Recipe Ideas Using Leftover Mashed Potatoes

Potato-Spinach Cakes, Potato-Onion Pierogi, and Moroccan-style Vegan Pastel

Leftover mashed potatoes helps me create tasty meals that come together quickly

I can’t think of anything more comforting than perfectly made creamy mashed potatoes. I could enjoy a plate of them every week – maybe even more. It’s the kind of food that reminds me of my youth and the many holiday feasts I was lucky enough to enjoy.

Of course, mashed potatoes are mostly a featured side dish on many holiday tables or weekend dinners. But puréed potatoes are also a super versatile ingredient that can be quickly turned into many different recipes. And that’s the one reason to consider making an extra portion and deliberately creating leftovers.

Having leftover or extra mashed potatoes means you can usually skip a few steps in making recipes. Consider my Potato-Spinach Cakes, which work brilliantly alone or as a partner to a salad or stew. They come together fast by combining leftover potato purée with flour, chopped spinach and seasoning.

And here’s some excellent news for those who like to plan or think of batch-cooking. Potato cakes freeze remarkably well and fill a void on those occasions when there isn’t enough time or inspiration to cook.

Even a small amount of extra mashed potatoes can be stretched and turned into mouth-watering dumplings or pierogies. A completed filling requires cooking some onions…maybe some cabbage…and combining those ingredients with your mashed potatoes to create a perfect and traditional Eastern European treat. And like my potato cakes, pierogies freeze exceptionally well.

For my ultimate mashed potato meal, I think of a Greek-style moussaka, an English cottage pie, a shepherd’s pie…or my veganized version of a Moroccan pastel from an old family recipe. And having ready-made mashed potatoes on hand puts me on the fast track to sitting down and plunging my spoon through a baked mashed potato topping and allowing that scented steam to escape and wash over my face.

What could be better than that?

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Be sure to read my earlier article for tips and a primer on making a perfect vegan potato puree.

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Potato-Spinach Cakes

Potato-Spinach Cakes ¦ Photo by Jack McNulty