Potato Croquettes with Ham and Cheese, a delicious starter or snack made with a few simple ingredients. These croquettes are a big hit with kids who absolutely adore them, and are ridiculously easy to make at home. If you have leftover mashed potatoes and ham, even better, they will be even quicker to make.
Croquettes may sound like a fancy French term, but they are just delicious patties in a cylinder shape. They can be made either with mashed potatoes, which is the binding ingredient, or bechamel sauce and breadcrumbs. The filling usually contains any sort of meat or fish, cheese and any greens you like.
The combination mash, ham and cheese is one of a kind though, so it's hard to resist not making quite a few of them. Deli ham can be used too, but if you happen to have too much leftover ham from that delicious Sunday Roast, or you want to finish up the leftovers from feasts like Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter, that's a recipe for you.
They also make the perfect finger food for those fussy kids who wouldn't be persuaded to have veggies or meat, as it's very easy to hide all sorts of ingredients in, and they will still wolf them down. My older daughter is crazy about ketchup, and she will happily dip them in, but any other sauce would do too.
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Ingredients needed
- potatoes -or 2 cups of leftover mashed potatoes
- ham- cubed
- spring onion
- grated Cheddar cheese
- grated parmesan cheese
- salt & ground black pepper
- breadcrumbs
- plain flour
- eggs
- oil - for deep frying
Step-by-step photos and instructions
Using mashed potatoes is way easier, and quicker than white sauce. If you have leftover mash, even better. I used 3 medium potatoes, which would be about 2, 2 ½ cups of mashed potatoes. Make sure the mash is cold before you add the other ingredients.
Since the mash works perfectly well to bind all the ingredients together, there is no need to use raw eggs and breadcrumbs for the filling.
- in a large bowl, add the cool mash, ham cut into cubes, grated cheeses, chopped green onions, salt and pepper, and mix to combine
- use your hands to shape small rolls out of the potato mixture - I got 12 croquettes, you can get more or less depending on their size
- chill in the fridge for about 20-30 minutes so that the rolls can firm up, they will be easier to handle and fry
To fry the croquettes
Once the croquettes have firmed up a bit, use 3 different bowls for flour, breadcrumbs and beaten eggs. You can season the eggs with salt and pepper, or add some seasoning to the flour or breadcrumbs.
- dip each croquette in flour first, shake the excess flour, then dip in the beaten eggs, and coat well in breadcrumbs
- heat up the oil on a medium heat until very hot, then deep fry the croquettes in batches - they will need about 2-3 minutes depending on how hot the oil is.
- remove from the oil and transfer to plate lined with kitchen paper to soak up the excess oil
- serve with your favourite sauce or ketchup
Expert tips
Well, when it comes to taste, the opinions can be divided. Fried might taste better, but only if the oil is only used once, maximum twice, otherwise you will end up with greasy, oily-smelling croquettes.
But, if you want to bake them, you can get perfectly crispy croquettes too, and I can assure you, they will taste amazing as well. Frying is just a quicker way I suppose.
To bake, follow the exact same steps, then use cooking oil spray to grease well a baking tray, then spray more all over the croquettes. That will ensure they bake evenly, and that the coating stays nice and crunchy.
They shouldn't take more than 20 minutes in the oven, I would go for 200 degrees Celsius (390 Fahrenheit), or bake until golden and crispy - apart from the egg, all the ingredients are cooked, so there is nothing to worry about.
And that is all - super easy, and add any other ingredients you like, as long as the meat is cooked, and the veggies are tender, the croquettes should be a big hit no matter what!
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Potato Croquettes with Ham and Cheese
Ingredients
- 3 medium potatoes (or 2 cups of leftover mashed potatoes)
- 1 cup ham, cubed
- 1 spring onion
- ½ cup grated Cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- â…› teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 cups breadcrumbs
- 1 cup plain flour
- 2 eggs
- 3 cups oil for deep frying
Instructions
- To make the croquettes, peel and cut the potatoes into cubes.
- Boil in salted water for 15 minutes or until tender.
- Drain the water, mash them and allow them to cool completely.
- If you use leftover mash, just add it to a large bowl and add the ham, cheeses, salt and pepper and spring onion chopped finely.
- Use you hands to shape rolls out of the potato mixture, then chill them in the fridge to firm up for 20-30 minutes.
- Use 3 different bowls for flour, breadcrumbs, and a third one for the eggs, which will be beaten well.
- Dip each croquette in flour, shaking off any the excess, then dip in the eggs, and coat in breadcrumbs.
- Heat up the oil on a medium heat, until it's sizzling hot.
- Deep fry the croquettes in batches, about 2-3 minutes until golden. If you use less oil, and they are not completely covered in oil, use a fork to turn them around so they can fry evenly.
- Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper to absorb the excess oil.
- Serve hot or cold with your favourite sauce or ketchup.
Nutrition
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Marisa Baranello says
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