Potato cheese balls is made by deep frying mixture of mashed potato balls, sugar and butter with cheese cube inside and coated with egg and bread crumbs outside. Potato cheese balls is a new way of enjoying your potatoes and cheese combination. These bite-size balls will give you a layer of a crispy coating, smooth mashed potato layer and creamy cheese in the middle. It is commonly dipped in a mix of mayonnaise and ketchup before eating.

POTATO CHEESE BALLS

I knew all about the potato cheese balls as I look up on “easy midnight snack recipes” on the internet. I will be hosting our barkada night soon and I would like to prepare an easy but tasty snack that me and my friends can enjoy while we binge watch our favourite movies. Potatoes are one of the most versatile food item. You can use as a side dish, as an appetizer, boil it, fry it, bake it or cook it however you like. Seeing this recipe, I decided to give it a try. The recipe looks so easy and who doesn’t like potatoes and cheese anyway?

Before my friends came into our house, I started preparing and cooking my potato cheese balls. I started boiling my potatoes and mash them. Forming the potato with cheese into balls may seem like a tough work but my niece helped me with it. I only need to pay her some of my potato cheese balls. We finished the potato cheese balls early and tried some. It was heaven. The cheese cube was just the right size to compliment the mashed potatoes. The overall saltiness and creaminess was perfect. My friends and I ran out of cheeseballs so we decided to just cook popcorn instead.

HOW TO MAKE POTATO CHEESE BALLS

It will take you simple ingredients to make these chewy potato cheese balls. First, you need to prepare your potatoes. You can use any type of potatoes available on your food counter. Wash the potatoes properly and ensure that all the soil sticked to the skin will come off. If you have an extra brush or extra steel wool, you can use them to help you properly wash your potatoes. In this case, the potato skin will be peeled of so there is not too much pressure on cleaning the skin. Peel your potatoes using a vegetable peeler.

Slice the potatoes to small pieces for a faster cooking process. Soak the sliced potatoes in water while preparing other potatoes to avoid darkening. Boil the potato pieces under high heat. There is not specific duration on how long the potatoes will boil and soften. In order to know that the potatoes are done, use the fork test. Try to test some pieces of the boiled potatoes and check if they are mashable by fork. Still the safest way to test the potatoes is to try and taste them. Get a little piece of potato and mash it in your mouth. If they are easily mashable, then it is done. Remove the boiled potato pieces from the pan and transfer it to a bowl. Mash the potato pieces using a fork. The resulting mashed potatoes are already okay but if you have a lot of time and aim for a completely soft mashed potatoes, use a strainer and let the potatoes pass through it. In this process it can be ensured that there will be no lumps on your mashed potatoes.

When your mashed potatoes are ready, add the softened butter, cornstarch and season with salt and pepper. For some people, they want an extra hint of sweetness in the potatoes. In this recipe, I added a small amount of sugar. Continue mashing the potatoes until everything is well-blended.

Cut your cheese into small cubes. The size of the cheese cube will decide how big your potato ball is going to be. It is advisable to cut them into regular-size cubes. I would also like to recommend to use a sharp cheddar cheese in this dish. Regular cheese is still okay. Scoop some mashed potato. Use a scooper to make the potato balls have a similar and consistent size. Flatten the mashed potatoes in your hand and place a cheese cube in the middle. Wrap the cheese cube with the mashed potatoes and form into a ball. Repeat this step until your mashed potatoes and cheese cubes are fully-consumed. Chill the potato balls in the fridge for at least 1 hour to hold its shape.

Prepare three bowls. On the first bowl, place some cornstarch. On the second bowl, add some eggs and scramble. And on the third bowl, put the breadcrumbs. Coat the potato balls with the cornstarch, egg and breadcrumbs. Heat some oil for deep-frying. You can check if the oil is hot enough by placing a stick, a toothpick or a wooden spoon in it. If the stick form bubbles, then the oil is ready. Fry the potato balls until they reach golden brown. Place them in a tissue paper or a strainer to remove excess oil.

For the sauce, mix the mayonnaise and ketchup. The sweetness and creaminess of this sauce mix will completely complement the sharp saltiness of the cheese inside the potato ball. Other ideal sauces I could recommend would be tomato-based sauces like salsa. Serve the cheesy potato balls with your sauce and enjoy eating this luscious snack!