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
Can I make ahead and freezer these? If so, can I microwave them?
Yes, you can freeze the puffs. I would microwave them from frozen for 30 seconds to 1 minute per puff. Add more time if needed the more puffs you are reheating at once.
So easy to make. The family loved them. Thanks for the recipe
You’re welcome, Debra! I’m so glad it’s a hit in your home and thank you for sharing 🙂
Made this to night for dinner and they were really good, everyone really liked them. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for trying them out, Cindy. So glad everyone enjoyed them!
Loved your recipes and can’t wait to try them!
Thank You
Enjoy browsing the recipes and the food, Chris. Happy cooking!
This sounds really good something I can make for my boyfriend.
Thanks Sue B.
Love to hear it, Sue! I hope he likes it 🙂
Just wondering if you think this would work to cut it in half. I was thinking about using 1 egg and maybe 1/4 c sour cream and halving the rest of the ingredients. There are only 2 of us so 12 would be way too much.
You can definitely halve the recipe and ingredients. The cooking time will remain the same though. Good luck and enjoy the food!
Can you bake it in a 8×8 casserole pan and have one large puff?
Someone reported success baking it in a bundt pan before. I think it should be fine if it fills the 8×8 casserole pan nicely. I would just increase the cooking time since it’s a single large puff. Add more time in 5 minutes increments and do the toothpick test in the center to see if it comes out clean and the egg has fully cooked.
I use a mini muffin pan with liners and add a bit of coconut flour and they’re super delicious and make a great appetizer.
I bet they were super cute as mini puffs. Thanks for sharing your results with a mini muffin pan – I’m sure it will help inspire others!
I have not tried making these yet, but definitely would like to try. Has anybody tried freezing them once made as it sounds like they would be nice to take out of the freezer for a quick snack or addition to a meal. TY in advance.
Yes, you can freeze the puffs. I have tested reheating them from frozen in the microwave for one minute and they came out fine 🙂
They turned out lovely! I improvise a bit because I only had a cup of left over mashed potatoes. It was perfect for my husband & I.
Glad you managed to make it work! Thanks for sharing, Shannon 🙂
Fantastic use for leftover mashed potatoes. Highly recommend
Wonderful to hear, David. Thanks for trying it and reporting back!
Are these just mashed potatoes (only potato) or are you using leftover mashed potatoes that may have milk and butter in them.
The recipe uses just mashed potatoes (no milk or butter) but it’s just a base recipe to build on to your taste. You can however use leftover mashed potatoes that have been made with milk, butter, sour cream and/or cream cheese and this will not break the recipe since you’re loading them up anyway. Both kinds of mashed potatoes work.
I followed the recipe to a tee and they were dry and totally fell apart. What a waste of good ingredients (yes I made mashed potatoes just for this)☹️.
Sorry to hear it didn’t work out for you! The only things I can think of that will make them fall apart like that are not using a non-stick muffin pan or greasing it beforehand or not giving it enough time to cool off and settle once it’s out of the oven.
So we ate some of these today and, yes they’re still not pretty, but they do taste pretty darned good. I think I’ll try them again!
I hope they turn out better for you the second time around! On top of using a non-stick muffin pan, I really sprayed each muffin well with non-stick spray. Some people have successfully used cupcake liners but I personally have not tested those. When they are fresh out of the oven, they will be fully expanded and puffy. You need to wait for them to cool down and solidify before prying them out or they will stick. I used a butter knife and ran it along the edges of the puffs to gently pry them loose and used a spoon to lift out the bottom. I hope these tips help!
I made them tonight with just mashed potatoes and they were WAY overcooked and dry as well. I tasted them anyway and it is a good recipe. I may try to make the mashed potatoes first next time. Glad to know I wasn’t the only one who had an issue with the recipe.
Can the cooked potato puffs be frozen?
Yes, you can freeze the puffs for up to 2-3 months.
We have frozen our puffs. We microwave them for 1 minute and they are delicious!
Thank you for chiming in and sharing, Kim!
Excellent recipe and easy to modify. I have been making a double recipe, but I probably am using more than four cups of mashed potatoes, just eyeballing it. I omitted the chives this time but added two small onions diced and sauteed in the bacon grease and a tablespoon of unsalted butter. I put pepper and some paprika in; but that’s just how I make my mashed potatoes. We have been thinking of playing around with jalapenos in our next batch. Really love this as a great base recipe that’s easy to modify. Thanks!
You’re very welcome, Jodi! Thanks for sharing your substitutions. Ideas via comments always help inspire others with changes they might want to make to the base recipe.