It’s the day after Thanksgiving and you’ve got a fridge full of leftover turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy! What can you do to use everything so there’s no waste and change it up a bit at the same time? Make Turkey Potato Croquettes – the best recipe for Thanksgiving leftovers!
Thanksgiving leftovers are unavoidable it seems. I get so excited to make our meal every year that I can’t help but make way too much food, especially turkey and mashed potatoes. Over the years I’ve come up with creative ways to make Thanksgiving leftovers into new exciting recipes, but I think these Turkey Potato Croquettes might be my favorite! They’re crispy on the outside with pillowy soft mashed potatoes on the inside.
Why I Love This Recipe
- Perfect for Thanksgiving Leftovers: Turn your Thanksgiving leftovers into something new with turkey potato croquettes. Roasted turkey meets fluffy mashed potatoes for a flavorful combo that ensures no bite goes to waste.
- Fun for Kids: Make cooking a family adventure with turkey potato croquettes. From shaping to breading, this hands-on recipe is perfect for quality time with the kids. Create lasting memories while crafting a batch of delicious croquettes. Another fun Thanksgiving activity for kids are these Thanksgiving Turkey Pretzels!
- Full of Thanksgiving Flavors: These crispy, golden-brown croquettes are absolutely delicious. Perfect as appetizers or snacks or even dinner, these croquettes are a total crowd-pleaser.
The Ingredients
- Mashed potatoes: Preferably mashed potatoes that are a day old. If you make fresh, you’ll want to refrigerate them before you start so they’ll hold together better
- Eggs: One goes in the mashed potatoes and one is used in the breading station.
- Roast turkey: This is the perfect recipe for leftover Thanksgiving turkey!
- Shredded cheese: You can use any cheese you like. Monterrey jack, mozzarella, or cheddar work great!
- Breadcrumbs: White, whole wheat or even gluten free breadcrumbs are perfect.
- Oil: For shallow frying. Choose your favorite!
Substitutions and Variations
- No turkey? No problem! Leftover roast or rotisserie chicken is also perfect.
- Potatoes: Mashed sweet potatoes might add a fun new twist and flavor!
- Breadcrumbs: I prefer unseasoned breadcrumbs to let the other ingredients shine, but if you only have seasoned on hand I don’t see why you couldn’t use them.
How to Make Turkey Potato Croquettes
Step 1: Whisk one egg and add it to your mashed potatoes. Stir to combine.
Step 2: Chop your leftover turkey into small pieces and combine with the shredded cheese.
Step 3: Take 2 teaspoons of the turkey cheese mixture and form into 1 inch balls. You want to roll them tight so the turkey and cheese bind together.
Step 4: Next, take 2 tablespoons of the potato egg mixture and form a patty in the palm of your hand, place the turkey cheese ball in the center and carefully fold the potato mixture around the turkey cheese ball to make a larger ball.
Step 5: Make sure all croquettes are tightly rolled.
Step 6: Place a whisked egg in one bowl and breadcrumbs in a separate bowl.
Step 7: Roll each croquette gently into the egg and then into the breadcrumbs covering them completely.
Step 8: Add oil to cover the bottom of a stock pot. Heat the oil until it reaches about 360° F. Carefully place the croquettes in the oil and fry for 60 seconds, turning occasionally, until the outside is brown and crispy.
Tips and Tricks
- Firm hand: Make sure you roll the potatoes tightly around the filling so nothing leaks out.
- Work in order: Do each step completely with all ingredients – this way when you are ready to fry everything is good to go!
- Cold Potatoes: If your potatoes are fresh and warm, it’ll be much harder to work with. Make sure the mashed potatoes are chilled.
- Arm workout: Shred your own cheese for best flavor and melting into the filling.
FAQs
Some good options to use are vegetable, avocado, or peanut oils. You can feel free to use what you have on hand, but try and stick with a neutral oil so it doesn’t impart too much flavor. Also be aware of peanut allergies – in general, those allergic to peanuts can consume peanut oil, but you’ll want your guests to be aware to make their own choices.
I love a good sharp cheddar with the turkey! Mozzarella also works well. You can always mix up whatever is left in your cheese drawer as well, it is simply to add some good flavor and hold the turkey together.
I am for 360°F for frying. At this temperature, the oil is hot enough to fry without soaking into the food, making it soggy and greasy. A candy thermometer or frying thermometer both hook onto the side of the pot, making it safe and easy to keep track. If you don’t have a thermometer, you can test the oil by throwing a few breadcrumbs in. If they sizzle immediately, most likely, your oil is hot enough.
More Recipes Using Leftovers
Turning Thanksgiving leftovers into something totally new is the best! What do you do with your leftovers? Let me know in the comments!
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Turkey Potato Croquettes
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups mashed potatoes (preferably leftover or refrigerated)
- 2 large eggs, whisked in separate bowls
- 1 cup roast turkey, chopped
- 1 cup shredded cheese (Monterrey jack, mozzarella, or cheddar)
- 1 cup breadcrumbs (white, whole wheat or gluten free)
- olive, vegetable or canola oil (for cooking)
Instructions
- Stir the mashed potatoes and 1 whisked egg in a bowl until combined and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, combine the chopped turkey and shredded cheese stirring to combine.
- Take 2 teaspoons of the turkey cheese mixture and form into 1 inch balls. You want to roll them tight so the turkey and cheese bind together.
- Take 2 tablespoons of the potato egg mixture and form a patty in the palm of your hand, place a turkey cheese ball in the center and fold the potato mixture around the turkey cheese ball to make a larger ball.
- Place the second whisked egg in a bowl and the breadcrumbs in a seperate bowl.
- Roll each potato croquette gently into the egg and then into the breadcrumbs covering them completely.
- Add the oil to a heavy bottomed pot over medium/high heat. The oil is hot enough if you put a few leftover breadcrumbs in and they sizzle immediately.
- Add the croquettes to oil and fry for about 60 seconds, turning occasionally, until the outside is crispy. (Alternatively, you can bake at 400°F for 20 minutes.)
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer the croquettes to the paper towel-lined plate and immediately season them with salt.
- Serve with gravy or cranberry sauce.
Notes
- Firm hand: Make sure you roll the potatoes tightly around the filling so nothing leaks out.
- Work in order: Do each step completely with all ingredients – this way when you are ready to fry everything is good to go!
- Cold Potatoes: If your potatoes are fresh and warm, it’ll be much harder to work with. Make sure the mashed potatoes are chilled.
- Arm workout: Shred your own cheese for best flavor and melting into the filling.
These were really good, but the frying didn’t work out for us. My husband tried to fry half of them & the potatoes fell off. 🙂 That’s all right since I prefer not to fry foods anyway. I’m not sure if it was because I assembled them one night & cooked them for lunch the next day, but whatever – I baked the other half & they turned out great.
Another great recipe! Both my toddlers loved these. My husband asked, you’re not going to save these just for holidays are you?? I added some shredded carrots to the potatoes, which gave them a little hint of sweetness (and a fun color!). This recipe is a keeper!
Thanks for suggesting the broccoli! I added some and they came out great – my son loved them! I think they would taste better fried (I baked) but I was trying to keep it healthy for my toddler. Luckily he loves them.
great idea!
My 16 month daughter normally will not eat mashed potatoes, unless they are sweet potatoes and she loved these!! I added cooked chopped broccoli in the turkey mixture, it worked really well. She ate it all, so it was an added bonus!
I don’t suggest using freshly made mashed potatoes for this. They were simply way too soft to form into patties. Next time I make mashed potatoes, I’ll make an extra large batch and refrigerate the leftovers for use in this recipe.
Just made them and they were de-lish! My very picky little guy doesn’t like the consistency of mashed potatoes so I made a few without (just the turkey and cheese). He gobbled them up! Thanks for the great ideas!
Kinnikinnick makes a gluten-free panko style bread crumb.
Is wheat germ gluten free? I rolled these in wheat germ instead of bread crumbs – they turned out great! (I baked instead of fried)
You could try using bread crumbs using a gluten free bread. Will work perfectly.
Sounds good. We have recently gone on a gluten free diet 🙁 Any way to make these without it?
Excellent! I’ll definitely try this recipe … congratulations for the blog. If I may I point out a blog where there are Italian Genovese specialties …
You can try it. I think they’re better with mashed potatoes b/c they have a lot more starch, so they’re easier to roll into balls.
These look delicious and like something my picky 2 year old would actually eat! I have a lot of leftover mashed sweet potatoes, do you think that would be an easy substitute for regular mashed potatoes?
I would say yes, especially if you’re going to fry them
Yummy – can these be frozen?