My love for street food knows no limits. It’s where everything in the world makes perfect sense and the only thing that matters is smoke filled alleyways. These little potato croquettes are popular all over Latin America and the Caribbean. Out of all the countries you’ll find papas rellenas frying on a street corner in, Puerto Rico is without a doubt the most popular (at least in my mind).
What is a Papas Rellenas?
Anything that includes mashed potatoes and I am all in. These little fried potato croquettes are traditionally stuffed with a minced meat mixture. Since I use plants only on Faraway Kitchen, I obviously completely remade these vegan. I kept the heart of the filling the same- green peppers, garlic, onion, tomato paste, and seasonings. The major difference was that I minced portobello mushroom instead of beef. Mashed potatoes are stuffed with the filling and fried in oil until golden.
Papas Rellenas Sauces
Sure you could eat these without a sauce, seems illegal to me but whatever floats your boat. I strongly believe sauces are one of the joys in life.
- Plant Sour Cream- This is my personal favorite.
- Ketchup/Mayo- More traditional dip for Puerto Rican version.
Tips For Cooking
- Allow potatoes to cool completely or chill before frying. Warm or hot potatoes will not fry properly.
- Use a starchy potato like rustic potatoes. Also add some starch (corn or arrow) to mashed potatoes.
- Dust hands with starch (corn or arrow) in between creating each potato ball.
