Making a delicious, succulent pork roast in this manner is quite simple. Even my 5-year-old daughter enjoys it. Why wait for company when you may produce something that is elegant enough to serve to guests?
| Prep Time: | 1 hr |
| Cook Time: | 45 mins |
| Additional Time: | 2 hrs 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 4 hrs 15 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 12 stuffed potatoes |
Ingredients
- 4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt, divided
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- ½ cup chopped onion
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound ground beef
- 4 teaspoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups dry bread crumbs
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 quart vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Place potatoes into a large pot; cover with salted water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and allow to steam dry for 1 to 2 minutes. Mash potatoes with 1/2 teaspoon salt in a bowl until no lumps remain. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
- Meanwhile, heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir green pepper, onion, and garlic in the hot skillet until onion has softened and turned translucent, about 10 minutes.
- Increase heat to medium-high; stir in ground beef. Cook and stir until beef is crumbly and no longer pink. Stir in tomato paste, vinegar, cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper until tomato paste has dissolved. Transfer beef mixture to a bowl; allow to cool to room temperature.
- Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap or waxed paper; set aside. Beat eggs in a mixing bowl; set aside. Pour bread crumbs and flour into separate, shallow dishes; set aside.
- Grab a handful of mashed potatoes (about 1/12 of the mashed potatoes); split into 2 equal portions. Form each piece into a small bowl shape and fill each with beef mixture. Place halves together, seal edges, and smooth to make a round ball. Repeat this step with remaining potatoes and beef mixture.
- Working one at a time, gently roll potato balls in flour to coat; shake off excess. Dip into beaten egg, then roll in bread crumbs. Gently toss between your hands so any bread crumbs that haven’t stuck can fall away. Place breaded potato balls onto the prepared baking sheet. Refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours or freeze for later use.
- Heat oil in a deep fryer or large saucepan to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Cook potato balls in hot oil in batches, using tongs to roll balls around as they cook to ensure even browning, until crispy and golden brown, about 3 minutes per batch. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate.
- The nutrition data for this recipe includes the full amount of the breading ingredients. The actual amount of the breading consumed will vary. We have determined the nutritional value of oil for frying based on a retention value of 10% after cooking. The exact amount will vary depending on cooking time and temperature, ingredient density, and the specific type of oil used.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 380 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 45 g |
| Cholesterol | 85 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Protein | 14 g |
| Saturated Fat | 4 g |
| Sodium | 489 mg |
| Sugars | 3 g |
| Fat | 16 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
OMG-Everybody ALWAYS ask for these for their “special” meal. They are a bit time consuming to make, cook, dredge and cool-THEY’RE WORTH THE WORK! Yum-like a handheld shepherds pie!
LOVE Cuban potaote balls! Porto’s gets a little expensive….I added the green chopped olives & makes a difference imho. I failed however at the size & the that they mostly all broke open. I didn’t refigerate or freeze because I have no self control ha! “Angelica” bleow suggested (a bit rudely tho) to use a thilet potatoe which is a doughy/dough & I will try that. Seems logical. Trial & error. In the end even a destroyed potatoe ball is better than none at all & still tatstes great!
My first time making these, may have used a little too many potatoes. Mine looked more like biscuits but were really really good!
This recipe is a lot better in theory than in practice. I followed the instructions with no deviations and it was awful.
I tried many new recipes in 2020, but these may just top the list. They were outstanding! The flavor of the meat, the creaminess of the potato and the crispiness of the fried outside meshed perfectly. It was a hit for the whole family. I used Impossible ‘meat’ primarily because it’s what I had on hand, but that made it quite a hearty vegetarian option in the end. I had a bit of a learning curve on the meat-to-potato shaping and distribution, but found my way as I went. Great recipe
Every time I come back home to Pasadena, I have to stop at Porto’s in Glendale and get some of these. Since there are no Porto’s in Texas, I had to try and make them. Man, they came out delicious!! I did make a couple changes. After the potatoes were cooked, I mashed them adding salt and some butter. I also used ground turkey instead of beef, and added dry oregano to the mixture. I have a deep fryer, so I put them in the fryer until they were golden brown! Will def be making these again. I am going to add cheese in them next time also!
This recipe was delicious! Ima make them again for sure!
Mine were bigger than little balls and of course I run out of mashed potatoes, lol. I used 8 small potatoes and still run out but the 4 I made taste superb. Have fun!!
Made some adjustments but great foundation recipe. Use half yucca and half potatoes.
delicious. I used a big bowl of leftover mashed potatoes. Heated it up, added some cream cheese and a dash of milk to make it creamy again, then followed the rest of the directions. so good. Easy way to get the kids to eat mashed taters
Very good recipe! I’m of Cuban descent, and totally forgot about this dish, until it popped up one day. My anglo husband calls it the perfect food, and would be happy to eat it everyday for the rest of his life. He’s a little irritated that I waited until 25 years of marriage to spring it on him. lol
Really good! I made a few minor changes. After adding the cube size potatoes to the water, I started sauteing the veggies with 1 tb of butter and 1 of oil. I used very lean beef (90% lean) to avoid excessive liquid. In addition to the paste, I added 2 tbl of spaghetti sauce and I substituted 2 tbl of red wine for the vinegar. I also added a sprinkle of mestique and omitted the cumin because we’re not big fans of the stuff. The recipe does not yield enough mashed potatoes and too much meat. The first time I made it I had extra meat left over. I now use 9 medium sized potatoes with the 1 pound of beef. The recipe yields about 10 balls, not 12. (For those of you that complained the beef was bland, just keep adding the spices until it tastes to your liking. It has to be very flavorful to compete with the blandness of the potatoes. Make sure potatoes are salty enough, too.) When the potatoes were mashed and cooled, I formed 1 THIN patty of mashed potato, put 2 BIG tb of beef in the center and covered it with another thin patty of potato. I then formed a ball, rolled it in the flour, egg (only use 2 eggs), and bread crumbs. Oil must be VERY hot prior to putting the balls in. These are great to make ahead of time. When your ready, fry them and pop them in the oven @ 375 for 5 minutes. My husband and son LOVED them. And my Cuban parents were floored! Best compliment and well worth the effort. ¡Gracias!
This was the first time I tried this recipe and it was spot on!! Love love love it! I tried my own recipe in the past and I ended up with greasy crumbled potato bites. These held together nicely. I used left over mashed potatoes and the meat was on point. Great recipe. Thanks Made it for a second time and it did not disappoint. Held together beautifully. Love this recipe!!
I made it as the recipe stated. We enjoyed it very much. We do feel like the meat in side could be jazzed up a bit, but that would be personal preference. Over all it was easy to make, I made them the night before and fried them the next, and it came out perfect. I used a fry daddy and it was easy.
I made it exactly how it’s written. It took me a few potato balls to figure out how to avoid them from cracking while being fried. First, after the panko coating I let them rest innthe fridge for about 30 minutes. After a few of them cracked while frying, I decided to add more oil so that it almost covered the whole potato balls. More importantly, instead of just letting them fry on one side then turning to brown the other side, I gently turned the potato ball every 5 seconds until all sides were cooked and all beautifully browned. They are so delicious.
I was surprised at how good looking they turned out. However , they needed something to kick up the flavor level. Perhaps that is just me–potatoes are always a bit plain tasting to me. I used some salsa on the side to add flavor. Next time, I will try to spice them up more. In any case, it’s an interesting way to cook potatoes. PS: I used soy meat to make them vegetarian.
i love this recipe thank you! i have a suggestion if frying in a wok or pan: get a big spoon and gently ladle the hot oil on top of each one as it’s frying :)) turned out great and it was a fun activity for my husband and i to make and enjoy.
Delish!! Making the potato balls took some skill. I had a lot of leftover meat but that was probably my fault for not filling them enough. I used ground turkey but the rest of the recipe was unchanged. I’d make these again. They are a lot of work and are more of a special occasion dish for me. I made the balls 24 hour in advance and kept them in the fridge. I breaded them right before frying them.
No I did not make any changes and I definitely will make it again. Yummy.
I’m gna start by saying the flavoring of the meat with a little added salt is wonderful but this Potatoe mixture is completely off! Thilet Potatoe is supposed to be more of a dough and the outside should be just a light coating of cornmeal. This recipe is OK but it is not what it should be.
We loved it! I prep everything the night before n fried them the next day for diner. One thing I will do different is Leaving out the bread crumbs. This was they a softer. Other then that they came out great!