Glorious Potato Patties (Made from the Best Mashed Potatoes)

This post should be called “potato patties, a.k.a. heaven in a pan, gently heated to a golden crisp.” Or at least something like that.

Potato patties are, in my mind, the absolute best way to use up leftover mashed potatoes. Sure, you could reheat them in their original state or put them atop of a casserole, but why do that when the angels could be singing over these glorious beauties?

Of course, in order to make delicious potato patties, you must start with delicious mashed potatoes. Now is the time to bid farewell to any mashed potato powder in a box. No longer will you tolerate the texture of pasty bland fluff. You are moving on to truer and purer things.

The process for great mashed potatoes is simple:

Peel potatoes & chop into 1-2″ chunks
Place chunks in boiling water
Boil for about 15 minutes, or until potatoes are fork-tender.
Drain water.
Add REAL butter, milk, salt, & pepper. How much? That’s up to you, but I’m pretty generous myself. I usually add a whole stick of butter for about every eight medium potatoes, then pour in a little milk at a time while I mash until the consistency is right. Next, I salt and pepper it and taste it til it’s yummy. I might even double dip. (Shhhh…)
Mash with a fork or potato masher. Blend them with a beater if you must, but I prefer my taters a bit chunky.

That’s it! Real mashed potatoes are very simple to make and far surpass any box you could buy. The only problem with making them yourself is that you’ll no longer take joy in most restaurant mashed potatoes because your own are so much better.

Now, for the best part of mashed potatoes: the LEFTOVERS!

Here’s how you make The Ever Glorious and Delightful Golden Potato Patty. It’s even easier than the mashed potatoes.

Heat 1-2 tablespoons of butter in a cast-iron skillet. Make sure the pan gets thoroughly heated.
Drop rounded spoonfuls of leftover mashed potatoes into the skillet. Flatten to about 1/2″ thick with the back of your spoon.
Flip when the bottom of the patties is turning golden-brown and crispy.
When both sides are golden, they’re ready to eat!

Potato patties are delicious with eggs in the morning, as part of lunch or dinner, or as a late-night snack. They really do make me deliriously happy. Don’t we all need a little bit of that in our lives? 😉

Go forth and eat potatoes.