Easy Mashed Potato Pancakes
These mashed potato pancakes are the perfect way to use up leftovers!
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Full transparency: we rarely ever have leftover mashed potatoes because my family loves them THAT much. But in the event we do have some in the fridge, I love making mashed potato pancakes for breakfast with a side of fruit or vegan sausage.
Mashed potato pancakes are soft and buttery on the inside and crispy on the outside. My dream texture combination!
This recipe is incredibly simple to make and super customizable. Fortunately, they should have ample flavor already but we are going to add some special touches to make these mashed potato pancakes extra tasty.
To add a bit of a cheesy flavor, the recipe calls for some nutritional yeast. Alternatively, you could mix in a 1/2 cup of vegan cheddar shreds! We’ll also be adding in green onions. Don’t like green bits in your taters? Substitute with 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder. Add salt and pepper if necessary.
Because we need to form the potatoes into patties, they need to be a bit more sturdy. This is why the recipe calls for some flour. Every mashed potato base is going to be different, so in the event that the pancake dough becomes too dry and crumbly after adding in the flour, add a tablespoon or two of non-dairy milk to add back moisture.
Form the dough into patties. I use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop out the potatoes to make sure they are all the same size. This size will yield about 8 potato pancakes. Roll the mixture into a ball, then flatten carefully. Add the pancakes to a warm, greased skillet and fry away! Each side takes about 2-3 minutes to get nice and golden brown.
I prefer to fry the pancakes in vegan butter because this results in crispier edges. But, work with what you’ve got! Your favorite cooking oil is fine.
Serve warm, topped with a dollop of vegan sour cream, or some leftover vegan gravy! Yum! I love to enjoy these for breakfast, but they are great for any meal of the day.
Did you enjoy this recipe? Please leave a comment and a ⭐ star review below!
Leftover Mashed Potato Pancakes
Ingredients
- 2 cups leftover mashed potatoes cold
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast optional, for a cheesy flavor
- 2 tablespoons chopped green onions
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
- 1-2 tablespoons non-dairy milk if needed
- vegan butter or oil for frying
Optional Toppings
- vegan sour cream
- vegan bacon
- green onions
- hot sauce
- vegan gravy
Instructions
- Break up the cold, leftover potatoes with a fork.
- Mix in the flour, nutritional yeast, green onions, and salt and pepper. Mash until the mixture is relatively smooth with minimal chunks.
- Roll up 1/4 cup worth of dough into a ball. Flatten into a round disc, about 1/2 inch thick. If the dough is too dry to form into a ball, add a little non-dairy milk into the mixture.
- Heat a skillet on medium heat. Add about 1-2 teaspoons of vegan butter or oil to the pan. Once the butter is hot, place the pancakes into the pan. I typically cook 2 at a time.
- Fry for 2-3 minutes, or until the bottom is golden brown. Flip the pancakes and then cook again until that side is golden brown.
- Tip: Clean out the pan after each pancake batch and add new butter. This will help prevent the butter from burning.
- Continue until all pancakes are cooked. Serve warm with your favorite toppings!
This is absolutely fantastic! I make this all the time with left over mashed potatoes for my daughter who is allergic to dairy. They are just incredible. I’m sorry I waited for so long to comment.
Loved them! Easy quick breakfast. Serve red mine with some veggie sausage and applesauce.
Made these using leftover potato and chickpea mash (Oh She Glows for Dinner), as well as leftover broccoli and green beans – mashed it all together with your addition of nooch, red onion, and jalapeño (on hand). (Didn’t need flour or milk this time.) Sautéed some mushrooms, steamed cauliflower and brussels sprouts, and green salad – voila! Now a fave dinner!!
I always make extra mashed potatoes than needed for any meal because I always like to use the leftovers in numerous ways, from adding to a vegetable stew as a tasty thickener, to potato pancakes like these, or probably most often into mashed potato salad (cold mashed potatoes mixed with diced celery, onion, green pepper, radish, parsley, Veganaze, and spices. There are so many good things that you can use left over mashed potatoes for, I love them.
I like your addition of the yeast for the extra flavour, I also add some onion powder to the mix as well. Great recipe.
Have you tried making these potato pancakes in an air fryer without oil?
I haven’t.
These are amazing, and the recipe is perfect! I’ve been making these for months. It’s now one of my favorite breakfasts, and my daughter goes crazy for it. I decided I had to add a comment finally, after returning to this page so often.
These were fantastic! Very easy, and they didn’t fall apart!
These are perfect for breakfast after Thanksgiving dinner. I was looking for a good potato pancake recipe, and these are better than imagine. The nutritional yeast is amazing.
I’ve made these a couple times now! But I use my waffle iron instead of a skillet. And I halve the recipe for a single serving waffle. The flour and nooch amounts are always perfect and I haven’t had to use milk but I’m sure that depends on the original texture of the taters. I’ve used onion flakes and garlic salt to jazz it up when I don’t have green onions on hand. The texture and sturdiness are just as good, if not better, than the omni version with eggs and cheddar I’d done in my past life.
So easy and really tasty! I added some parsley along with the green onions. Delicious.
Excellent!