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. Or these loaded mashed potato balls which are even crispier than these puffs. There’s also a sweet potato casserole which is a staple with my family during the holidays. But back to the recipe, let’s start making some puffs!
HOW TO MAKE MASHED POTATO PUFFS (1 MIN)
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.
These are so good you should make mashed potatoes just to make them. I’ve actually done this and carried these puffs proudly to potlucks. And you can actually cheat by using instant mashed potatoes. No one would know the difference.
MASHED POTATO PUFFS TIPS AND TRICKS
Okay, onto some technique. When you mix it all together, it’ll look a little mushy. But have faith. It’ll work some puff magic in the oven and lose that mushy, flat, lifeless form. Have faith in the puff magic. It’ll happen.
So mix, mix, mix, which is pretty easy and then mound it into a greased muffin tin (I used a regular-sized non-stick muffin pan). The messier you mound in the mashed potatoes, the more texture it’ll have later. So no worrying about how pretty it’ll look. Mound it in messily!
Then we top with some yummy Parmesan cheese and bake for 30 minutes. If you want to make them even smaller and bake a teeny tiny army of mini potato puffs, then you can use mini muffin pans but bake them for 10 minutes or so less. Or you could use brownie bar pans and make fun tightly packed square potato puffs.
And that’s about it. It’s easier to watch the video for a general idea on how to make it and then go from there. It also helps to prove how magical these things can from looking like sad, leftover mashed potatoes to puffy potato bites. Enjoy!
MORE POTATO RECIPES TO TRY
- Loaded Mashed Potato Balls
- Garlic Parmesan Sweet Potato Stacks
- The Best Creamy Potato Salad
- Slow Cooker Cream Cheese and Potato Soup
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Mashed Potato Puffs
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- 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.
- Sprinkle each cup 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.
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123 Comments
Mary
November 4, 2020 at 3:48 PMI am wondering how long in advance you can make them before you bake them? Maybe the day before? what do you think? I am thinking about Thanksgiving.
The Cooking Jar
November 4, 2020 at 4:14 PMThe day before works perfectly fine! Just not too long once you add in the egg. Otherwise, if you have mashed potatoes made and add the extra stuff to make it loaded, you can keep that up to two days before adding in the eggs to bake them for the puffs. Good luck!
Heather
August 5, 2020 at 6:37 AMCould this be used for a side as well?
The Cooking Jar
August 6, 2020 at 11:12 AMAbsolutely. I used this as a side for a Thanksgiving work potluck and it did really well.
Sue
April 20, 2020 at 10:20 PMThese are wonderful!! I was making Shepard’s Pie so made extra mashed potatoes to give this a try. My new fave!!
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
August 6, 2020 at 11:10 AMI love shepherd’s pie! I usually Better than Bouillon beef to the meat to make it extra meatier. It’s a family favorite. Thanks for trying this out!
Marissa Gonzalez
August 9, 2019 at 7:20 AMI just found your site. I am making the hors d’oeuvres for a end of the summer (so sad) teacher happy hour (but also happy). This seems the perfect recipe when one of my friends needs gluten free. Thanks!
Diane
December 21, 2018 at 4:47 PMWhat did you grease your pan with? When I tried this recipe it stuck to the pan, and I tried both Pam and vegetable oil.
The Cooking Jar
December 22, 2018 at 10:16 PMI used Pam spray but my muffin tin was already non-stick, so that helped a lot.
Babs
November 6, 2018 at 1:05 PMI have made and loved these several times. I added a little cayenne pepper the last time and it was yummy!!
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
December 18, 2018 at 3:50 PMThank you for letting me know it’s a favorite! Red pepper flakes will work too, or if you want a little smoky flavor, smoked paprika 😉 Tons of ways to get creative and add that special touch.
Kat
October 22, 2018 at 4:36 PMI used trader joe’s frozen mashed potatoes. Recipe worked perfectly!
The Cooking Jar
December 18, 2018 at 3:49 PMGood to know they work with frozen mashed potatoes too!
Sadia
October 19, 2018 at 12:22 PMHi. Can i make these with the instant flakes mashed potatoes and also can i make these a few hours ahead and reheat in the oven
The Cooking Jar
October 22, 2018 at 4:26 PMYou can absolutely make them with instant mashed potatoes. I’ve made them a few hours ahead before and reheated them prior to bringing them over for a Thanksgiving pot luck and they were fine.
Cheryl
October 8, 2018 at 9:40 AMThey were just ok not worth the extra ingredients . I followed the recipe exactly .
★
The Cooking Jar
October 22, 2018 at 4:24 PMThanks for trying it out anyway, Cheryl.
Mariah
September 16, 2018 at 12:48 AMThese turned out great! I added some panko bread crumbs just to thicken it a bit and they were delicious!
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
September 27, 2018 at 8:29 PMThat’s a great idea! I love panko bread crumbs!
Michelle
January 23, 2018 at 1:05 AMHow would I 1/2 the recipe?
The Cooking Jar
January 29, 2018 at 5:25 PMTry halving all the ingredients and use 2 medium eggs instead of 3 large ones.
Michelle
January 29, 2018 at 9:33 PMThanks. It was the eggs that I wasn’t sure how to 1/2.
CJ
December 17, 2017 at 12:35 PMThese look awesome! Have you ever doubled this recipe? I’m still new to cooking/baking for large get togethers and wasn’t sure if I should double it for a group of 10 or make them in mini muffin tins. Thanks!
Nichole
December 19, 2017 at 1:31 PMI would also like to know about doubling them.
The Cooking Jar
January 29, 2018 at 5:22 PMIt should be safe to double the recipe as is since there’s no spices that would be finicky if doubled. I’ve done it once for a Super Bowl potluck. I doubled mine in regular muffin pans because I don’t own any minis, but the mini idea sounds good for big gatherings as well.
Katherine
December 5, 2017 at 12:37 AMHi,
I made these and they tasted wonderful. But, they did stick even though I had greased the muffin tin. Any suggestions? Would cupcake papers work?
Thanks!
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
December 6, 2017 at 1:34 AMDid you let them cool off a bit before prying them out? The cool off period is important so they can solidify and stop being so soft and pliable. I haven’t tried them with cupcake papers but it might work!
Cindy Schneider
December 2, 2017 at 11:51 AMMy mashed potatoes always have sour cream and cream cheese in them, so I skipped adding the sour cream. Had about three cups of potatoes, so I added an extra egg. I had only Vidalia onion, so chopped that up fine, and threw it in the mix with some Bac-Os. Topped with shredded Parmesan and finished off a jar of dried chives to top it off. At 30 minutes the tops were still a bit squishy, though getting nicely browned. Another five minutes and they were perfect! I’m adding this to my recipe box for sure! Thanks!
The Cooking Jar
December 6, 2017 at 1:33 AMYou’re welcome, Cindy. Great additions andchanges!
Renee
November 22, 2017 at 8:17 PMI was hoping to attempt this with sweet potatoes…folding in feta and rosemary. Do those flavors work well together? Is this egg-y. I’d be taking them to Thanksgiving dinner, the host is doing mashed potatoes, so I didn’t want to do traditional mashed sweet potatoes…thoughts” Should I slightly under cook them and finish them at their house…or just reheat to warm? Thanks you.
The Cooking Jar
December 6, 2017 at 1:30 AMSorry this got to you so late. I do hope you figured it out though or at least found something else for your Thanksgiving dinner. Mine turned out to be cooking from 2-7pm. It was exhausting! To belatedly answer, I think sweet potatoes, feta and rosemary flavors work well together. This isn’t eggy but puffy in texture. Next time, just reheat to warm, doesn’t take that long.