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Author:
Franco Salzillo
Loaded potatoes are the single best way of amping up the starchy root veggie. There’s nothing some butter and a hefty amount of cheese can’t improve. The thing with traditional loaded potatoes is that they get old. Why not reinvent the classic with bite-sized loaded mashed potato balls?
For this recipe, you’ll need a whole lot of potatoes. Then there’s the dairy: butter, milk and grated Cheddar cheese. This one sounds good already, but there’s more. You’ll also need some veggies (because you know you must eat some greens), and we’re going with the holy trinity veggies: carrots, bell peppers and celery — they’ll give the mashed potato balls color, flavor and nutrition. They’ll also add a lovely snappy bite!
We’re breading these beauties with crunchy panko, Japanese breadcrumbs, and air-frying them to use very little cooking oil. Yes, these bites are healthier than any other fried stuff you can’t think of.
The best part of this recipe is making the mashed potatoes from scratch, which gives you more room to innovate and perfect the recipe — cooking perfect mashed potatoes is an art form. If you only want a mean bowl of mashed potatoes, you can use this recipe as well!
These golden, starchy bites are fantastic beer snacks and complement roast meat and other hearty meals. The secret here is making them not long before you’re ready to serve them — you want the cheese gooey and the balls nice and crispy. By the way, you can fry these traditionally in case you don’t own an air-fryer.
For the mashed potatoes:
For the loaded mashed potato balls:
Cut the potatoes in quarters. Boil in a pot until tender. Drain and set aside.
In a saucepan, heat the milk until steamy, add the butter and once melted, pour the milk into the drained potatoes. With a hand mixer, purée the potatoes and season with salt and pepper.
Let the mashed potatoes cool down. Mix with the chopped carrots, bell peppers, celery and cheese. Incorporate thoroughly. Create bite-sized balls and set them aside.
Crack the eggs in a bowl and whisk. Spread the panko on a flat plate.
Coat the mashed potato balls in egg and roll in the panko. Set aside.
Spray the balls with cooking oil and air-fry for 10-15 minutes, depending on your appliance.
