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
Your recipes are really good,thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much for saying so, Cindy. I’m always happy to hear I’m right on track 🙂
Made two batches. One almost exactly (I substituted scallions for chives because that’s what I had on hand) as written for my mother and a spicy version for my wife and I. Both were hits. . Btw, for the spicy version, I added sautéed onions and jalapenos, garlic powder and substituted pepper jack for the cheddar. Next time, I’m going to cut the batch in half and add Tai chilis to one half and jalapenos to the other.
I can also see adding diced ham or turkey in the case of holiday leftovers. Heck, the substitutions and add-ons are endless really.
Those sound like great additions to make them hot and spicy. Thanks for sharing! Jalapenos, chilis, cayenne, red pepper flakes – so many ways to spice them up. These puffs are a great canvas to build on with many ways to customize them. The muffin pan is your playground 😉
Will be making these tomorrow. Was wondering if they can be frozen.
Thanks
Yes, the mashed potato puffs can be frozen safely for 2-3 months. I hope you enjoyed them!
This sounds amazing and I’m getting ready to make some today with the left over mashed potatoes from yesterday! I’m so excited!
I hope they turned out great for you, Susan!
First time making these but I put onions in them and hubby loves them and so do I.
Thanks for sharing well make it again but with green peppers, onions and red pepper flakes.
You’re very welcome, Andrea. Thanks for sharing your substitutions and ideas on how to load up the potatoes.
Way too much egg. Tasted like egg.
Sorry to hear you found it eggy, Whitney. You can always decrease the number of eggs to 2 large ones to change it to your tastes.
These are in my oven right now. Can’t wait to try them. I know they’re going to be yummy. I’ve already written out the recipe in my “tried and true” book and pinned as well.
Thank you for sharing.
Happy to hear it made your list, Kim! Thanks for sharing with us 🙂
Can they be frozen to be used later
Yes, you can freeze the puffs. To reheat, I would do about 1 minute in the microwave from frozen.
Thank you for your recipe
You’re very welcome, Susana! Thank you 🙂
Anyone tried this with sweet potatoes?
Yes, if you scroll back to the older comments, someone tried it with it mashed sweet potatoes and it worked. Their comment read ‘Made them with mashed sweet potatoes… Definitely a home run!’
Can these be frozen?
I get asked this question a lot and yes, you can! So you can enjoy an easy snack or side whenever you feel like it.
would this work in an air fryer oven?
That’s a very good question! I haven’t tried ‘baking’ much in the air fryer but I think it might since they work the same as an oven, only the air fryer cooks things in half the time.
gonna make this recipe and put it in a 9 x 13 plan, will let you know how it comes out
sounds awesome
I would also like to try this in a baking dish. Have you tried it this way. How did it work out.
I, too, would love to hear how this experiment ended up!
Has anyone tried these in a mini muffin pan?
They will work in a mini muffin pan but you will need to decrease the cooking time a little to account for the smaller size. Good luck and happy cooking, Grace!
How long would you bake in the mini muffin pans….this size would be good for finger food appetizers.
I haven’t tested it out yet but if I were to guess, try it out in half the time for a regular muffin pan – so 15 minutes. Do the toothpick test to see if it comes out clean then add more baking time in small increments from there. Good luck and if anyone tries it out in a mini muffin pan, please report back so you can help others!
We thoroughly enjoyed these. I omitted the chives because I don’t like them. I cheated and used a package of roasted garlic and parmesan baby red potatoes. I will be making these again!
Chives, parsley, or green onions – all of these also work or skip them completely as you did. Good to know these work with red potatoes or an instant variation of them as well!