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Ham And Cheese Potato Fritters

Leftover mashed potatoes make a triumphant return to the dinner table with this easy recipe.

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Sometimes we find inspiration from the hodgepodge of leftovers in our refrigerator. A little bit of cheese here, some slices of deli meat there, some eggs and leftover rice – all of these can be combined to make a meal and make sure that no food goes to waste. Having leftovers in the fridge doesn’t mean you have to eat the same meal over and over again. Groans and moans from a hungry crowd at seeing the same meal served yet again can put a damper on dinnertime. When we happen to have leftover mashed potatoes, this ham and cheese potato fritter recipe is one of our favorite ways to rethink the leftover. They’re so good, we might just whip up a batch of mashed potatoes so we can eat these the next day!

Similar to croquettes but a bit heartier, these perfect potato, ham, and cheese patties are something we might serve for dinner, with a salad on the side to really make this a full meal. An important component to this is the right dipping sauce, and for us, that means sour cream. The cool sour cream, something we already add to our mashed potato recipe, pairs beautifully against the golden toasty crust that wraps the whole patty in a comforting crunch. And if the crunchy outside isn’t enough, the creamy potatoey-cheesiness on the inside is something we go absolutely gaga for. No one will even remember that they’re eating leftovers when this meal is set before them!

We like these potato fritters as a part of a weeknight meal plan; we’ll make extra mashed potatoes for one meal so that the leftovers can make a triumphant return later in the week. The slightly salty pieces of ham and the fresh pepper flavor from the green onion make each bite extra delicious. Simple food like this, put together in different ways, can help keep our family well fed and help to avoid unnecessary food waste in our kitchens. Don’t expect to have any leftovers when you make a batch of these, but we do, then we’re not above sneaking in a bite (or two or three) as a late night snack!

Serves 4-6

30 minutes

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Ingredients
  • 4 cups mashed potatoes
  • 2 cups Gruyere cheese, shredded
  • ½ cup deli ham, chopped
  • 1 large egg
  • ¼ cup flour
  • ½ cup plain bread crumbs
  • 2 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • 6 tablespoons cooking oil
Preparation
  1. In a large bowl, combine mashed potatoes, cheese, ham, green onions, egg, flour, salt, and pepper. The mixture will be thick, if not, add flour, one tablespoon at a time.
  2. Scoop out ¼ cup of potato mixture and form into a patty. Coat each patty in bread crumbs and set aside.
  3. Heat cooking oil in a frying pan. Fry patties on each side, 3-5 minutes, or until golden brown in color. Serve warm.

Recipe adapted from My Food Story.