Instant Mashed Potato Croquettes

Originally I had seen something where it appeared someone had cooled some mashed potatoes and sliced them and threw them in oil to fry for French fries. I thought that sounds easy and made a box of instant mashed potatoes following the instructions on the box and then chilled them. The next day I sliced the potatoes on a baking pan then popped in the freezer while I took my daughter to dance. Came home and pulled them out and heated some oil. Placed them in the pot and they immediately fell apart and I had to strain the Oil as it was all I had. Then I had a second thought. The old local Sunday brunch buffet had had these delicious little potato croquettes ( I actually ate the last one served before the restaurant got turned into the old spaghetti factory) and my fiance had been talking about how good they were the week previous. So I did a quick glance online to see what went into these things and decided to throw together a quick simple version and gathered the necessary ingredients

Supplies

Mashed potatoes ( I used instant but actual would work just fine) eggs, shredded cheese of your choice ( I used kraft Parmesan and shredded pizza mozzarella for the other half) breadcrumbs and cooking oil.

Prep Mashed Potatoes

Prepare mashed potatoes. Can be done a day in advance or just allow time to cool so it's easier to handle. Mine were already made so I actually had to microwave and thaw them as they were frozen solid haha

Egg on Yo Face

Place the potatoes in a medium or large bowl. Ideally you want 2 cups of potatoes to 1 egg/egg yolk. Some people prefer just the yolk. I used the whole egg. Mix well.

Add Your Ingredients

For my first time I went basic. Just cheese. I divided my mixture into 2 bowls and did Parmesan for 1 and mozzarella for the other. But you could add just about anything. I think next time I may try grilled Mushrooms and onions. Maybe ham or pork, chicken, beef. And play with a bit more with seasoning

Roll Roll Roll Your Balls

Once your mixture is well mixed start forming small balls by hand and then coat in the bowl of breadcrumb. I realised I could make a nice motion that rolled the ball around the bowl covering it nicely and helping make it nice and round. At this point your oil should be heating up. I set mine on medium on the burner and adjusted while cooking if I found the balls getting too dark too quick

Hot Oil Bath

Gentle place the rolled balls into the hot oil. Turning as they brown till all are a nice golden brown. Be careful as flipping too fast or too soon can cause them to crumble. Same for removing from oil too fast.

Enjoy

Let cool and enjoy your fried potato goodness. Could make a dip. Maybe a nice garlic aioli. Or a sour cream based dip. Or creamy dill sauce.