These yummy potato croquettes are made with mashed potatoes, which are filled with minced meat and fried. You can use leftover mashed potatoes or make them from scratch. They are served as a main dish, with a salad.
Potato croquettes (from the French verb “croquer”, which means to crunch, are mashed potatoes in which more ingredients are used for taste.
They are shaped into a cylinder roll and pan fried or deep fried or baked in the oven.
However, plain mashed potatoes will not hold together when frying, so we have to add an egg and flour as the binding agent and then we coat them with breadcrumbs and fry them.
The time of frying is up to you. The mashed potatoes and minced meat are already cooked, so it depends how crispy and golden you like them.
In order to bake them in the oven, prepare them as per both recipes, and place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 180o C and bake until golden on both sides, for about 20 minutes.
I usually make these potato croquettes whenever I have leftover mashed potatoes, to accompany meat dishes such as steaks, schnitzel, lamb or pork chops etc.
When I make them vegetarian, I often mix in cheese such as feta, graviera, kefalotyri or halloumi, some herbs and spices.
Cheese Potato Croquettes
These meatless croquettes can be made from scratch or with leftover mashed potatoes. They are perfect served as a side dish to steaks, schnitzel, lamb, pork chops etc.
Ingredients
- 5 medium potatoes
- ¼ cup milk
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium red onion or 3 spring onions, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, crushed or finely chopped
- 1 tsp sea salt
- Freshly grated black pepper
- A pinch of nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
- ½ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 1 egg yolk
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup grated halloumi, graviera or kefalotyri
For the bread coating:
- 1 cup dried breadcrumbs made from arkatena rusks, or other breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup halloumi, graviera or kefalograviera (or substitute with parmesan if no Greek cheeses available)
- 1 egg + 1 egg white
- Olive oil for frying
Instructions
- Wash the potatoes, cut them into small pieces and boil until soft.
- In the meantime, in a non-stick frying pan, heat the olive oil and sauté the onion until translucent Add the garlic and mix for a few seconds. Set aside to cool.
- Drain water from potatoes and mash them Add the sautéed onions, together with the oil, milk, mint, parsley, salt, pepper and nutmeg and mix.
- Allow to cool for ten minutes and mix in the egg yolk, cheese and flour
- Mix and set aside to cool.
- Mix the breadcrumbs with the remaining cheese Take a heaped spoonful of mashed potatoes and shape the croquettes into a roll.
- Beat the eggs with a fork Dip each croquette in the egg and coat with breadcrumbs mixed with the cheese.
- Refrigerate for half an hour.
- Heat the olive oil and fry the croquettes on both sides until golden and crispy.
- Remove on kitchen paper to drain.
- Serve as a side dish.
Nutrition Information
Yield 10 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 261Total Fat 10gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 6gCholesterol 52mgSodium 452mgCarbohydrates 33gFiber 3gSugar 3gProtein 10g
When my mother used to make these croquettes, she always added a minced pork filling, similar to the ones we use for koupes.
In order to bread them, I used “arkatena”, which are the Cypriot traditional rusks, made with fermented chickpea yeast. These are sold in round rusks, which I ground in my spice mixture to make fine breadcrumbs.
These rusks are very aromatic and tasty, so they add flavour to the croquettes.
However, you can used any other breadcrumbs you like.
Arkatena rusks
You can make your favourite salad or you can check out some of my salads here.
Potato Croquettes with minced pork
These yummy croquettes are made with mashed potatoes, which are filled with minced meat and fried. You can use leftover mashed potatoes or make them from scratch. They are served as a main dish, with a salad.
Ingredients
Potato mixture
- 5 medium potatoes (about 1 kilo - 2.20 lbs)
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp sea salt
- A pinch of nutmeg
- 1 egg yolk
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
For the filling
- 200 grams minced pork
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion
- 1 spring onion, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tsp sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, finely chopped or 1 tablespoon dried mint
- ½ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
For the bread coating:
- 1 cup dried breadcrumbs made of arkatena rusks, or other breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup halloumi or kefalograviera
- 1 whole egg + 1 egg white
- Olive oil for frying
Instructions
- In a sautéing pan or non-stick frying pan, heat the olive oil and sauté the onion until translucent Add the garlic, cook for a few seconds, then add the minced meat, and mix until it becomes white
- Season with salt, pepper and cinnamon, mix and remove from the heat
- Mix in the mint and parsley and set aside until it cools.
- In the meantime, wash the potatoes, cut them into small pieces and boil them until soft.
- Drain the water from potatoes and mash them
- Add the olive oil, milk, salt and nutmeg.
- Allow to cool for ten minutes and mix in the egg yolk and flour
- Mix and set aside to cool.
- Combine the breadcrumbs with the cheese in a bowl Take a spoonful of mashed potatoes and create a hollow in the middle with your finger Add the cooked minced meat, seal the hole and shape the croquette Continue until you shape all croquettes
- Beat the eggs with a fork Dip each croquette in the egg and coat with the breadcrumbs and cheese Refrigerate for half an hour.
- Heat the olive oil and fry the croquettes on both sides.
- Remove on kitchen paper to drain.
Notes
Instead of minced pork, you can use minced beef, minced chicken or a combination of any of the meats.
Nutrition Information
Yield 12 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 313Total Fat 13gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 9gCholesterol 65mgSodium 522mgCarbohydrates 36gFiber 2gSugar 2gProtein 12g
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Kopiaste and Kali Orexi,
Peter M
Thursday 13th of December 2007
Ivy, telia Christmas card!