Papa Rellenas / Stuffed Potato Balls Recipe
- Bunnie's Kitchen
- Oct 14
- 2 min read
October 14, 2025 By: Bunnie's Kitchen
Papa Rellenas / Stuffed Potato Balls Recipe. Latin American version of a potato croquette. This recipe is crispy fried potato stuffed with meat. Popularly made in Puerto Rico, Colombia, Peru, and Cuba. Made a vegetarian version of papa rellena using Trader Joe's Beefless ground meat for my picadillo. Can dip your papa rellenas in bread crumbs or slurry batter. Some people in their culture add boiled egg to the center. Optional add red or green bell pepper to picadillo for a crunch. One of my favorite new recipes I have made because there was so much flavor!
Category : Vegetarian
Stovetop: Medium Heat - High Heat
Fry: Medium Heat
Course: Lunch / Dinner
Stovetop Time: 45 Minutes
Prep Time: 30 Minutes
Total: 2 Hours
*Potato / Picadillo In Fridge 30 Minutes
Ingredients:
5 Russet Potatoes
1 Roma Tomato
1/6 Red Onion
7 Spanish Manzanilla Green Olives
1/4 Cup Tomato Sauce
1 Egg
3 Cups Flour
4 Tbsp Cornstarch
1 Tbsp Minced Garlic
1/4 Cup Water
2 Tbsp Butter
Vegetable Oil
Saran Wrap
Seasoning:
2 Sazon "Goya" Packages
3 Tbsp Adobo
Instruction Guide:
Peel & chop russet potatoes. Add to water and salt boiled pot until softened. About 12 minutes.
Mix flour and cornstarch in a bowl. *This will be used later
Chop roma tomato, Spanish manzanilla olives, and a small piece of red onion finely. This will be in your picadillo mixture.
Medium pan add red onion and tomato with vegetable oil for 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic at 4 minutes.
Add your ground beef, manzanilla olives, adobo seasoning, 1 packet of sazon seasoning, and tomato sauce. Cook for 8 minutes so flavor can meld together.
Cool at room temperature, then place in fridge.
Meanwhile, rinse and mash potatoes.
Add butter, 2-3 Tbsp of cornstarch/ flour mixture, and a packet of sazon seasoning. Texture of the potatoes should be not sticky.
Add to fridge after coming to room temperature.
Cut a piece of saran wrap. This will be used to help form the potato balls.
Mix one egg and water to make batter mixture.
On saran wrap layer the mashed potatoes and space it out. Add the picadillo to the center. As you pick up the saran wrap, form into a ball. Add more potato to cover the meat as needed.
On medium heat add enough vegetable oil that will help cover at least half of the potato when fried. *Might be messy
Add papa rellena to batter and fry until golden - 4-5 minutes.
Wait 2 minutes to cool down. Enjoy the flavor bomb!
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