Mashed Potatoes can be your friend

September 30, 2009 9:47 AM

What are some cool/delicious uses for instant mashed potato flakes other than making mashed potatoes?

My ex-roommate moved out and left a large box of potato buds, which have been sitting unused for several months. I deplore fake mash, but not as much as I deplore wasting food. I'm a fairly accomplished cook (have run kitchens & written menus in NYC), but can't think of anything to do with this source of starchiness other than to mix them with stuff and fry them up as pancakes or croquettes. Inspire me, hivemind!

posted by Jon_Evil to food & drink (26 comments total)

Use them as breading on chicken, pork chops or chicken-fried steak.
posted by fiercekitten at 9:49 AM on September 30 [1 favorite has favorites]

Soup thickener.
posted by stubborn at 9:51 AM on September 30 [3 favorites has favorites]

I was told by a chef that they are used as filler in crabcakes. Apparently they absorb the flavor better than bread/breadcrumbs.
posted by nineRED at 9:52 AM on September 30

I guess you could try them in some sort of shepherd's pie recipe.
posted by toomuchkatherine at 9:55 AM on September 30

I agree, use them as filler in place of breadcrumbs
posted by unlaced at 9:55 AM on September 30

Use it to make a bread starter. I think you could also use to make potato bread if you reconsituted it first.
posted by cabingirl at 9:58 AM on September 30 [1 favorite has favorites]

Gnocchi!
posted by gregr at 9:59 AM on September 30 [2 favorites has favorites]

My sister makes some version of these coconut balls with mashed potato flakes. You can also make cookies with them. If you like coconut, there are a lot of tasty treat-type of recipes that feature the flakes [if they're not butter flavored] as a sort of binding agent for cocnut.
posted by jessamyn at 10:00 AM on September 30

Houlihan's Potato Soup or Loska/Langoshe/Pagach (slather it with a ton of butter, sprinkle with salt and pepper).
posted by specialagentwebb at 10:07 AM on September 30

There's this mashed potato candy (peanut butter rolls), but you do have to turn the flakes into mashed potatoes first.

The candy is very, very sweet, can be kind of addictive, and the amount of sugar you have to use does vary a bit. It can take a couple of tries to get the hang of this, and you probably don't really want to.
posted by dilettante at 10:11 AM on September 30

Coconut candy bars made with mashed potatoes

I had potato candy a long time ago and it wasn't bad. You couldn't taste the potato at all, I guess it's mostly for texture. The above recipe sounds a lot more interesting than the one I tried, but there seem to be many others available with a quick Google.

I love mashed potatoes but I'm far too lazy to make them from scratch. I make my instant potatoes with a fair amount of butter, sour cream, parmesan cheese and a bit of garlic powder mixed in. They come out pretty darn tasty.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 10:12 AM on September 30

I haven't made it, but British cooking institution Delia Smith caused a bit of a stir a couple of years ago by suggesting using frozen mashed potato in a chocolate cake. It sort of makes sense if you consider the moistening effects of carrots in a cake, for instance.

This is a similar recipe - the original doesn't seem to be available online.
posted by dogsbody at 10:22 AM on September 30

Jacques Pepin uses them in soups. I'd say that's an acceptable endorsement.
posted by mudpuppie at 10:26 AM on September 30

Can you figure out how to make home-made Pringles-style crunchy salty snacks? Pringles are basically made from dehydrated potatoes, aren't they?
posted by kestrel251 at 10:26 AM on September 30 [1 favorite has favorites]

This recipe for Salmon Patties calls for instant potatoes, and they are delicious! (I saute the onions first, make them into burger-sized patties, and eat them on a bun.)
posted by peep at 10:48 AM on September 30

great ideas, y'all! keep 'em coming! Anyone who lives around New York is welcome to try and convince me to cook some of these fore you...
posted by Jon_Evil at 10:51 AM on September 30

for you, damnit.
posted by Jon_Evil at 10:51 AM on September 30

If you make your own pringles, I'll bring some beer to relieve our fever.
posted by CharlesV42 at 11:21 AM on September 30

My sister makes this version of the potato cookies that taste like real coconut but actually just have the flavoring. I like the texture a lot, and some of my friends who don't like actual shredded coconut really enjoy these.

1 1/3 cup of Bisquick
1 cup of instant potato flakes
1 cup of sugar
1 stick of melted butter or margarine
1 egg, well beaten
1 tsp coconut flavoring (you can add more or less to taste) (I like to add more)

Mix it all together and spoon onto a cookie sheet, they will spread out a lot, so give them plenty of room. Bake between 350 - 375 for only about 6 1/2 or 7 minutes. As soon as you start to notice a little brown on the edges take the pan out of the oven, but let the cookies sit for 1 or 2 minutes to allow them to "firm up" before removing them from the cookie sheet.
posted by purpletangerine at 11:36 AM on September 30 [1 favorite has favorites]

Make special effects snow!
posted by jindc at 11:37 AM on September 30

Make potato pancakes. Not very exciting, but tasty.
posted by notashroom at 11:51 AM on September 30

i like purpletangerine's answer because the same roommate who left the potato flakes also left a box of Bisquick.
posted by Jon_Evil at 12:17 PM on September 30

it really is the best freaking soup thickener. i haven't used corn starch in so long because of the flakes.
posted by nadawi at 12:19 PM on September 30

Lefse. It is the secret weapon in certain competitions. Now you will get some die hards who say that you can only use the potatoes you grind yourself but for pure consistency, potato flakes will produce a lovely lefse.
posted by jadepearl at 1:40 PM on September 30

Potato doughnuts!
posted by wiretap at 2:30 PM on September 30 [2 favorites has favorites]

Duchess-style baked potato chips
posted by donovan at 2:47 PM on September 30