Potato Stuffing Waffles for a Low-Stress Thanksgiving

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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.

For ease of browsing, here are all of my bread and roll recipes and all of my side dishes. Thanks for stopping by!

This post is sponsored by the Idaho® Potato Commission. All opinions are my own.

Gravy pour over a waffle made of potato stuffing on a white plate.

Watch my potato stuffing waffles web story here.

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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:

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:

Collage of steps showing how to grate the potatoes and mix the "batter".

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

Gravy covered potato stuffing waffle on a plate with turkey.

Are these potato waffles gluten free?

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.

Can I make these with other types of potatoes?

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.

Can I use cooked, mashed potatoes rather than raw shredded potatoes?

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.

Can I use leftover mashed potatoes?

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.

What’s the best way to serve these?

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.

What’s the best way to reheat them?

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.

How long will these last in the fridge?

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.

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.

If you have questions about this post or recipe, don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can leave a comment on the post and I will get back to you within about 24 hours.

If your question is more urgent, please shoot me an email, and I will respond within 4 hours, unless I’m asleep.

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Stuffing waffles with roast turkey breast and gravy on top. — *Serving suggestion. So good, y’all!*

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