Crispy air fryer mashed potato balls are tasty snacks or a side dish with dinner. More fun than our Air Fryer Potato Pancakes, but similar made with leftover mashed potatoes, you can make as a Ninja Foodi recipe too.
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.
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.
Ninja Foodi Mashed Potato Balls
Tips: My Favorite models are the Cosori or making Ninja Foodi recipes with the lid that is attached.
It is best practice to put food into a hot basket. This is how to preheat air fryer first before adding your food so it becomes as crispy as possible. For best results, here’s a printable free air fryer cooking time chart here for your fridge.
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.
What are mashed potato balls made of?
The base is just a scoop of your mashed mixture. You can form them into balls or flatter like fried mashed potatoes. 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.
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.
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 mashed potato balls with sweet potatoes?
Of course, I will do this when making air fryer sweet potato the day before, 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.
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.
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.
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.
How Long to Air Fry Mashed Potato Balls
After you are done prepping your balls from your left over pressure cooker mashed potatoes you always want to preheat the machine for 5 minutes to start. Then to get the outside golden brown and crispy you need to cook for 7 minutes total, turn each one after 3 minutes.
Total prep time is about 15 minutes so set aside about 20 to make these from start to finish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper when done and serve.
Mashed Potato Balls Recipe
Equipment
- 1 air fryer
- 1 Bowl
Ingredients
- 2 cup 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 cup water
- 1 cup Panko bread crumbs
- 1 spray olive oil
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.
