I don't know about you, but I have been SUPER BUSY lately. For the past couple days I've been working setup for Stitches West, a gigantic yarn convention, and if you think that doesn't sound like a lot of work, you've never hauled around a bunch of 100-lb boxes of yarn. The transition between brainwork and physical labor is interesting, to say the least.

So I've had to actually eat breakfast every morning. This is emphatically not normal for me; I've pretty much always felt nauseous if I ate anything within an hour of waking up. My usual breakfast is a lot of tea, but this week that was not going to fly. So it was a good thing that I had half a massive batch of mashed potatoes with spinach hanging out in the fridge, because that meant I could have simple mashed potato pancakes every single morning. They're the perfect solution: they're fast, easy, NOT SWEET (crucial for a non-sugar-crashy breakfast), and don't make me feel sick.

On top of that, mashed potato pancakes are a good vehicle for a variety of toppings. I went in the yogurt direction because I love yogurt and have a big vat of it around. Besides, we all know that sour cream works well with creamy potato--and yogurt, with its similar rich tang, does too.


Super mashed potato pancake!

leftover mashed potato
butter as needed
to top: plain yogurt, herbs, mustard, pepper, etc.

Form palm-sized patties out of cold leftover mashed potatoes. Fry over medium-high heat in the pan of your choice. If you had a lot of butter and cream in the initial mash, you may need no butter whatever in the pan. I certainly didn't, although I was also using a nonstick pan.

Cook for about three to five minutes per side, or until golden brown. The timing will depend on the strength of your burner. If your patties are very thick, you may want to put the lid on the pan for a few minutes to ensure that the middles are hot through.

When your pancakes are done, slide them onto a plate. Top with the savory deliciousness of your choice and eat immediately, as hot as possible.


I ate my pancakes with two different yogurt toppings. #1: thick labneh (i.e. drained yogurt) with whey-fermented brown mustard and black pepper. #2: ordinary plain yogurt with pickled peppers and black pepper. Both of these were excellent choices, although I think I prefer the latter for sheer inclusion of homemade pickles. Hot pancakes with a crispy coating and soft center, topped with creamy yogurt and crunchy, spicy pickled peppers? They were SO good.

Lots of other additions would work really well here, though. If I had fresh dill, you know I would have added some of that to my yogurt. A straight-up tzatziki, such as my tzatziki, would also be amazing.

Hooray for mashed potato pancakes! What's your favorite savory pancake?