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These soft, wholesome, gluten-free cheesy courgette and turmeric potato cakes are so easy and delicious to make.
You can prepare them in advance, make in bulks and freeze, pan fry, deep fry, oven bake or even air fry!
The possibilities are limitless.
Limitless possibilities also for the filling!
I decided to stuff these easy potato cakes with sautéed courgettes and an oozy-cheesy turmeric sauce: a combination that is a bomb!
To keep this recipe very simple and straightforward I only used an homemade mash potato for the crust. This hack gives the cakes a rosti-style texture, which I personally adore, although if you want to achieve a firmer and crunchier cake you can add 2-3 tablespoons of any of the following: cornstarch, tapioca powder, rice flour or any gluten free flour mix if you want to keep it naturally gluten free, otherwise all purpose flour will do as well.
To make these potato cakes you will only need 3 components:
- A very firm mash potato
- Delicious sautéed courgettes
- My ultimate turmeric cheese sauce
Let’s see how to make each component!
How to make a quick potato mash
A potato mash only requires 3 ingredients: salt, spices and, of course, potatoes!
For this recipe not all potatoes will do, I’m afraid.
The starchier, the better!
To make these cakes I used Russet potatoes, but a great substitute would also be Yukon Gold potatoes.
For the mash we will need to:
- wash the potatoes very well
- prick the skin all around with a fork
- microwave for 20 minutes @ 800W (+10 minutes resting time)
- peel the skin off and mash!
Easy peasy.
Please note that you must cook the potatoes in the microwave and not boil in water and allow the mashed potatoes to cool completely before shaping the cakes.
Microwaving the potatoes will avoid having too much moisture that will prevent the patties to stick and hold their shape.
During summer the microwave becomes my best ally in the kitchen: it doesn’t release too much heat and it cuts cooking time by a lot!
Probably the thing I use it for the most are steamed potatoes, for both mash or potato salads.
If you haven’t tried this method yet to cook your potatoes, I’m sure it will be a game changer for you!
Alternatively, you can cook the potatoes in the Instant Pot following this guide.
If you end up with a rather wet mixture because of the nature of your potatoes or because you are using boiled potatoes or a leftover mash potato make sure to add a bit of all purpose flour (or chickpea flour or a gluten free mix if GF) one tablespoon at a time, until you have a “workable” dough.
Sautéed Courgettes
Sautéed courgettes are an easy and refreshing side that I personally make at least once a week, but very often even two times a week.
To make it we will only require:
- 2-3 courgettes (the smaller, the better)
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1-2 garlic cloves
- fresh mint
We start by finely chopping the garlic. Then we slice the courgettes about 3 mm thick.
Then we heat up some oil in a pan, and add the garlic and the sliced courgette. Season with salt (and pepper if you like) it) and cook on medium-high heat until caramelized, making sure to stir and turn the courgettes every 3-4 minutes.
Overall sautéed courgettes will require around 20 minutes to cook.
We finish it with some fresh mint, and they’re ready!
If I am to eat these courgettes as a side, I also like to season them with balsamic vinegar or balsamic glaze.
Last but not least we need to prepare the cheese sauce.
Since I use this sauce a lot in my recipes, I decided to create a dedicated section to it on this post so it’s easier for both you and me to find it 🙂
So versatile, I use this sauce for fillings, nachos, lasagne, mac&cheese, burgers and even on pizza!
At our place we are both literally addicted!
Here’s how to make it!
Ultimate Turmeric Cheese Sauce Recipe
Assembling the Potato Cakes
Now that we have all preps done, we can start assembling these delicious potato cakes!
This recipe yields 4-8 cakes, depending on the size.
I made only 4 big cakes with this mixture, as I was planning to have as a main course, but feel free to make them smaller if you’d like to serve as a starter or for a buffet.
Depending on the size or number of cakes you want to achieve, divide the mash potato accordingly.
Divide then each portion in two, roll into balls and flat the potato mixture with the palm of your hands onto a sheet of baking paper.
Place the filling onto half of the discs then, carefully, place the other disc on the top and seal well the edges.
How to Cook the Courgette and Potato Cakes
As mentioned in the introduction of this post, we can pick serveral ways to cook these cakes:
- pan fry
- deep fry
- air fry
- oven bake
For the pictures of this post I pan fried the cakes in some vegetable oil for 8 minutes in total, and I carefully flipped the cakes half way.
You can also deep fry the cakes in abundant vegetable oil for 5 minutes, or until golden.
For a lighter version you can indeed use the air fryer. Make sure to preheat the air fryer to 200 degrees Celcius, then cook the cakes for 20 minutes.
If you, finally, prefer the oven, simply align the cakes on a baking sheet and spray them with some vegetable oil.
Bake at 180°C for 20-25 minutes, flipping the cakes half way.
These cheesy courgette potato cakes are awesome both warm or at room temperature.
Hope you enjoyed this recipe!
If you’d like me to veganize a recipe for you, simply write your request in the comment section below!
Have a lovely day!
Cheese and Courgette Potato Cakes Recipe
Ingredients:
1 kg Potatoes
2 Courgettes
1/4 Ultimate Turmeric Cheese Sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
1-2 Garlic Cloves
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
Fresh Mint
Salt
Pepper
Vegetable Oil for frying
6. Divide the mash potato into 8. Roll each portion into balls, then flat the potato mixture with the palm of your hands onto a sheet of baking paper.
10. Serve immediately for oozy filling.
11 comments
If I make a big batch and want to freeze some, do I freeze them before pan frying? cant wait to test this one!! TIA!!
Hi Suzi. You can freeze them before or after pan frying the cakes. If you opt for doing it before cooking, make sure you arrange the cakes on a flat surface in layer only before placing them in the freezer. Once frozen you can move them in bags or containers and they will keep for 3-4 months. Enjoy!
Ciao Adriana, anche io sono Italiana ma vivo a NYC 🙂 They came out delish. Was wondering if it’s ok to peel the potatoes BEFORE putting them in the microwave? They were cumbersome to peel off after the 20 min. Grazie mille!
Hey there! Due italiane nel mondo <3 I've never been to NYC but I'm planning to, as soon as we will be free to travel again!
I'm happy you enjoyed these potato cakes.
If you had that problem with the potatoes you should indeed peel them next time. Alternatively you steam them until fork tender.
Thank YOU for stepping by, have a lovely week 🙂
Hello,
Can you clarify what “a splash of water” means when cooking the potatoes in the microwave pls? And we just put a bunch of holes on the surface with a fork, correct? Thanks so much!
Just a bit of water in order to create a steaming environment in the bowl. It can be roughly 1/2 cm from the bottom of the bowl.
Water will likely evaporate by the end of tge cooking time.
Hope that helps 🙂
Perfect! Thanks Adriana! Making now 🙂
I tried the recipe, but it’s impossible to make a pancake from mashed potatoes.
Hi Felicity, I’m sorry that didn’t turn out well for you 🙁
Did you cook the potatoes in the microwave and wait until they were completely cold before forming the patties?
These are two essential steps in order to be able to shape the cakes.
It doesn’t work as well with boiled potatoes because the excess of water they’d absorb prevents them to be naturally sticky and they won’t hold the shape unless you add something else to it, like flour.
so easy and yummy.
Thank you! I’m so glad you like this recipe 🙂
Have a lovely weekend!