Spicy cheesy potato balls! Here’s the thing, I don’t really like mashed potatoes that much. I feel like this is a controversial thing to say because most people love it, but the texture is not for me.
But fill the mashed potatoes with cheese, cover them in breadcrumbs, then fry them….SUDDENLY I AM IN LOVE.
These were so warm, cheesy, crispy and a little spicy. They were also so easy to make!
Video Tutorial
Breakdown of the process
So making these are easy and they don’t take too long. But there are a few different steps.
Here’s what you are going to need to do:
- Boil and mash your potatoes – if you have leftover mashed potatoes from a different day, you can just use those.
- Season the mashed potatoes – I like when potatoes are seasoned well. I don’t love the taste of potatoes on their own. But it’s up to you how much you want to season them.
- Form these into balls.
- Fill these balls with cheese – I like to use mozzarella, this gives the best cheese pull. But you can use whatever cheese you like.
- Coat them in eggs and breadcrumbs.
- Freeze them for 20 minutes – I find it so much easier to fry them once they have been frozen for a bit, so I recommend freezing them.
- Now fry them.
After frying, they are done. I just had these on their own, but you can serve them with whatever you want.
The potatoes
You can make these with your favourite kind of potatoes . I’m going to be honest, I don’t know the name of the potatoes I used. I though potatoes were just….potatoes, I didn’t know there were so many different kinds. I don’t have the packet so I can’t check.
But any work, it doesn’t really matter. Use whatever you have.
In the recipe, I’ve wrote 4 large potatoes.
For this recipe, you don’t need to be exact with the quantities. You can use less potatoes if you want too, but that you might want to use a little less seasonings if you use less potatoes.
I’ve included measurements because this is a recipe, but you really don’t need to follow them.
The corn flour
One ingredient I wanted to talk about is the corn flour, also known as cornstarch.
I mixed a bit of this into the mashed potatoes. This just helps the mashed potatoes become more of a dough, which it makes it easier to roll it into balls.
Without it, the mashed potatoes might not stick together when you try to roll them.
If you don’t have corn flour, regular plain flour/all purpose flour works too.
If you feel like you can roll your mashed potatoes into balls without adding this, you can leave it out. But I do recommend adding it, it makes things easier, and they’re less likely to fall apart when you’re frying them.
The seasonings
Like I mentioned, I don’t really love the taste of potatoes on their own. I feel like they need to be seasoned well.
I’ve seen quite a few recipes for potato balls, a lot of them don’t typically add a lot of seasonings into the mashed potatoes. So it is totally up to you if you want to add them or not.
Here’s the seasonings I used:
- Salt
- Chilli flakes
- Ground cayenne pepper
- Smoked paprika
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Black pepper
These are the seasonings I like, but use whatever seasonings you want, or adjust the amounts.
Also if you want these to be spicier you can add more cayenne pepper, or you could chop fresh chillies and add them in.
You could also throw in other add-ins like bacon, shredded chicken, crispy onions….all I’m trying to say is, make these to taste!
Frying the potato balls
When it comes to frying these, the potatoes are already cooked, so this makes it easier to fry them.
All we are really waiting for, is for the outside of them to become golden and crispy.
You want to fry them in oil that is at 180c/350f. If you don’t have a thermometer, that’s fine you don’t need one.
How to check if the oil is ready without a thermometer
Once you think your oil is ready, sprinkle some breadcrumbs into it.
If these breadcrumbs start gently bubbling, the oil is ready. If they are not bubbling, the oil is too cold. Let it heat up for a few more minutes.
If the breadcrumbs start to aggressively bubble, the oil is too hot, Turn the heat off and let the oil cool for a few minutes.
You want the potato balls to be gently bubbling throughout the whole frying process. If they are bubbling too aggressively, they will brown too quickly.
Even though the goal it to only make the outside crispy, you still want this to happen slowly, so that the cheese in the centre has a chance to melt.
Making these ahead of time
I wanted to mention that you don’t need to fry these all at once. You can make these ahead of time.
Just put them into an airtight container, or in a freezer bag, then throw them into your freezer. They can last in there for a few weeks.
Whenever you want them, you can fry them straight out of the freezer!
Here are a few other recipes I think you need to try:
Spicy
Cheesy Potato Balls
Ingredients
Makes: around 8
4 large potatoes
Salt
- To season the potatoes:
2 tablespoons corn flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons chilli flakes
2 teaspoons ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- For the coating:
3 eggs
120g panko breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
- Extras:
Some cheese, I used mozzarella but use whatever you like
Vegetable oil, to fry
Directions
- Cooking the potatoes:
- Start by filling a pot with water, sprinkle a large pinch of salt into this, then place this on high heat. Let this come to a boil.
- Meanwhile, peel your potatoes, wash them, then cut them into similar sized pieces.
- Once your water comes to a boil, add the potatoes into it and boil them until fork tender. The time this takes will vary depending on the kind of potatoes and the size of your pieces. Just keep and eye on them.
- Once fork tender, drain them. Then add the potatoes into a bowl and mash them.
- Add the corn flour and the seasonings into this, mix until combined.
- Divide this mixture into 8 pieces, and roll each piece into a ball. If you want smaller potato balls, you can divide the mixture into more than 8 pieces.
- Get one potato balls, flatten this out a little, add some cheese into the centre, then roll this back into a ball. Repeat this until you've filled all of them.
- Place these onto a tray and leave in the freezer whiles you get the coating ready.
- Coating the potato balls:
- In a bowl, add the eggs and whisk these.
- In a separate bowl, mix the breadcrumbs and the seasonings together.
- Get one of your potato balls, dip this into the eggs, shake of the excess egg, then dip this into the breadcrumbs. Once covered, dip in the egg again, and then back into breadcrumbs. Side note, when you dip the ball into the breadcrumbs, make sure to press the breadcrumbs into the ball, so that they stick.
- Place this into a tray, repeat this with the rest of the balls, then leave these in the freezer for 20 minutes.
- Frying the potato balls:
- You want to fry these in oil that is at 180c/350f. Just fry them until golden brown and crispy.
- Leave these on a wire rack for a few minutes so the excess oil can drain off, then enjoy!
can these be air fryer see I’m trying to be healthy here ✌🏼
Author
Yesss you can, I’d say do it at 180c until they’re crispy