Bubble Potato Pillows are delightful bites, with a crispy exterior and a fluffy interior. This recipe utilizes simple ingredients like potatoes, cornstarch, rice flour, and baking powder.
Potato Pillows
I absolutely love these potato pillows—they're the best way to enjoy potatoes. A crispy exterior that crackles with each bite, giving way to a soft creamy interior. Inspired by the viral potato pillows recipe, I've made my version to make it even more crunchy.
I have also made Potato Croquettes, Loaded Baked Potato with Shrimp, and Papas Arrugadas that you will like.
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🧾Ingredients
Here is a list of everything you need:
- Potatoes: I use a big potato in this recipe. You can use any potato, but if you're in the UK, I suggest Maris Piper, and if you're in the USA, Russet potatoes work great.
- Cornstarch and Rice Flour: I prefer using cornstarch and rice flour to make the potato dough. If you don’t have rice flour, that's okay. You can use cornstarch instead. They both help give the potatoes a crispy and crunchy texture that I enjoy.
- Baking Powder: It's my special secret ingredient for this recipe.
- Salt: For seasoning the potato dough.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
👩🏻🍳How to Make Bubble Potato Pillows
These step-by-step instructions and photos will help you to visualize how to make this recipe. See the recipe card for a printable version of this recipe.
1. Peel the potatoes and chop them into sizable pieces.
2. Transfer the diced potatoes into a pot and pour in water.
3. Simmer the potato chunks until they reach fork-tender perfection, typically taking around 15 to 20 minutes for full cooking.
4. After boiling, strain the potatoes, transfer them to a bowl, and use a potato masher to achieve a smooth mash.
5. To attain a silkier texture, run the mashed potatoes through a fine-mesh strainer. This technique eliminates any lingering lumps, resulting in a luxuriously velvety consistency.
6. Incorporate cornstarch, rice flour, baking powder, and salt into the mashed potatoes, ensuring thorough mixing until a uniform blend is achieved.
7. Transfer the mashed potato mixture onto a floured cutting board.
8. Mold the mixture into a consistent cylindrical shape.
9. Cut the cylindrical mashed potatoes into 1-inch segments and subsequently halve each segment.
10. Mold each segment into a spherical shape.
11. Flatten each ball by pressing it with a fork.
12. Gently introduce the bubble potato pillows into the heated oil in small batches, being careful not to overcrowd the pan.
13. Deep-fry until the potatoes achieve a golden brown and crispy exterior, typically requiring around 3 to 4 minutes per batch.
14. Retrieve the bubble potato pillows with a slotted spoon and transfer them to a strainer, allowing any excess oil to drain.
15. Present the hot bubble potato pillows alongside your preferred dipping sauce.
🍽 How to Serve
When I have a party, I love to serve these potato pillows with a few tapas like pintxos, chicken skewers (pinchitos de pollo), and gambas al ajillo. I pair them with dipping sauces like mojo, chimichurri, or hummus, and enjoy them with a fresh pink lemonade. They’re the perfect party snack, easy to share, and always a hit with everyone.
I also like serving them as a side dish with meat or sandwiches like chicken gyros, chicken sandwich, and lemon pepper chicken breast.
💭Tips for Recipe Success
Straining for Smoothness: Strain the mashed potatoes while they are still warm to make it easier. Use a spatula to press the potatoes through a fine-mesh strainer.
Flour on the Cutting Board: Lightly dust the cutting board with flour to prevent sticking when shaping the cylinder.
Hot Oil: Keep the oil temperature between 350-375°F (175-190°C) for the best frying results. Use a kitchen thermometer to be precise.
Batch Frying: Fry the potatoes in batches so they have enough space to cook evenly and stay crispy.
❓Commonly Asked Questions
Potatoes might not get crispy if there's too much moisture, the oil isn't hot enough, the pan is too crowded, or the coating isn't right.
Potatoes might end up soggy instead of crispy because of too much moisture, not drying them enough before coating, overcrowding the pan when frying, oil not being hot enough, or not cooking them long enough. All these things can stop them from getting that perfect crunch we all love.
🍛More Appetizer Recipes!
Here are more of my favorite appetizer recipes! Try these:
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📖 Recipe
Bubble Potato Pillows
Ingredients
- 400 g Potatoes
- 1 tablespoon Cornstarch
- 2 tablespoon Rice Flour
- ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- Vegetable Oil
Instructions
- Peel the potatoes and cut them into chunks.
- Place the potato chunks in a pot and add water.
- Boil the potatoes until they are fork-tender and fully cooked, about 15-20 minutes.
- Drain the boiled potatoes, place them in a bowl and mash them using a potato masher until smooth.
- For a smoother texture, pass the mashed potatoes through the fine-mesh strainer. This step helps remove any remaining lumps and creates a velvety consistency.
- Add cornstarch, rice flour, baking powder, and salt to the mashed potatoes, mixing well until combined.
- Place the mashed potato mixture on a cutting board with flour.
- Shape into a uniformly cylindrical form.
- Dice the cylindrical-shaped mashed potatoes into 1-inch pieces and then halve each piece.
- Shape each piece into a ball.
- Press each ball using a fork.
- Carefully place potato bites into the hot oil in batches, ensuring not to overcrowd the pan.
- Fry until the potatoes turn golden brown and crispy. This should take about 3-4 minutes per batch.
- Use a slotted spoon to remove the crispy potato bites and place them on a strainer to drain excess oil.
- Serve the crispy potato bites hot with your favorite dipping sauce.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Sandra says
This is clever the potato bubbles looks super crispy