These potato cakes are stuffed with mushrooms, veggies, and vegan cheese. This amazing comfort meal is perfect for lunch or dinner. The recipe is dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free, and easy to make.
Potato Cakes With Mushrooms, Veggies, And Vegan Cheese
Have you ever made potato cakes from mashed potatoes? If not, you should give this recipe a try because mashed potato cakes taste absolutely amazing! I wanted to make the potato cakes really special and that’s why I stuffed them with mushrooms, veggies, and vegan cheese. And the result really convinced me.
Regular potato pancakes are very delicious, no question, but stuffed potato cakes are even better!
If you are also a fan of fritters, patties, and nuggets, make sure to check out my recipes for chickpea veggie fritters, cauliflower patties, zucchini potato fritters, or broccoli nuggets.
Simple Potato Dough
For the dough, you’ll need potatoes, cornstarch, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and flour. I used rice flour to make these potato cakes gluten-free.
However, you can also use wheat flour or spelt flour, in case you don’t have a gluten intolerance. You might need a little bit less flour, though, but you will notice right away if the consistency of the dough is right.
The dough shouldn’t be sticky. If this happens, then your potatoes were probably too watery (not starchy enough).
Which Type Of Potato Works Best?
I made these mashed potato pancakes a couple of times with Yukon Gold potatoes and the result was great. Russet potatoes are also fine, however, I noticed that I have to use less flour because Russet potatoes contain more starch than Yukon Gold potatoes.
To find out more about the different potato types, check out this helpful guide.
Filling for Potato Cakes
I stuffed these potato cakes with onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, zucchini, and vegan cheese (I used my easy vegan cheese sauce). Of course, I also added various spices that gave the potato cakes an amazing flavor.
You can use other veggies of choice, for example, carrot, cabbage, corn, tomatoes, or broccoli. Just use whatever veggies you have on hand.
How To Make Vegan Potato Cakes?
To make the dough:
- Peel the potatoes and cut them into small pieces. Boil in salted water for about 20 minutes.
- Season the cooked potatoes with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Use a potato masher to mash the potatoes. Please do not use a food processor, otherwise, the mashed potatoes will turn out sticky.
- Let the mashed potatoes cool (in the meantime you can prepare the filling), then add flour and cornstarch. Mix well with a spoon or your hands.
To make the filling:
- Dice the veggies, fry the onion in a skillet with a little oil for about 3-4 minutes, add the mushrooms, garlic, and also the diced peppers and the zucchini. Fry the vegetables for a couple of minutes, season with salt, pepper, and the other spices.
- Split the dough into 8 parts (about 1/2 cup or 120 g each). Form into balls, make a well in the middle, and add about one and a half tablespoons of the filling. You can also add a little vegan cheese (I used vegan cheese sauce) in addition. Carefully “seal” the balls with more dough and flatten them slightly to make them look like thick pancakes. I recommend watching the video for visual instructions.
- Heat approximately 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan and fry the potato cakes at medium heat until golden brown on both sides. I often put a lid on the skillet to cook them. They will be crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. If you want them to be even crunchier, you can bake them additionally for about 20 minutes at 375 °F (ca. 190 °C) in the oven.
Air fryer Potato Cakes
Gently brush or spray with some cooking oil and air fry in a single layer (be careful not to overcrowd the basket, or they won’t crisp up) at 375 °F/190 °C for 10-12 minutes, flipping at 5 minutes.
Can I Make Potato Cakes In The Oven?
I sometimes get asked if these vegan potato pancakes can be directly baked in the oven without pan-frying them first. Even though I haven’t tried it myself, I received a couple of messages from my followers on Instagram who told me that they tried it. The result was good, but the potato cakes weren’t as crispy.
I would, therefore, recommend brushing them with a little oil from both sides and then bake them in the oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit (ca. 190 °C) until golden brown (flipping halfway through).

How To Store?
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days. It’s also possible to freeze the potato cakes. I recommend freezing them after frying/baking. Let cool completely, then freeze in freezer bags with wax paper in between for up to three months.
Great As A Snack On The Go/Meal Prep
These vegan potato cakes are perfect for lunch or dinner. However, you can also prepare them for the next day for meal prep, to take them to work/school/uni, or as a snack on the go.
These Potato Pancakes Are:
- Vegan
- Gluten-free
- Crispy
- Hearty
- Easy to make
- A delicious comfort food
- Perfect for lunch or dinner
- Also, great as meal prep
If you give this tasty recipe a try, please leave a comment below, and don’t forget to tag @elavegan #elavegan on Instagram or Facebook if you take a picture of your dish.
More Vegan Potato Recipes
- Low Calorie Potato Pizza Crust
- Smashed Potatoes (Baked or Air-Fried)
- Cheesy Boiled Baby Potatoes in a Skillet
- Air Fryer Potato Chips (+ Baked Version)
- Potato Flatbread
- Lyonnaise Potatoes

Vegan Stuffed Potato Cakes
Ingredients
Dough:
- 1 kg (2 pounds) potatoes (see notes)
- 80 g (½ cup) white rice flour (see notes)
- 40 g (⅓ cup) cornstarch or tapioca flour (1/3 cup)
- salt, pepper, nutmeg (to taste)
Filling:
- 250 g (3 cups) mushrooms sliced
- ½ of a zucchini diced
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 bell pepper diced
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 1 tsp Italian spice blend
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp cumin
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
Additional ingredients:
- oil for frying
- vegan cheese to taste (optional)
Instructions
Dough:
- You can watch the video in the post for visual instructions.Peel potatoes, cut into small pieces, and cook in salted water for about 20 minutes.
- Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg and mash them with a potato masher. (Please do not use a food processor, otherwise, the mashed potatoes will be sticky).
- Allow the mashed potatoes to cool (in the meantime you can prepare the filling), then add flour and cornstarch and mix well with a spoon or your hands.
Filling:
- Chop the veggies into small pieces, fry the onion in a pan with a little oil for about 3-4 minutes, add the mushrooms, garlic, and also the diced peppers and the zucchini. Sauté everything for a couple of minutes, season with salt, pepper, and the spice mix.
- Split the dough into 8 parts (about 1/2 cup or 120 g each). Form into balls, make a well in the middle, and add about one and a half tablespoons of the filling. You can also add some vegan cheese (I used vegan cheese sauce) in addition. Carefully "seal" the balls with more dough and flatten them slightly to make them look like thick pancakes.
- Heat approximately 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan and fry the potato cakes at medium heat until golden brown on both sides. They will be crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. If you want them to be slightly more crunchy, you can bake them additionally for about 20 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit in the oven. Enjoy!
Notes
- Wheat flour or spelt flour might work as well, but you will most likely need less. I never tried it, so please experiment at your own risk.
- If the potatoes are extremely floury, I would recommend using less rice flour, e.g. just 1/4 cup. The dough shouldn't be too dry or crumbly.
- Recipe makes about 8 potato cakes. Nutrition facts are for one potato cake.
- Check the blog post for the air fryer method.
Nutrition information is an estimate and has been calculated automatically
Hello Ela!
Would like to make these for my family! Which side can you recommend?
Best regards,
Cordula
Depends on the time of the year butI like a soup, salad or roasted veg: vegan creamy mushroom soup, vegan kimchi soup, miso, broccoli salad, Brussels sprouts with cranberries and walnuts, sautéed asparagus, mixed green salad with vinaigrette/ something acidic to balance the heavier potato cakes.
The recipe was fine, but the note about too much flour would be more helpful in the middle of the recipe. Once I put too much in, there was no going back. My fault I guess for not reading everything ahead of time
Hey Ela,
Can i use Sweet potato instead??
It will turn out rather sticky, since sweet potatoes don’t have enough starch, and you would need a lot more flour.
I’m reading through this recipe before I make these for the first time. The instructions say to divide the dough into 8 parts. Then it goes on to say you have to “seal” the balls with more dough. Where do I get more dough from if I’ve divided into 8 balls? Should I reserve part of the dough from the 8 balls to seal?
Hi Jordi, yes, please reserve part of the dough from the 8 balls to seal. 🙂
Great recipe! I even made the vegan cheese sauce to go with them. It added a perfect amount of spice with the paprika. I also added ground turkey to the filling. These are great to make ahead if you have a busy schedule. I pre-made the patties and then popped them in the fridge until we were ready to cook them (same or next day).
Thanks for your feedback, Andrea. 🙂
Thank you! Excellent recipe. My husband likes them too. Delicious and nutritious.
So glad you liked them. 🙂
Can I make these in an air fryer?
I never tried it but it might work! Please report back if you give it a try. 🙂
Did you end up trying the air fryer? I was wondering the same thing!
My family enjoyed this simple to make potato recipe. I stuffed it with corn, carrots, onions and mozzarella vegan cheese. I also made the sauce, just mildly spicy.
I am so glad your family enjoyed it, Irma! Thanks for your feedback. 🙂
hi ela
thanks for your vegan recipe
I have a question, Is it necessary to use corn starch in the recipe? can I make it without the cornstarch?
Hi, the cornstarch is also used as a binder. You can experiment with a different flour (e.g. arrowroot or tapioca) but I never tried it.
Thank you so much ❤️
You are very welcome! ❤️
What was the sauce you served these with?
Hi, here is the recipe of the Chinese Garlic Sauce: https://elavegan.com/chinese-garlic-sauce/
Hey! You mentioned in the instructions that there’s a video on how to “close” the cakes. I couldn’t find the link – would you please share it?
Hi Marta, the video is in the blog post, right above the second photo from above. Scroll up to watch it. It takes a moment to load (if you have a slow internet connection) and you’ll only see it if you have no ad blockers. 🙂
Thanks for posting this recipe. I’m going to try this with masa harina instead of rice flour. Also, I may play around with the stuffing — either adding a few pinto beans or chopped tomatoes. Wish me luck!
Enjoy! 🙂
Hi Ela, I love your site, Thank you for posting great vegan recipes.
Do you recommend any other “flours” in this recipe ?
Hi Roe, as mentioned in the recipe notes, wheat flour or spelt flour should work fine. If you need a GF flour substitute (you didn’t specify) I would recommend quinoa flour, buckwheat flour, or maybe cassava flour. 🙂
Where can I find the recipe for the dipping sauce as shown in the video? It looks delicious!
Hi Justine, here is the recipe of the Chinese Garlic Sauce: https://elavegan.com/chinese-garlic-sauce/ 🙂
Hi there ela,
Is it possible to use almond flour?
Hello Tiffany, I am not sure if almond flour will work. I never tried it.
Please report back if you give it a try. 🙂
do you think I can make the dough with a mix of sweet potato and russet?
Hi Katie, you can but you will need to use more flour as the dough will be stickier because of the sweet potatoes.
Look forward to try 🙂
I needed trop translate the text but it’s worth it.
I hope you will like them, Julia. 🙂
Have you ever tried a sweet potato version? My guess would be a little more flour as they are usually a wetter potato.
Yes, I tried it once with half regular potatoes and half sweet potatoes and I had to use a lot more flour. 🙂
I really want to make these. Just don’t understand the amount of potatoes to use. Thank you
Hi Wendy, you need 1 kg (kilogram) of potatoes. That’s 2.2 pounds. 🙂
Just fabulous. Another recipe that has made it so much easier for me to be vegan. Your recipes are fantastic ❤️
That makes me so happy, Jacinta. 🙂
Hi Ela, thanks for sharing this amazing recipe! Do you have any tips on how these could be frozen? I like to cook in bigger batches to safe time 🙂
Thank you so much!
Hello Bertram, I would suggest freezing the potato cakes after cooking. Let cool completely, then put in freezer bags. 🙂
Hi Bertram, did you freeze them? If so how did it turn out. I would like to batch cook some as well
These were great! I have made them 4 times now with different filling combos. Baking them in the oven after frying worked well. We had leftovers & we fought over them the next day, yummmmy
Haha, your last sentence is so funny! I am glad you all loved the recipe. 🙂
Hi Ela, going to try these but just wondering what oil should I use to fry them with?
Hi Connie! You can use sunflower seed oil or grape seed oil or canola oil. 🙂