Tortitas de papa are what a Mexican home cook makes when there are potatoes, a few eggs and a bit of cheese in the kitchen: mashed potato patties, about 3 inches across, dusted in flour and shallow-fried until a thin golden crust forms. This version hides a cube of Oaxaca cheese in each one, so you cut into a soft, cheesy mash and a string of melted cheese. Makes 12, enough for 4.
What tortitas de papa are and how long they take
How do you make Mexican potato patties that don’t fall apart? Boil 2.2 lb (1 kg) of floury potatoes whole in their skins, peel and mash them, and cool the mash for 20 minutes. Mix in 4 oz (120 g) queso fresco, 1/3 cup (40 g) breadcrumbs and 2 eggs, shape 12 patties around a piece of Oaxaca cheese, dredge in flour, chill 20 minutes and shallow-fry at 350°F (175°C), 3 to 4 minutes on the first side and 2 to 3 on the second. 110 minutes for 4 servings.
Think of them as a cousin of British potato cakes or leftover-mash patties, but bound with egg and breadcrumbs and seasoned with salty fresh cheese. In Mexico they are everyday food and a staple of the meatless Fridays of Lent, eaten plain with salsa, with beans and rice, or simmered briefly in a light tomato broth called caldillo.
Time. 110 minutes on the clock, but only about 50 of them hands-on: the rest is the potatoes boiling and the mash cooling. With the mash made the day before, dinner takes about an hour.
Difficulty. Easy. The only skills are patience while the mash cools and not flipping too soon.
Who they suit. Kids, as a rule: there is no chile in the patties themselves, only in the salsa or broth on the side. They contain egg, dairy and gluten (breadcrumbs and flour).
Ingredients, and what to buy in the US and UK
For 12 patties, 3 per person:
- 2.2 lb (1 kg) floury potatoes, about 5 medium
- 4 oz (120 g) queso fresco, crumbled, for the mixture
- 4 oz (120 g) Oaxaca cheese, cut into 12 small pieces, for the center
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup (40 g) dry breadcrumbs, plus a little extra
- 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, plus 1 tablespoon salt for the water
- 1/2 cup (60 g) flour for dredging
- 1 1/4 cups (300 ml) vegetable oil for frying
The full method with timings and visual cues is in the recipe card at the bottom. Here is what matters about each ingredient.
Which potato
Use a floury, high-starch potato: russets or Idaho potatoes in the US, Maris Piper or King Edward in the UK. They mash dry and fluffy and hold their shape in the pan. Waxy potatoes (red-skinned, fingerlings, new potatoes, Charlotte) make a wetter, stickier mash that needs more breadcrumbs and is harder to flip. Yukon Gold sits in between and works, with a slightly softer patty.
Boiling them whole in their skins keeps the water out. Peeled, cubed potatoes cook faster but soak up water, and the patties then split in the oil. If yours are already cubed, drain them, put them back in the empty pot and stir over low heat for a minute or two to dry them out.
Which cheese, and what changes
There are two cheeses doing two different jobs. The crumbly one goes through the mixture for flavor and salt and does not melt; the stringy one sits in the middle and melts.
| Cheese | Where it goes | Where to find it | What changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Queso fresco | mixed in | most US supermarkets, Latin stores in the UK | the classic, mild and salty |
| Feta, well drained | mixed in | everywhere | saltier and tangier; use 3 oz (80 g) and half the salt |
| Cotija, grated | mixed in | US supermarkets with a Latin aisle | saltier; use 3 oz (80 g) and half the salt |
| Oaxaca or quesillo | center | US supermarkets with a Latin aisle | the classic, long melting strings |
| Low-moisture mozzarella | center | everywhere, the block for pizza | melts and stretches much like Oaxaca, a little milder |
| Monterey Jack | center | US supermarkets | melts smoothly but with fewer strings, more buttery |
Avoid fresh mozzarella in water for the center: it releases liquid inside the patty. If you would rather use one cheese, put 8 oz (240 g) queso fresco into the mixture and nothing in the middle. The patties are firmer and easier to flip, without the molten center.
Egg, breadcrumbs and flour
The eggs hold the mixture together as they set in the pan. If the mixture is already soft, extra egg will not fix it, since it only adds liquid. Breadcrumbs are what firm up a soft mixture by soaking up moisture. The flour coating forms a dry layer that browns quickly and keeps the wet mash from touching the oil. Panko works in the mixture too, crushed a little finer.
Equipment
A heavy or nonstick 12-inch (30 cm) skillet, a potato masher or ricer, a tray for cooling the mash and two spatulas. A thermometer helps but is optional.
How to stop potato patties falling apart or turning greasy
Four moments decide the result, and each one has a cue you can see.
Dry, cool mash
The mash is ready when it has stopped steaming and feels room temperature, about 20 minutes spread out on a tray. Mixed while hot, the steam stays inside as water, the fresh cheese softens and the egg starts to cook in the bowl. Mash by hand: a blender or food processor overworks the starch and turns the mash gluey.
A mixture that comes away from the bowl
Mix by hand only until it comes together. With damp hands you should be able to roll a ball that doesn’t stick or weep when squeezed. If it clings to your fingers, add breadcrumbs a tablespoon at a time.
Fry one test patty first. If it opens up in the oil, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs to the rest before shaping more. If the mixture cracks as you shape it, it is too dry: a splash of milk fixes it.
Hot oil, and not too many at once
Below about 340°F (170°C), the crust takes too long to set and the patty soaks up oil while it waits. Above 375°F (190°C), the outside burns before the cheese in the middle melts. No thermometer? Drop in a pinch of the mixture: it should sizzle hard right away and rise. If it sits quietly on the bottom, wait; if the oil smokes, turn it down.
Fry 4 at a time in a 12-inch (30 cm) skillet. Crowding the pan drops the oil temperature at once, and the whole batch comes out greasy.
Flip once
Leave each patty alone for the first 3 minutes. It is ready to turn when the golden color has crept about 1/8 inch (3 to 4 mm) up the side and it slides when you shake the pan. Flip with one spatula underneath and a second one steadying the top.
Quick fixes
- Splits in the pan → mash was wet or warm; add breadcrumbs and chill the shaped patties another 20 minutes.
- Greasy → oil too cool or pan too full; heat it longer and fry in batches of 4.
- Breaks when flipped → turned too early; wait for the color on the sides and use two spatulas.
- Cheese leaks and spits → piece too big or the edge cracked; keep the cheese to 1/3 oz (10 g) with a good layer of potato all round.
- Brown outside, cold inside → oil too hot; lower to medium and add a minute per side.
Tortitas de papa in tomato broth (caldillo)
The most homely way to serve them in Mexico: freshly fried patties given a quick simmer in a thin tomato broth. For all 12:
- 1.1 lb (500 g) Roma (plum) tomatoes, 5 or 6
- 2 oz (60 g) white onion, about a quarter of a large one
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 serrano chile, optional, seeded for less heat
- 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) water or vegetable stock
- 1 tablespoon oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt
Blend the tomatoes with the onion, garlic, chile and half the water for a minute, and strain if you want it smooth. Heat the oil in a wide pan over medium-high heat and fry the purée for 5 minutes, stirring, until it darkens a shade and no longer smells of raw tomato. Add the rest of the water and the salt and simmer gently for 10 minutes. It should stay brothy, thinner than a pasta sauce.
Slip the hot patties into the broth for 2 to 3 minutes over low heat and serve right away in shallow bowls. Left longer, the broth softens the crust and the edges start to crumble. For a crowd, ladle broth into each bowl and set the patties on top. It is the same style of light broth served with Mexican chiles rellenos.
Air fryer or oven potato patties
Both work, but the result is different: a drier, paler crust without the even deep gold of the skillet, and a slightly firmer inside. Coat them in breadcrumbs instead of flour and brush both sides with oil.
- Air fryer. Preheat to 400°F (200°C). Cook in a single layer, not touching, for 12 to 16 minutes in total, turning halfway with great care, since they are fragile while hot. A square of parchment underneath makes flipping easier.
- Oven. Bake on a parchment-lined sheet at 425°F (220°C) for 20 to 30 minutes, turning halfway.
Check the first batch: depending on the machine, they may need a few more minutes to brown. With cheese in the center, seal the edges well, as it escapes more easily in an air fryer.
Making them ahead, and quantities for a crowd
The day before. Boil, peel and mash the potatoes and refrigerate the mash covered. Cold overnight mash is drier and easier to shape. You can also shape and flour the patties and keep them on a tray, wrapped, in the fridge for up to 24 hours. The tomato broth keeps 3 days.
On the day. With the mixture ready, frying all 12 takes about 20 minutes.
Allow 3 patties a person:
| People | Potatoes | Queso fresco | Oaxaca cheese | Eggs | Patties |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 2.2 lb (1 kg) | 4 oz (120 g) | 4 oz (120 g) | 2 | 12 |
| 12 | 6.6 lb (3 kg) | 12 oz (360 g) | 12 oz (360 g) | 6 | 36 |
| 20 | 11 lb (5 kg) | 1.3 lb (600 g) | 1.3 lb (600 g) | 10 | 60 |
Sixty patties is 15 batches in one skillet, well over an hour at the stove; two skillets halve it. Keep the fried ones on a rack in a 200°F (95°C) oven, uncovered so they stay crisp, while you fry the rest.
Variations worth making
- Tuna, the classic for Lent: add about 10 oz (300 g) of well-drained canned tuna to the mixture and skip the cheese center. The extra moisture usually calls for another tablespoon or two of breadcrumbs.
- A little heat: 2 tablespoons of finely chopped, drained pickled jalapeños in the mixture.
- Gluten-free: cornstarch instead of breadcrumbs in the mixture and instead of flour on the outside. The crust is thinner and the patties a little more fragile, so do not skip the chilling.
The cheese is the only pricey part. Using all queso fresco and no Oaxaca brings the cost down, and it is still a dinner built on potatoes, eggs and bread.
Serving, storing and reheating
Serve 3 per person, hot. Plain with a tomatillo salsa verde; as a main course with Mexican red rice and refried beans; or as a meatless Friday dinner with a fresh nopales salad and a bowl of Mexican shrimp soup or a thick, meatless Mexican fava bean soup to start. A simple lettuce and tomato salad with lime does the job too.
Fridge. Cooked patties keep 3 to 4 days in a covered container. Refrigerate them within 2 hours of frying.
Freezer. Best frozen raw: shape and flour them, freeze on a tray, then bag them, for up to 1 month. Thaw overnight in the fridge and fry as usual. Fried patties freeze too, but the crust loses its crunch.
Reheating. In a dry skillet over medium-low heat, 3 to 4 minutes a side, or in a 350°F (175°C) oven for about 10 minutes, until hot in the center (165°F, 74°C). The microwave heats them but softens the crust.
Questions people ask
Can I use leftover mashed potatoes? Yes, if they aren’t loaded with milk and butter. If the mixture is soft, add breadcrumbs until it comes away from the bowl, and taste before adding salt, since the mash is already seasoned.
What’s the difference between tortitas de papa and potato croquettes? Croquettes are usually rolled into logs, coated in egg and breadcrumbs and deep-fried. Tortitas are flat patties, dusted only in flour and shallow-fried in a thin layer of oil, so the crust is thinner and the inside softer.
How many patties does 1 kg (2.2 lb) of potatoes make? About 12 patties of 3 1/3 oz (95 g), 3 inches wide. Smaller 2 oz (60 g) ones give 18 to 20 and need about a minute less per side.
Nutrition per serving
Per serving of 3 patties, without the tomato broth, worked out from the quantities in this recipe and assuming about 3 tablespoons (40 ml) of oil absorbed across all 12 (an estimate: cooler oil means more):
- Calories: 567 kcal
- Protein: 21 g
- Carbohydrates: 59 g
- Fat: 28 g, of which 11 g saturated
- Fiber: 5 g
- Sugars: 4 g
- Sodium: 944 mg
The two cheeses account for nearly half the sodium. The tomato broth adds about 60 kcal a bowl.
I first made these to use up leftover mash, and the whole first batch split open in the pan because I mixed the potatoes while they were still steaming and never tried a test patty. Now the potatoes boil in their skins, the mash gets its time to cool, and the first patty is always the test one, which I eat standing at the stove. Josnaisis.