Air fryer mashed potato balls are tasty crispy snacks or a side dish. Make our Air Fryer Potato Pancakes or this one for some of the best leftover mashed potatoes recipe ideas even your kids will love.
Love leftover recipes? Us too. I hate to waste food so these air fryer mashed potato balls are great after the holidays, or made fresh because they’re so yummy. With a little breading (and you can even stuff them with cheese) you can create crunchy potato bites of goodness still creamy inside. Love this easy air fryer recipe. (affiliate links present)
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How to Make Potato Cakes from Mashed Potatoes
Years ago I shared how to make air fryer mashed potatoes with sweet or Russet potatoes. I have to be honest, I only use this with my leftover garlic mashed potatoes but you could easily make them just because as well. The steps aren’t much different than anything else that is lightly breaded.
If you want to amp them up though, mashed potato balls with cheese is killer too. Just dice up a bit of mozzarella, flatten it a bit and roll it back up. Once it is heated and bit into the middle will ooze out and surprise your family.
If you love extra crispy food and quick recipes, here are some resources to start with:
- My Favorite models are this Cosori or for a dual machine, the Foodi.
- You can find more Ninja Foodi recipes here as well; bookmark them both!
- It is best practice to put food into a hot basket. this is how to preheat air fryer first.
- Here’s a printable free air fryer cooking time chart here for your fridge.
Leftover Mashed Potato Balls
When would you make these? I mean you aren’t constricted to after Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter time but that is when they’re made in my home. They are typically made as leftover ham recipes with diced meat.
Air Fryer Mashed Potato Cakes
I mean it doesn’t matter what shape they are in really. The timing is for small palm size balls though but if you wanted to make a bit larger but smash down into more of a patty that would work too. Either way they need to be breaded so you can “fry” to crispy bites.
What are potato balls made of?
The base is just a scoop of your mashed mixture. You can form them into balls or flatter like mashed potato cakes. As far as the ingredients inside that mixture you probably have your own favorite mix ins. Usual ones would be butter, milk, sour cream and maybe some bacon bits.
You need something to roll them in though as a binding agent of sorts so they don’t fall apart. Cornstarch slurry will dry out the very outside a bit before rolling them into Panko breadcrumbs. A light spray of olive oil is what is used for everything “fried” in a Cosori or other brand.
Ninja Air Fryer Potato Balls
If you are used to deep frying all the things, stop. You can air fry everything to the same crispiness without adding all of that fat, calories, and yucky aftertaste. If you are new to this method of cooking you’ll be pleasantly surprised. If you use a Foodi, you just use the lid that is attached with the air crisp button.
Ingredients
I mean it is January and I think we all at least have the intentions of eating better and taking care of ourselves this year. It’s mine every year at least and this is one way you can do just that. This is what you’re going to need to get started;
- Batch of leftover pressure cooker mashed potatoes, about 2 cups will do
- Breadcrumbs
- Cornstarch and some water to make a slurry
- Olive oil spray
And if you want to stuff them with cheese you’d want some of that too. You could even add a pinch of bacon bits inside too. I mean go with whatever will make you smile.
Can you make air fryer mashed potato balls with sweet potatoes?
Of course, either way will do. With those you might want to fold in some cinnamon and sugar but that is up to you. Raisins might be a fun surprise in the center too. You would make the same way.
Yes and no, you will need to add a binder and roll into a coating for the outside so they don’t fall apart. Breadcrumbs work well for a crispy outside. You can even flatten and add bits of cheese or meat into the middle.
To make them more moist a bit of milk or cream works well. Bacon bits folded into them will add flavor. And then you can make something totally different by frying them in balls or pancakes coated in breading like we show you here.
You can see here what you’d do if you wanted to make them cheese stuffed. Pepper jack would be great as an alternative to mozzarella. They look a little like our air fryer hushpuppies when done, another easy side dish recipe that goes well with dinner.
If it IS after Christmas or whatever and you also have other things in the fridge that need to be used up, I’d suggest one of our leftover ham recipes with these. OR you could dice that up real fine and add it into the middle! Ok I went on a tangent there but still a good idea. 😉
Sweet Potato Balls Air Fryer
You could use the inners from sweet taters too which would be wonderful. You could even roll them in cinnamon and sugar when done so it was more like a sweet treat vs. a savory side dish.
Still have more and you hate throwing them away? Make air fryer potato pancakes with these flattened out and if you love finger food like this for dinner or brunch, our Bisquick sausage balls are wonderful too.
Air Fried Mashed Potato Balls with Cornstarch
There is a printable recipe card at the bottom of this post you can jump to recipe and get started. Here is a quick step by step look on how it is done though.
- Form small balls with leftover mashed potatoes. This should make about 20 if you have 2 cups. Set aside while you preheat your air fryer to 350 degrees.
- In a shallow bowl whisk together cornstarch and water. Pour bread crumbs in another shallow dish.
- If you want to stuff with white or cheddar cheese flatten each ball. Put small pieces in the middle and roll back up into a ball.
- One at a time roll each one into the cornstarch slurry, then roll into breadcrumbs until coated.
- Spray inside of air fryer basket with non stick cooking spray. Place coated balls in a single layer.
- Spray tops with olive oil spray lightly so they get golden brown. Cook for 7 minutes total, turn each one after 3 minutes. Remove when browned and enjoy.
Total prep time is about 15 minutes so set aside about 20 to make these from start to finish. Not too bad if you ask me. Serve them up as is or with ketchup (says my kids) on the side. Sprinkle with salt and pepper at the end if desired and enjoy.
Air Fryer Mashed Potato Balls
Equipment
- 1 air fryer
Ingredients
- 2 c mashed potatoes, ready made, or make your own out of about 1 lb. of potatoes and mix ins
- 8 oz mozzarella cheese, diced into small pieces, optional if you want to stuff them
- 4 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/4 c water
- 1 c Panko bread crumbs
- olive oil spray
Instructions
- Form small balls with leftover mashed potatoes, should make about 20. Set aside while you preheat your air fryer to 350 degrees.
- In a shallow bowl whisk together cornstarch and water until smooth. Pour Panko in another shallow dish.
- If you want to stuff with cheese flatten each ball and put small pieces of cheese in the middle and smash back up into a ball.
- One at a time roll each one into the cornstarch slurry, then roll into breadcrumbs until coated.
- Spray inside of air fryer basket with olive oil and place coated balls inside without overlapping them.
- Spray tops with olive oil spray lightly, then cook for 7 minutes total, turning each one after 3 minutes time. Remove when browned and enjoy.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
