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Chorizo and Chipotle Potato Cakes

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Today I’ve got a leftover makeover for you, some chorizo and chipotle potato cakes.

chorizo and chipotle potato cakes

Warp speed. That’s the best way to describe what happens around this time. Throughout winter and very early spring there’s this stagnant time where not much is happening and we’re just barely chugging along, but then once we start to get close to May… Boom, like a roller coaster cresting that first hill we’re off on a head rattling, stomach clenching, mad dash till the end of school.

21

That’s the number of days left until school is out, when we come to a wrenching halt and finally get to slow things down a bit again. In those 21 days, we’ll fit in as many programs, special rewards days, field trips, track meets, band concerts, awards banquets, clinics, and tryouts as possible. It’s crazy.

I love/hate it.

Also, mid-May we’re going to start a huge remodeling project.

I have to have the tile ordered next week.

Deep breath. It will be great.

Because we are heading into the psycho busy, I planned a huge dinner for my family last Saturday. I knew that I wouldn’t have time to do it again for a while.

 16

That’s the number of pieces of fried chicken I had to cook just for us. We had fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade biscuits, buttered peas, deviled eggs, and ice cream. Dinners like that take so much time.

2.5

That’s the number of hours the kids and I worked together in the kitchen cooking.

I love working in the kitchen with my kids, it’s probably my favorite form of quality time.

 1

That’s the number of family serving size dishes my youngest snuck off with when it was time to clean up the kitchen. I found him in the living room with the bowl of peas wolfing them down like they were candy. That kid loves. Loves. Loves his vegetables.

peas


I made enough mashed potatoes for an army, because I knew that if they didn’t eat them all, I could use them up. Leftover mashed potatoes are one of the best kinds of leftovers. They can be transformed into so much good stuff. My personal favorite ways to use up leftover mashed potatoes are boxties and potato patties. A boxty is an Irish potato pancake that is wrapped around a savory filling. I fell in love with them after eating the salmon boxty at O’Dowd’s Little Dublin in KC. I love making them and eating them at home, but my kids call them potato tacos and to be honest, that kind of drives me nuts though I don’t know why. 

Last week my friend KC was talking about potato cakes and I realized just how long it had been since I’d made any, so that’s the route I took this time with my leftover potatoes.

chorizo chipotle potato patties

 

These chorizo and chipotle potato cakes have Mexican flare. Chock full of chorizo, chipotle peppers, corn, black beans, and cheese, they are a total transformation of those plain jane leftover mashed potatoes. A golden crispy crust on the outside contrasts the creamy and tender insides. These potato cakes are good for any time of the day, breakfast, lunch, or dinner and are filling enough to be eaten as a main course, but can also be made as a side dish. Totally versatile as dish and can also be frozen to be cooked at a later date, these potato cakes are a total winner in my book.

 Full disclaimer, one problem with potato cakes is sometimes they can fall apart easily when frying them. In order to combat this problem, make sure that you are only using enough oil to coat the pan and keep them from sticking. If you use too much oil it will get sucked up into the cake and make them a soggy, mushy, oily mess. Also, once they go into the pan and are frying, DO NOT TOUCH THEM until they have had time to brown and crisp up on one side. Like a hung over musician in a motel room you do not disturb them.  The crispy brown edge is the key factor for making sure they don’t crumble on you. I also think that a cast iron skillet is the number one best choice for frying anything. Wanna know part of the reason everything of Grandma’s was better? Because she knew the secret of cooking in cast iron.

chorizo and chipotle potato cakes

 

I hope that you will love these chipotle and chorizo potato cakes, I sure do. Do you have favorite mix-ins for potato cakes? What are your family favorites?

Chorizo and Chipotle Potato Cakes

Chorizo and Chipotle Potato Cakes

Yield: 6
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes

Chock full of chorizo, chipotle peppers, corn, black beans, and cheese, these potato cakes are a total transformation of leftover mashed potatoes.

Ingredients

  • 3 cups leftover mashed potatoes
  • 7 oz browned chorizo
  • 1 1/2 cup frozen corn and black bean blend
  • 1 cup Mexican shredded cheese
  • 1 minced chipotle pepper
  • 2 Tablespoons Adobo sauce
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 4 Tablespoons Oil for frying

Instructions

  1. Mix together all the ingredients by hand, making sure that the eggs are completely incorporated into the mixture.
  2. Form into patties.
  3. Heat the oil over medium heat. Fry in hot oil 3-4 minutes on each side, or until browned and crispy.
  4. If freezing, place formed, uncooked patties on a baking sheet and allow to freeze for 30 minutes. Place par-frozen patties in a ziploc freezer bag and freeze for up to 4 months. To prepare, allow patties to defrost in the fridge for 24 hours, then fry as normal.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a review or a photo! I'd love to hear your feedback!

Michele

Wednesday 23rd of March 2022

Can potato cakes be formed into the cakes and vacuum sealed for later use. I would like to freeze them unfried if possible and t dry as we want them.

Amy D

Saturday 26th of March 2022

Michele, I haven't done this, but I think it would work out just fine!

Ciao Florentina

Thursday 23rd of July 2015

These look fabulous ! I'll have to make them for my man, delish !

KC

Wednesday 22nd of April 2015

So from a homeschooling mom's perspective my countdown is how many days do I have to take in all the zoo, museum, any sort of fun field trips before summer breaks loose and those things are crowded 24/7? Oh, how I love going anywhere and basically having the place to ourselves because everyone else is stuck in school...haha suckers! I also wish you would have posted this recipe a couple of weeks ago so I could have used your recipe for my Bible lesson last week :) it looks really yummy!

Bonnie Lyn Smith @ Espressos of Faith

Tuesday 21st of April 2015

Oh man, these look great! I love anything you can make with a potato and some oil. Thank you for the tip about not touching them like a man hungover in a hotel room. I will now always remember thanks to that word picture…ha! Love it!

Gina B

Tuesday 21st of April 2015

Oh these sound delicious! Big fan of chipotle :)

Amy

Tuesday 21st of April 2015

Gina, me too. When I have a recipe like this one, I puree the rest of the can of peppers and sauce together to put in the freezer so that I can add chipotle to other stuff later. It lasts for quite a while that way.

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