Potato Pampushki With Cheese Filling – Картофельные Пампушки с Творожной Начинкой

Potato Pampushki – mashed potato cakes with a creamy cheese and herb filling. Leftover mashed potatoes and grated raw potatoes form the outside of the crisp and golden patties, making them both tender and crisp.

Reviving leftovers is a skill and an art worthy of attention. I don’t know about you, but most dishes, with some exceptions of course, are not very exciting to eat the next day.  It is such an accomplishment when you can bring something to the dinner table that nobody could ever guess was a re-created leftover and looks elegant and tastes amazing.

Pampushki are starchy little morsels usually served with soup, such as Borsch. Most of the time, pampushki are yeast rolls, often drizzled with butter and garlic. These pampushki are made with potatoes.

There are so many different variations of potato cakes. The unique touch about these pampushki is that they are made with a combination of mashed potatoes and shredded raw potatoes. They are creamy, but at the same time have some crunch to them from the raw potato. Golden and crisp on the outside, they contain a smooth, cheesy filling, made from farmer’s cheese, parmesan and chives. You can use just about any filling that you like, caramelized onions and bacon, meat, mushrooms, roasted veggies, smoked salmon, etc.

Watch the Video Recipe:

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups mashed potatoes

1 1/2 lbs of potatoes, about 4 medium-sized (preferably Yukon Gold)

salt, pepper, to taste

1/2 cup farmer’s cheese or ricotta

4 oz mozzarella cheese, grated (you can use any other cheese that you like)

fresh parsley and chives, minced

2-4 Tablespoons heavy cream

oil, for pan frying

Instructions:

Peel potatoes and grate on a box grater. Squeeze out all moisture by placing the potatoes in a cheesecloth or kitchen towel and squeeze out all excess moisture. Combine the grated potatoes with the mashed potatoes. Season with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. You can also add caramelized onions to the potato mixture for added flavor. Set aside. In another bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients for the cheese filling. Take about a 1/4 cup of potato mixture and form into a patty. Place about a 1 1/2 teaspoon of the cheese filling and place into the center of the patty. Fold the potato mixture over the cheese filling, shaping it into an oval shape. In a nonstick skillet, heat about 2 Tablespoons of oil and add the pampushki. Cook the potato pampushki on medium heat, about 5-7 minutes per side, until golden brown. Drain the potato pampushki on paper towels. The potato pampuski are delicious with Borsch:). You can even make them half as small and serve as cute little appetizers.

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Potato Pampushki With Cheese Filling

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Potato Pampushki – mashed potato cakes with a creamy cheese and herb filling. Leftover mashed potatoes and grated raw potatoes form the outside of the crisp and golden patties, making them both tender and crisp.

  • Author: Olga's Flavor Factory
  • Prep Time: 30 mins
  • Cook Time: 15 mins
  • Total Time: 45 mins
  • Yield: 16 potato cakes 1x
  • Category: Sides

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 1/2 cups mashed potatoes
  • 1 1/2 lbs of potatoes, about 4 medium-sized (preferably Yukon Gold)
  • salt, pepper
  • 1/2 cup farmer’s cheese or ricotta
  • 4 oz Mozzarella cheese, grated (you can use any cheese that you like)
  • fresh parsley and chives, minced
  • 24 Tablespoons heavy cream
  • oil, for pan frying

Instructions

  1. Peel the raw potatoes and grate on a box grater. Squeeze out all the moisture by placing the potatoes in a cheesecloth or kitchen towel and squeeze out all excess moisture.
  2. Combine the grated potatoes with the mashed potatoes. Season with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Set aside.
  3. In another bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients, the farmer’s cheese, Mozzarella cheese, fresh herbs and heavy cream for the cheese filling. Season with salt and pepper. Mix to combine. You can substitute ricotta or cottage cheese for the farmer’s cheese. Depending on how dry the cheese mixture will be, add more or less heavy cream, just enough for it to all come together smoothly.
  4. Take about a 1/4 cup of potato mixture and form into a patty. Place about a tablespoon of the cheese filling and place into the center of the patty. Fold the potato mixture over the cheese filling, shaping it into an oval shape.
  5. In a nonstick skillet, heat about 2 Tablespoons of oil and add the potato cakes. Cook the potato cakes on medium heat, about 5-7 minutes per side, until golden brown.
  6. Drain the potato cakes on paper towels and serve warm.

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36 Comments

    • olgak7

      Thank you, Iryna! With my love for potatoes, I just had to give these a try and I’m so glad I did. I hope you’ll like them too.

  • melisa

    Made these tonight, they were a big hit! I was out of cream so I used Turkish yoghurt instead, and it worked really well, moist on the inside crispy on the outside! Thanks!

  • Inna Tkahcuk

    these look amazing…im glad they don’t have flour in them as I have a gluten sensitivity…thanks for your amazing site!

  • Sarah

    Tried these !
    They were absolutely delicious. Husband loved them too 🙂 thank you Olga. Such a simple recipe and so delicious.

  • Jody

    Olga — Just what I was looking for to use leftover mashed potatoes and ricotta cheese! It reminds me of something my Bohemian grandmother would have made! Just wondering — can the extras be frozen for cooking at a later time? Thanks much!

  • laura pepin

    I have a small question – can the mashed potatoes used in this recipe have been made with butter and buttermilk and such, or should the mashed potatoes be ‘just’ potatoes?

    • olgak7

      Yes, you can use other ingredients in the mashed potatoes, just be careful that they aren’t too soft, otherwise they will fall apart when you are frying them.

  • Janet Panecki

    these sound soo good, but as long as it’s potatoes I’m happy! please tell me about how many potatoes you used to make the mashed potatoes. Thank you!

  • Louise

    oh my god these look so delicious! It’s breakfast time, but I already want these for dinner tonight!! Thanks for this recipe!

  • Tammy Suddeth

    these look really good. Can’t wait to try them. I was wondering if any other cheese could be used? I don’t care for ricotta.
    Could I use cream cheese?

    • olgak7

      If you don’t like farmer’s cheese or ricotta cheese, you could try cottage cheese. If you don’t like it either, I guess cream cheese would be ok, but you have to be especially careful to make sure that the cream cheese is covered really well by the potatoes, or it will leak out.

  • Sophie

    Thanks for this recipe! About 7 years ago I tried something similar in a restaurant in Russia but COULD NOT work out how it’s made. Sort of like fried mashed potato but not quite… Thanks to you now I know 🙂 I think they had a salo, onion, cheese filling if I remember correctly. Both versions are delicious. I love how with Eastern European food simple, humble ingredients like potato are made into something really special. You have a beautiful site. It’s one of my favourites.

    • Julie Ann Haupt

      Thank you for the recipe. I made them tonight. They are just like the potato pancakes I make; just with a little delicious surprise
      ,

    • Julie Ann Haupt

      Thank you for the recipe. I made them tonight. They are just like the potato pancakes I make; just with a little delicious surprise. I was trying to attach a picture but can’t figure out how.

    • olgak7

      I wouldn’t recommend it. It would take much longer to bake, since there are raw potatoes in the potato cakes. Also, they will not be crispy. I’m afraid they will become mushy and fall apart in the oven. However, it might work, since I’ve never tried to make them in the oven. I would suggest spraying both sides of the potato cakes with oil before putting them into the oven and roasting them at a high temperature, at least 400 degrees. If you try it, let me know.

  • Annette

    Hi Olga,

    Do you have a recipe for mashed potato pancakes from the Polish? My Great Gram would make them with leftover mashed potatoes, not grated just peeled potatoes. The pancakes were cooked in a frying pan, and never made it to the table because we’d eat them up so fast. Thank you.

    Annette

  • Sonja

    Oh my goodness-This brought back a lot of great memories!
    This is my all-time favorite food! My favorite way to eat them hot is with heavy cream on top, my Dad
    Like to put a little of the hot oil they were cooked in on top. It was always a big deal when ‘Peroggen’ were made in our house! 😉
    I could never find anyone here in America that made them this way, they always made them with dough)..
    Since my Mom passed away a few years ago, we’ve been looking for the recipe and could never find it in the house..it was like a treasure!
    Thank you SOOOO Much for posting it!

  • Franceska

    Thank you for this recipe! I am going to try this tonight. Think I may just go no additions since it’ll be late when my potato loving hubby gets in.

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