I think you are really going to love these potato stuffing waffles, friends. They are easy to make, they start with raw potatoes which frees up a burner on the stove, and they make the perfect base for an easy and delicious turkey and waffles Thanksgiving meal!
Round out your low-key Thanksgiving menu with some cheese rolls and pumpkin spice donuts.
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This post is sponsored by the Idaho® Potato Commission. All opinions are my own.
Watch my potato stuffing waffles web story here.
Why You Need to Make These
Aside from being delicious and easy to make, here are some other reasons to adopt the potato stuffing waffle as the new gold standard for both stuffing and waffles:
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- They don’t take up precious burner space on Thanksgiving, which is a huge point in their favor
- They’re the perfect serving size. A generous half cup of “batter” yields a thick waffle that’s crisp on the outside and creamy on the inside
- Turkey and waffles. I mean, once you have the waffle, it’s a short trip to putting turkey on top and smothering both with gravy
- You can make them with both mashed potatoes (leftover works fine) or raw potatoes. Both work great
- Vary the other ingredients to replicate your favorite stuffing. I used crumbled sausage and dried cranberries because that’s what I like, but if your favorite is raisins and apples, use those ingredients
How to Make These Guys
Ingredients
Here’s the list of ingredients you’ll need. If you’re like me, you may already have almost everything you need.
- Idaho® Yukon Gold Potatoes: I like Yukon Golds for this because they stand up well to dry heat cooking, plus their yellow color and sweet flavor work really well in stuffing.
- Cooked and crumbled breakfast sausage: for flavor. You can either take breakfast sausage out of its casing or use bulk sausage. No reason you can’t use a vegetarian sausage like Gimme Lean if you’d like, also
- flour: acts as a binder. I used all-purpose. An all-purpose gluten free blend would work fine here, if you need to make these gluten free
- baking powder: provides just a little “puff” to lighten the waffles a smidge
- egg: acts as a binder to help the waffles hold together. You can sub with a flax egg if you need to
- dried cranberries: provides little pops of sweetness and chew and lends to the “Thanksgiving” flavor profile. You can leave them out or substitute raisins or your favorite dried fruit. If using fresh fruit like apple or pear, shred it and squeeze out the extra liquid
- poultry seasoning: My go-to stuffing seasoning, poultry seasoning just tastes like the holidays to me. You can buy it ready made, or you can use a combination of sage, marjoram, rosemary, and thyme
- garlic powder: You can also use onion powder here. I wouldn’t use fresh garlic or onion because that just brings more moisture, and the wetter the mixture is, the harder it is to get it crispy
- butter: My favorite stuffing is very buttery, so I include it in my recipe. It’s not strictly necessary, honestly, although I think you’ll get more browning if you use it. I made a batch without butter that was very good, so it’s your call whether you use it or not
- salt: I always use kosher salt. Use the salt you have. Depending on your tolerance for/taste for salt, you may want more or less than I call for, so season it before you add the egg so you can taste it to see if you need more.
- pepper: I love black pepper, and I recommend grinding it fresh for best flavor. But use the pepper you have, and if you don’t like it, you can leave it out.
Procedure
These little guys are so easy to make, friends.
Wash, peel, and shred the potatoes, and then mix everything together. Seriously, it’s that easy! Look:
- Peel your lovely Idaho® Yukon Golds
- Shred them using a box grater
- Squeeze out as much liquid as you can using a tea towel and then drop them in a bowl.
- Add all the rest of the ingredients and mix until evenly combined. Tada!
Tips and Tricks
In doing some research for this post, I came across another blog post that suggested using two different thicknesses of potato shreds.
I did this by grating about 3/4 of each potato using the coarse side of my box grater and the remaining fourth on the fine side.
The combination of shred sizes helps to ensure you can evenly spread the “batter” in the waffle iron without a lot of gaps.
Since the potato waffle mix doesn’t pour like regular waffle batter, you have to spread it out evenly into your waffle maker.
PRO TIP: Use an offset spatula to spread the potato mixture evenly in your waffle maker.
Q & A
As written, they are not. You can easily make them gluten-free by substituting your favorite 1:1 gluten free flour blend for the all-purpose flour.
Yes, you can use Idaho® Russets if you prefer. Since they have even more startch in them, you’ll end up with even crispier waffles. I wouldn’t use waxy red potatoes though. I don’t believe their starch structure will produce a waffle that holds together.
Absolutely. I made them both ways, just to see. Both worked out well and tasted great. I came down on the side of making them with raw shredded potatoes because you don’t need to tie up a burner, but you can do it either way.
Yes. Even if you mashed them with milk and butter, it should be fine to use leftover mashies. Because of the extra liquid, you may need to cook them on your waffle iron another minute or so to make sure they’re nice and crisp.
When I made them, I served them with roasted turkey breast and gravy on top as a play on chicken and waffles. I figure turkey and potato waffles are the perfect Thanksgiving meal idea, especially in this year of (potentially) smaller gatherings.
We reheat in our toaster oven for a few minutes. You could also reheat them for a couple of minutes using your waffle iron. That helps to recrisp the outsides. I don’t recommend reheating in the microwave because they’ll get soggy.
They’ll be fine for 4-5 days, covered well.
Other Laid Back Thanksgiving Options
If you’re scaling back your Thanksgiving celebration, my vote is to make sure you pack as much comfort and flavor into each dish you make.
You might be making fewer dishes, but each one should absolutely sing with flavor. Like this intensely sweet-tart cran-raspberry jam.
One year we made Thanksgiving shepherd’s pie for Thanksgiving dinner, and it was wonderful. I used stuffing to make the crust, filled it with my Thanksgiving favorites, and then topped it all off with mashed potatoes. Wonderful!
Or as a side dish to your turkey and waffles, try this spicy succotash. It’s a Native American-inspired dish that is full of flavor, easy to make, and perfect for Thanksgiving. Plus I give you lots of ways to vary it should you not have everything on hand.
Rather than making pie, consider making this wonderful maple pumpkin pudding. Made on the stove top and really, really tasty, this is one of my older recipe that really needs to come back this year.
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Potato Stuffing Waffles
Ingredients
- 2 medium Idaho® Yukon Gold potatoes scrubbed and dried
- 2 large eggs
- 4 small breakfast sausages casings removed cooked and crumbled (or 6 oz bulk breakfast sausage, cooked, drained, and crumbled)
- 3 tablespoons melted butter
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour*
- ¼ cup dried cranberries or raisins if you prefer
- 1½ teaspoons poultry seasoning
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Preheat your waffle iron. If your waffle iron has heat settings, set it to the highest setting. You can use either a regular waffle iron or a Belgian waffle iron.
- Heat the oven to 250°F.
- Peel the potatoes and grate on the coarse holes of your box grater onto a lint-free kitchen towel.
- Gather up the edges of the towel and squeeze out excess liquid.
- Add the dried potatoes to a large bowl. Add all the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon or a spatula.
- Spray the top and bottom plates of your waffle iron lightly with pan spray.
- Spread ¼ of the waffle mixture onto your waffle iron (about ½ cup). It will not spread like regular waffle batter, so spread it on with a knife or offset spatula.
- Close the lid and cook for 4-5 minutes or until the waffle is deeply golden brown.
- Remove from the waffle maker and place in the oven to keep warm.
- Repeat with the rest of the potato mixture. There should be no need to spray your waffle iron with pan spray in between each waffle.
- Serve with sliced roast turkey and gravy.
Did You Make Any Changes?
Video
Nutrition
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Enjoy the potato stuffing waffles, no matter what you serve them with. Take care, and have a lovely day!
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