Leftover Potato Recipes

Cooked potatoes are halfway to hash, cakes and soup. Here's what to make with the ones already in your fridge.

Cooked potatoes are already halfway to breakfast or dinner. Fry them into a hash, bind mash into potato pancakes, load up baked potato skins, or mix mash with greens for colcannon or bubble and squeak.

Have leftover potatoes plus other ingredients? Find recipes with what you have

What can I make with leftover potato?

Potato hash
Cube and fry cooked potatoes hard until the edges go crisp. Try Potato Hash.
Potato pancakes
Mash or grate the potatoes, bind and pan-fry into golden cakes. Try Swedish Potato Pancakes.
Loaded potato skins
Scoop, fill and bake yesterday's baked potatoes. Try Loaded Baked Potato Skins.
Colcannon or bubble and squeak
Mash plus leftover greens, warmed through or fried in a pan. Try British Bubble and Squeak.
A pie topping
Spread leftover mash over a skillet filling and brown it. Try Shepherd's Pie Skillet.

Got more than potatoes to use up? Find recipes with what you have.

How to decide what to make with your leftover potatoes

The right dish depends on the state the potatoes are in, not on the recipe you feel like cooking. Find yours below.

Roast or boiled chunks: Cube them and fry hard for a hash. Cooked starch browns much faster than raw potato, so you get crisp edges in about ten minutes.
Mashed potato: Mash wants a binder. Egg and a little flour turns it into pancakes; spread over a skillet filling it becomes a pie topping that browns under the grill.
Whole baked potatoes: Halve, scoop, fill and bake again for loaded skins — the second bake is what makes the shell crisp.
With leftover greens in the fridge: Mash plus cabbage, kale or sprouts is colcannon or bubble and squeak, depending on whether you warm it through or fry it into a crust.

How long do cooked potatoes keep, and how to store them

Fridge, covered, three to four days: Cooked potatoes keep well cold. Store them uncut where you can — cut surfaces dry out and pick up fridge smells.
Do not leave cooked potatoes at room temperature: Especially not wrapped in foil, which holds warmth and keeps out air. Unwrap and refrigerate instead.
Mash freezes better than roast: Mash comes back fine with a splash of milk. Roast potatoes go soft in the freezer — plan to fry those within a few days instead.

The best way to reheat leftover potatoes

Dry heat for anything you want crisp: Oven, air fryer or a hot pan with a little fat. A microwave steams cooked potatoes and guarantees a soft result.
Mash on the stove, not in the microwave: Low heat with a knob of butter and a little milk, stirred, brings mash back smooth. Microwaved mash separates and turns grainy.

Mistakes worth avoiding with leftover potatoes

Storing cooked potatoes in foil at room temperature.
Salting a hash before the potatoes have browned — the salt draws out moisture and they steam.
Crowding the pan; potatoes need space to crisp.