Italian Potato Croquettes are the crowd-pleasing appetizer everyone loves! They’re not only delicious but customizable meaning you can fill them with anything from anchovies, to ham and cheese.
I’ve been eating and making potato croquettes for most of my life and many of my readers have asked me for my recipe.
I’m happy to be able to share it with you today, but I ask that you use my recipe as a starting point and make the croquettes your own!
They’re wonderful stuffed with cheese, ham, prosciutto, or even anchovy fillets but experiment and stuff with whatever you’d like!
Italian potato croquettes make a wonderful appetizer alongside some other Italian classics, like mozzarella en carrozza and fried zucchini.
They’re also a popular item at the San Gennaro Festival in New York’s Little Italy.
Recipe Ingredients
All ingredients for this recipe are shown in the pic below and special notes are made in this bulleted list to assist you.
- Potatoes. Russet potatoes work best for croquettes since they’re dryer and hold less water.
- Cheese. I’m using Pecorino Romano but you can also use Parmigiano Reggiano.
- Oil. You can use olive oil for frying but vegetable, canola, or avocado oil would also work well.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to make it
Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.
- Preheat your oven to 400f and bake 2 pounds of Russet potatoes until tender (about 60 minutes), then allow them to cool enough to handle and remove the skins. While the potatoes are baking, mince 1/4 cup of flat-leaf Italian parsley and grate 1/2 cup of Pecorino Romano cheese and set aside. Note: You can steam the potatoes if you like. They will get tender more quickly and will produce an even dryer potato.
- Using a ricing tool, rice the potatoes into a large bowl.
- To the riced potatoes, add 3 large beaten eggs, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, 1 teaspoon of fine sea salt, the parsley, and Pecorino Romano cheese. Gently mix to combine. Feel the mixture to determine if you’ll be able to form the croquettes. If it’s too wet, add a tablespoon of flour, and if too dry, add a splash of water, then test again.
- Begin to form croquettes by using a large spoon or cookie scoop to grab about 1/4 cup of the potato mixture and place onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. You will have about 10-12 scoops. Then, slice the potato balls in half with a knife to yield 20-24 croquettes. You can also weigh sections for even more precision, but that definitely isn’t necessary!
- Set up a frying station by placing 1/4 cup of flour into one bowl, 3 large eggs in another bowl, and 1 cup of breadcrumbs into another bowl or baking sheet. Grab one of the potato pieces and press it in your hands to form an oval shape. Note: If filling the croquettes with cheese, ham, etc. you will likely need to make them larger to accommodate the filling. To do this, simply use two pieces of the potato mixture and shape the oval around the filling to seal it in.
- Dip the croquette into flour, shake gently to remove the excess and dip in the egg wash and fully coat. Roll it in the breadcrumbs an shake off the excess.
- Place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and repeat the process for all remaining croquettes. At this point you can move on to frying, but you can also place the tray of croquettes in the refrigerator to set (you can even do this overnight).
- Heat a heavy pot or high-walled pan with 1-inch of oil and heat to 350f. Once the oil reaches this temperature, gently place the croquettes into the oil and fry for 5-6 minutes or until golden on both sides. Work in batches to not overcrowd the pan. I suggest tasting the first croquette out of the oil (once it’s cool enough) to judge salt levels. If more salt is needed, sprinkle some flaky sea salt onto the croquettes as soon as they come out of the oil. Serve right away and enjoy!
Top tips
- Tools. I highly recommend using a ricing tool to make Italian potato croquettes. It makes the process easier, but also yields a fluffier consistency. This also comes in super handy when making mashed potatoes or potato gItalian Potato Croquettes are the crowd-pleasing appetizer everyone loves! They’re not only delicious but customizable meaning you can fill them with anything from anchovies, to ham and cheese.nocchi! I also suggest using an oil thermometer to ensure you’re at the proper frying temperature.
- Let them set. Placing the potato croquettes in the fridge to set for an hour to overnight will yield better results and prevent the croquette from falling apart in the oil.
- Serve promptly. Like most fried food, these potato croquettes are best served promptly. If you must make them ahead, you can warm them in a 300-350f oven.
More Italian appetizers
Here are a few more of my most popular crowd-pleasing Italian appetizer recipes.
- Cannellini Bean Dip – ready in minutes and loaded with great flavor from garlic and rosemary.
- Arancini – rice balls stuffed with cheese, ground beef, and peas.
- Fried Calamari – dusted with flour and cornstarch and fried until golden.
If you’ve enjoyed this Italian Potato Croquette Recipe or any recipe on this site, give it a 5-star rating and tell us about it in the comments below.
We strive to satisfy a number of learning styles. If you are someone who prefers to learn by watching, you can find most of our recipes on YouTube and our Facebook Page.
For more never-before-seen recipe videos, become a Patreon member today!
Italian Potato Croquettes
Italian Potato Croquettes are the crowd-pleasing appetizer everyone loves! They're not only delicious but customizable meaning you can fill them with ham, mozzarella cheese, or anything you like.
Equipment
Ingredients
- oil for frying
- 2 pounds Russet potatoes or other dry, floury potato
- 1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano
- 3 large eggs
- 1/4 cup minced flat-leaf Italian parsley
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
For the coating
- 1/4 cup flour for dredging
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Steam or bake the potatoes until tender. Once able to handle peel and rice the potatoes.
- Gently combine the riced potatoes with the beaten eggs, pepper, salt, parsley, and Pecorino Romano cheese. If the mixture feels too wet to form the croquettes and hold their shape, add a tablespoon of flour and gently mix together and again check the consistency. If the mixture is too wet add a splash of water and mix again. The consistency should be wet enough to form a croquette but dry enough that it doesn't easily deform.
- Using a large spoon or cookie scoop, grab roughly a 1/4 cup of the potato mixture and place onto a baking sheet. You should have about 10-12 scoops. Divide the potato balls in half which will make about 20-24 croquettes. Place the pieces on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
For the coating and frying
- Place the flour into a bowl, the beaten eggs into a second bowl, and the breadcrumbs in another bowl.
- Grab one of the potato pieces and and press it into your hands. Form an oval tube like shape. Dip it into the flour and shake off the excess. Next dip ito into the egg wash and finally coat with the breadcrumbs. Place the breaded croquettes onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. At this time, they can be placed in the refrigerator to set up (can be left overnight if you like) or fried right away.
- Heat a heavy pot or high walled pan with 1-inch of frying oil to 350f.
- Once the oil reaches frying temp, gently place the croquettes into the oil and fry for around 5-6 minutes or until golden on both sides. Work in batches to not overcrowd the pan. I recommend tasting the first croquette out of the oil to judge salt levels. If it a bit more is needed, sprinkle flaky sea salt onto the croquettes right when they come of the oil. These are best eaten right away. Enjoy!
Notes
- Croquettes are great stuffed. Pieces of ham, cubes of mozzarella, and herbs all work well. When stuffing, you will need to use more of the mixture to adaquately encase the filling.
- Leftovers can be saved for up to 3 days in the fridge and can be reheated on a baking sheet at 350-375 until hot.
Nutrition
Calories: 102kcal | Carbohydrates: 5.4g | Protein: 4.6g | Fat: 7.2g | Saturated Fat: 1.7g | Cholesterol: 94mg | Sodium: 182mg | Potassium: 77mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 0.6g | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!Check us out on Instagram at @sipandfeast or tag #sipandfeast!
Just like my Sicilian grandmother made! I loved them with “alici”!
I don’t see a video for this. I really enjoy when you put a video with your recipes so that we can watch you make it right before I do. It is so helpful (more so that the photos) it just gives me a little more confidence
Hi Dawn, we’re glad you find the videos helpful and appreciate your comment. To give you some perspective, only half of our recipes have video with them. Video takes a great deal longer to put together, and while we try to get as many videos done as possible, there will always be some recipes without video. That being said, we may do a video for potato croquettes at some point in the future.
A childhood favorite. My sisters and I crave these.
We’re so happy you liked the recipe, Maria!
Hello there from Vancouver Island, Canada. You didn’t mention freezing or no freezing for the croquettes. I enjoy your recipes so much!
Thanks always
Patti
Hi Patti, you can freeze them if need be.
Olive oil usually isn’t used for frying as it has a low burning point. I prefer to use corn oil (Mazola).
I first saw you on my Amazon Firestick YouTube Channel and subscribed to you email. Love your recipes…well, most of them anyway! 🙂