When I was a kid, my mom devised this way of using leftover mashed potatoes the next day. I actually prefer these to plain old mashed potatoes. She coats them in seasoned flour, then cooks them very slowly in lots of butter. You have to be patient with this recipe because if you try to turn the cakes too soon, you won't get the delicious buttery crust. Also, if you know you are going to recycle the leftovers into cakes, don't add any additional milk or butter to the mashed potatoes or your cakes will be too loose to form.

Mashed Potato Cakes

potatoes (see Note)

vegetable oil

unsalted butter

all-purpose flour,

salt

black pepper

Divide the mashed potatoes into 8 equal portions. Use your hands to form 1/2-inch thick patties.

Heat the oil with the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until almost smoking. Mix the flour with the salt and pepper in a pie plate. Coat the potato patties in the flour mixture. Add the potato cakes to the pan and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook until they have formed a golden crust, 15 to 20 minutes. (Peek underneath using a spatula before turning.) Turn and cook the other side until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Season with additional salt and pepper and serve hot.

From the photo, I thought these were going to be real potato pancakes, or patties as we usually call them. But no, no, no, this is definitely not the way to make them. My leftover mashed potatoes have a little butter and some half and half in them and the potatoes were cooked in a salt bath, so they are seasoned. Here is the real recipe for potato patties and I have been making them for at least fifty years: 2 cups chilled mashed potatoes, 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, maybe some onion or garlic powder if you like it. Form into three inch by half an inch thick patties. A little more salt and pepper on top. Fry the cold patties in skillet with hot oil at medium high. If oil is not hot enough, potatoes will soak it up and be inedible. Brown one side about three to five minutes, turn with spatula (and fork, if necessary) and brown other side. Drain patties on paper towels and serve hot. You won't be sorry.

Half were great and half went into the garbage. I split my batch and cooked half with just oil and the other with the butter. The oil-cooked ones turned out nice, crispy and golden brown. The ones cooked with butter? Soggy, limp and burned. Trust me, DO NOT USE BUTTER!

I grew up with theses. I stopped making them. After seeing this I have to have to have them now. 

I have been cooking these for about 35 years. All I do is patty the potatoes rub on both sides a little egg, plop flour on top and bottom back and forth in hands. Fry in butter. Don't turn until browned or they will fall apart. My hubby and kids swear they are the best. I let you salt and pepper your own. Hubby can't have salt. 

DELICIOUS and exactly the kind of potato cakes we hoped they would be!  It is very important, however, to follow Sara's instructions precisely (making sure to take note of her mention regarding using 'leftover' mashed potatoes).  We used CostCo mashed potatoes (which come in a 2-pack) straight out of the container....and they were the PERFECT CONSISTENCY.  These excellent potato cakes were not only tasty but crispy crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside!  OVERALL PERFECTION!

If you want to add some "zing" to your cakes, add some crumbled bacon and shredded cheddar to the mix ad serve with a spoonful of sour cream.

The key, as Sara states in her introduction to this recipe, is that your mashed potatoes can't have extra butter or milk in them. They need to be a drier consistency. This recipe will not turn out as written if you are trying to make it with whipped potatoes, instant mashed potatoes, or extra creamy, buttery mashed potatoes. But if you start with the right ingredients as indicated, and follow the directions as written (i.e. Get the oil and butter very hot, almost to smoking, so a crust will form, and then reduce the heat and leave the pancakes alone for at least 15 minutes before trying to turn them), this recipe works very well, producing soft, delicate, golden brown potato pancakes.

This is a terribly written recipe. The idea itself is great, but cook times are vastly incorrect, and don't even read correctly. Prep time says 25 minutes, yet the recipe seems to indicate 15 to 20 PER SIDE. First off, no. Second off, it is much easier to make this by instinct, than to follow this poorly written recipe. Love this idea, but please, look elsewhere for this recipe if you want these to turn out correctly- this recipe will not get you good results. 

As another reviewer said, these were a sloppy mess.  Medium Low on a gas burner wasn't hot enough, so our patience did not pay off.  I had a lot of leftover mashed potatoes so with the rest of what I had, I added an egg for every 2 cups of mashed potatoes and about 1/4 to 1/3 c. diced red onion - mixed that thoroughly - fried potato cakes on med high - took about 5 minutes.  Delicious.  Easy.

Overall very good.  My family really liked it and I would defintely make it again.  I added an egg to help hold the patties together, but that didn't work too well.  I also added some fontina and parmesan cheeses, as well as sliced green onionis.

mashed potato cakes

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total: 25 minutes

Servings: 4

Cost: $3.04 /serving

Author : Food Network

Ingredients

Instructions

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