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
Sounds like a great way to use up leftover mashed potatoes. If I made these to take to a party, do you think they would be ok if I kept them watt in a crock pot?
You could try keeping them warm in the warm setting of a crock pot but I am worried that keeping them in a sealed moist environment might make them less crispy on the outside. It will still taste great – just a little softer than normal.
tried the potato muffins::: Delicious and very easy !!!
Glad to hear they worked out for you! Thanks for sharing your outcome, Jannie 🙂
So tasty, and what a great way to use leftover mash! I’m usually cooking for two, so when we do make mashed potatoes l, there tend to be a lot left over.
How would you reheat them in a regular oven? Our microwave is out of commission at the moment.
I cook for two, too! I would try reheating it at 350°F for 15 minutes. Let me know if this temp/time worked for you!
This worked perfectly – thank you so much!
Great! I’ll add these instructions to the reheating part of the tips in the post. Thanks for reporting back!
I followed the recipe exactly but my puffs were not very light. They were tasty but very dense.
Hmm, the only thing I can think of is packing it too tightly in the muffin cups. I usually drop a spoonful of them in but don’t pat them down – there’s a lot of room on the sides and on top for them to expand once they bake. Glad to hear it was still tasty though.
Thanks for sharing your experience. My 3 y/o grandson loves mashed potatoes and I make a large batch every Sunday using a 5# bag of potatoes. My daughter packs some in his bento box everyday but I’ve been looking for a “finger food” way to serve them to him. Fingers crossed he likes the puffs 🤞.
Hope they went well with him if you ever did try it out.
I made this recipe and it was so delicious! The crunchy outside and the creamy cheese and potatoes! Perfect side dish or appetizer!
The contrast between the outside and inside is fun! I made them recently again to test if they can be frozen since I got asked that question a lot – and ended up devouring most of them by myself. No regrets 😀
Liking the look of these recipes.
Thank you for the compliment, Connie! I hope you try a few of them and let me know how it goes.
These are so tasty and easy to make ty for shareing
That’s great to hear, Nancy, and you’re very welcome! Enjoy the puffs.
Hello! Your recipes look so good. Is it possible to have thème in french? Thank you, have à Nice day!
Thank you for supporting my recipes, Lyne! I write in English but you can always use Google Translate to automatically translate the whole page into French.
I love love any kind of potato and want to try them this week . I have some sir fry beef , what would you suggest /
I’ve never tried including anything other than bacon bits but I think you could add some cooked meat in there. It would have to be pre-cooked though and I would suggest chopping it up a little before mixing it in with the mashed potatoes and baking.
These were freakin AMAZING!!! Super quick to throw together(I used microwaveable mashed potatoes). I have 5 children ages 3-20 and everybody loved them! Not a crumb was left!! Thank you so much for this recipe!!
You’re very welcome! It’s great to hear they were such a hit with kids of such a big age range too. Sounds like a new staple for you and your family 🙂
Thanks for sharing your experience. My 3 y/o grandson loves mashed potatoes and I make a large batch every Sunday using a 5# bag of potatoes. My daughter packs some in his bento box everyday but I’ve been looking for a “finger food” way to serve them to him. Fingers crossed he likes the puffs 🤞.
I’ve made these a few times now…only instant but love them. Family favorite and super easy…
Can they be frozen?
Instant mashed is perfectly fine! I’m glad to hear it’s a family favorite and yes, the puffs can be safely frozen for up to 2-3 months.
Can these be frozen?
Warmed up for a snack or another day?
Thank you
Yes, they can! I warmed mine up by reheating it from frozen in a microwave for one minute. You may need a longer time the more puffs you reheat.
I must admit I haven’t made them yet, but definitely will. In the process of preparing mashed tators for supper now. 😉 Would like to serve these as an Hors D’oeuvre, how long do you think on the bake time if using mini muffin tins? Cheers, and thanks ahead.
I would try a little over half the recipe time first and see how it goes from there. Haven’t tried it myself in a mini muffin pan but theoretically, it should be a little shorter to get the center fully cooked.
This recipe is what I call “Instant Family Success”:
Easy, on my budget and delicious.
Thanks
Thank you for the branding 😀 I’m always happy to hear it worked out, more so that it checks all the boxes for you! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment❤️
Can’t wait for my grandkids to eat these…say goodbye to boring mask potatoes 🥔
Haha, love it 🙂 I hope your grandkids enjoy the puffs!