Heavenly Mashed Potato Rolls are my family’s favorite. A great way to use up leftover mashed potatoes. They make a light and fluffy dinner roll that has enough texture for sandwiches or sliders.

Not sure what to do with your left over mashed potatoes? You’ve got to try homemade mashed potato rolls. You’ll get wonderful buttery yeast rolls that will melt in our mouth. Great for turkey sandwiches or with butter and honey.
You can use mashed potatoes even if they already have butter, milk and mascarpone added in, which is my favorite way to make them. Did you flavor your’s with garlic or cheese, no problem they’ll add a great flavor to the rolls.
You don’t even need to have leftover mashed potatoes for these rolls. You can microwave or boil a potato to use. If you’re like me, you’ll make extra mashed potatoes just so you have extra for these rolls!
If you don’t have leftover potatoes, you can cook a large potato in the microwave in just a few minutes and use it, but I always seem to have extra mashed potatoes, so I started freezing them in portion sizes needed to make these rolls.
If you don’t want to go the mashed potato route, you can make potato rolls using potato flakes which are just dehydrated potatoes. With either recipe you’ll get light and fluffy rolls with a rich buttery taste, there is nothing like a good yeast roll.
If your house is like mine, all the dinner rolls are gone at the end of a holiday meal and you need more rolls for all the leftovers. Just save a cup of the mashed potatoes and make a batch the next day. They are also great with a pot of chili.
Why you’ll love them
- Mashed potatoes provide a unique texture to a yeast roll
- Rich and buttery taste
- Melt-in-your-mouth yeast rolls
- Great use of leftover mashed potatoes
What you’ll need
- Mashed potatoes – you’ll need ¾ cup of leftover mashed potatoes or cook a potato and mash it with a fork. It doesn’t matter what you’ve added to your mashed potatoes.
- Whole milk – you need whole milk for these rolls
- flour – these rolls use both all purpose and bread flour
- Pantry staples – butter, sugar, eggs, flaky sea salt
How do you make leftover mashed potato rolls
Step 1:
If you don’t have leftover mashed potatoes, then bake a potato in the microwave until soft. You will need ¾ of a cup.
Step 2:
With an electric mixer, combine the mashed potatoes with butter, milk, yeast, sugar and all purpose flour and mix until you have a sticky dough. Let this rise for about 30 minutes.
Pro tip: Try heating up some water in the microwave and then add the dough to the microwave to rise in a warm and humid place.
Step 3:
Next add eggs, bread flour and salt and knead in the mixer until you have a smooth elastic dough. Let this rise for 30 minutes.
Step 4:
Form into balls and let rise in the baking pan for an hour and bake.
Brush the top of the dough with butter and sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
Pro tip: Not only can you freeze mashed potatoes, but you can freeze any left-over rolls and they are still wonderful when thawed. If you’re not in the mood for yeast rolls after all of the holiday food, freeze those leftover mashed potatoes for when you need a little comfort food on a snow day, you’ll be glad you did!
What goes good with mashed potato rolls
- Marsala steak is even better with a roll to soak up the marsala sauce
- The rolls are sturdy enough to hold carnitas
- Perfect to pair with Coq au Vin
- Or try them with spicy chicken soup
FAQs and tips
What is the best way to keep dinner rolls warm?
The best way to keep dinner rolls warm is to wrap them in a damp towel and warm them in a slow cooker.
Do you need fresh mashed potatoes for potato rolls?
You can use fresh mashed potatoes, or frozen. If frozen let them thaw first.
Can you refrigerate yeast dough?
You can refrigerate the dough overnight after making it into balls. Let them come to room temperature while your oven preheats.
Can you freeze potato rolls?
All types of yeast rolls will freeze well. Just place in a ziplock or airtight container and they should stay fresh for a couple of months. To serve, let them thaw and then warm the rolls in a crock pot to keep them from drying out.
More breads you’ll love to make
Leftover Mashed Potato Rolls
Ingredients
- ¾ cup mashed potatoes or about 1 large yukon gold potato
- 1 cup whole milk
- ½ cup butter melted
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 envelopes active dry yeast 4 ½ teaspoons
- 3 tablespoons sugar heaping
- 2 eggs slightly beaten
- 1 egg yolk slightly beaten
- 2 ⅔ cups bread flour
- 1 tablespoon flaky sea salt
Instructions
- If you don’t have left over mashed potatoes, you can microwave one or boil a large potato until it is tender when pricked with a fork. Allow it to cool.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, combine ¾ cup of mashed potato and milk and whisk until it is smooth and there are no lumps. Add the melted butter and mix. Change to the dough hook. Add all-purpose flour, yeast, and sugar and mix on medium speed until a very sticky dough forms, about 2 minutes.
- Let the dough rise in the same bowl in a warm place, uncovered for 30 minutes.
- Add eggs, the bread flour, and 1 tablespoon salt and mix on medium high until dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Add additional flour if needed. Place dough in a buttered bowl and allow to rise in a warm place covered for 30 minutes until 1 ½ times its original size.
- Divide dough into 18 equal pieces. Form into balls and place in a 13 x 9 buttered baking pan so they are slightly touching. Brush tops with butter and let sit uncovered for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 400º. Brush tops with a little more butter and sprinkle with flaky salt. Bake until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.
Barbara’s Tips + Notes
- Start with mashed potatoes, frozen or fresh
- For a warm humid place for the dough to rise, boil some water in the microwave and put the covered bowl in the warm microwave.
- You can freeze leftover mashed potatoes so you’ll always have some on hand when you want to make these rolls.
- If you want to make these a day ahead, you can refrigerate the dough once you have formed it into balls. Let it come to room temperature before baking.
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