muffin pan about 3/4 of the way full to allow some room for the puffs to rise. The messier you mound in the potatoes, the more texture they’ll have later and the better they will look. So don’t worry about delicately filling up the muffin pan; look how messy I did mine in the prep photos and how they came out.
Eggs – Can this recipe be made without eggs? Unfortunately, not. The eggs are what make the mashed potato puffs rise, otherwise, you’re just baking some loaded mashed potatoes.
Making it ahead – You should be able to pre-mix all the ingredients the night before and refrigerate them to bake the next day.
Leftovers – These should keep for 3 days or so once refrigerated. You can reheat them in the microwave, oven, or air fryer.
Freezing and reheating – Mashed potato puffs can be frozen for up to 2-3 months. To reheat, microwave from frozen for about 1 minute.
Customize It!
- Add more flavor – If your mashed potatoes don’t already have them, try adding more flavor with butter, milk, sour cream, or cream cheese.
- Add some spice – Spice up your puffs with jalapenos or red pepper flakes.
- Substitute filings – Experiment with different protein fillings like pre-cooked chopped chorizo, sausage, chicken, turkey, or ham.
- Substitute chives – Feel free to substitute chives with parsley or green onions.
And that’s about it. It’s easier to watch the video for a general idea of how to make it and then go from there. It also helps to prove how magical these things are from sad, leftover mashed potatoes to puffy potato bites. Enjoy and let me know how you liked them in the comments below!
MORE POTATO RECIPES TO TRY
- Crispy Garlic Parmesan Smashed Potatoes
- Loaded Mashed Potato Balls
- Garlic Parmesan Sweet Potato Stacks
- The Best Creamy Potato Salad
- Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
- Twice Baked Potato Casserole
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Mashed Potato Puffs
- Total Time: 40 mins
- Yield: 12 1x
Description
Work some magic on your mashed potatoes with mashed potato puffs! These loaded potato puffs will breathe some new life into your leftover mashed potatoes!
Ingredients
- 2 cups mashed potatoes
- 3 large eggs, beaten
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1/4 cup bacon bits
- 1/4 cup chives, chopped
- Pepper, to taste
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Combine mashed potatoes, eggs, cheddar cheese, bacon bits and chives.
- Season with pepper if needed.
- Grease a muffin pan and mound a heaping spoonful into each cup.
- Top each muffin with Parmesan cheese.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes at 400°F or until golden brown.
- Cool for 5 minutes and dish and serve warm with sour cream.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Instant mashed potatoes – Yes! You can cheat and use instant mashed potatoes to make these.
- Making it ahead – You should be able to pre-mix all the ingredients the night before and refrigerate them to bake the next day.
- Eggs – Can this recipe be made without eggs? Unfortunately, not. The eggs are what make the mashed potato puffs rise, otherwise, you’re just baking some loaded mashed potatoes.
-
Freezing and reheating – Mashed potato puffs can be frozen for up to 2-3 months. To reheat, microwave from frozen for about 1 minute.
- Scroll up to RECIPE TIPS for more useful tips, suggestions and ingredient substitutions.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
Comments & Reviews
Great recipe. Easily adjusted.
I followed the recipe except for two changes. I wanted to use up some potatoes and some cauliflower. I cooked my mashed cauliflower recipe (1/2 cauliflower, 1/4 c. Cream, 2 T butter, 1-2 cloves garlic, microwave until soft) and added it to your recipe along with 3 large cooked potatoes. We are a low sodium family so skipped salt and used Swiss cheese and low sodium bacon. It was delicious. Thanks for this great base that allowed me to easily make changes. Btw, I had a few stick. I went around them with a knife and used a small flexible rubber spatula to get under them…it worked except for one which I happily ate.
The flavor was very good. I greased my muffin cups, but they still stuck. Not sure why. I didn’t remove them after 5 minutes. I can’t think that was the trouble.
Is your muffin pan non-stick? For this recipe, I use a non-stick muffin pan, grease the wells and use a paper towel to spread the grease onto the sides and bottom of the wells thoroughly (since spraying tends to target a small area). Once it’s baked, I let it sit for a while to harden before using a spoon to lift the bottom of the muffins and run it around the edges to pry them loose. Hope this helps you! Some folks have reported success using baking or muffin cups.
My family loves this recipe! I just have a problem removing puffs from pan and then cleaning pan. I feel like I thoroughly grease non-stick cupcake pan but, still have issues. Any advice?
Do you wait for them to cool down a little before prying them loose? If they are still hot/warm, they tend to be softer and stick more. The cooler they are, the easier it is to pry from the pan. I also run a butter knife along the edges to pry them loose there. Then I use a spoon to pry them loose from the bottom from all angles and to finally lift them from the cupcake pan.
My brother and I loved them, will definitely make a couple of batches of them again and freeze some
That’s the way to do it! When you get the munchies, just heat them up again and pile on that sour cream or hot sauce 🙂
So. darn. Good. Like a cheesy soufflé but easy
I love them too and they heat up so well! Glad this was a hit for you and thank you for sharing, Louise.
I made these potato puffs today and my mum and the rest of my family and they said they want more and keep this recipe . I give this recipe a 10 /10
Thanks for trying them out and sharing them! Enjoy the puffs the next time you make them and happy eating 🙂
*****
My family loves this easy way to use leftover mashed potatoes.
It’s a great way to use up leftover mashed potatoes after the holidays like Thanksgiving or Christmas too! Thank you for trying out the recipe, Kaye.