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For a guaranteed crowd-pleaser, try The Best Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole Ever! It is an easy make-ahead dish full of creamy mashed potatoes, sour cream, ooey-gooey cheese, yummy bacon, and fresh chives. Take your side dish game up a notch with this no-fuss casserole.
My loaded mashed potato casserole recipe is all the flavors of a fully-loaded baked potato in a convenient casserole dish, making it the perfect dish to take to any gathering. Try it with my Southern Fried Pork Chops and Southern Style Lima Beans for a truly southern meal, y’all.
The holidays can get pretty hectic in the kitchen, I will admit. Especially if you are hosting- which I usually like to do. So, any dish I can make ahead, place in the fridge, and place in the oven on the day of is a winner in my recipe box. And, this Easy Mashed Potato Casserole Dish does not disappoint!
Why you’ll love this recipe!
- Simple: It is so easy to make with simple ingredients!
- Great Make Ahead Dish: This savory side dish can be made a couple of days ahead. Then just pop it in the oven and serve piping hot!
- Perfect for a Crowd: Feeds 8 to 10 people and is easily handles in a convenient caserole dish.
- Scale Down: Cut in half for a smaller gathering or a smaller family meal.
What’s not to love? This delicious easy potato casserole side dish is creamy, fluffy, buttery, savory, and more! Topped with chives cheese and bacon- need I say more? (After all, I did mention BACON!)
Ingredients
For a quick and easy shortcut loaded potato casserole, this recipe is a favorite anytime I make it. You’ll be amazed at how beautifully decadent it looks when added to any serving buffet. And there probably won’t be any leftovers at all!
How to Make Loaded Mashed Potatoes Casserole
✱ Be sure to see the recipe card below for exact ingredients and instructions!
Step 1 | Prepare the Pan and Potatoes
Begin with a preheated oven and prepare your 13 x 9 dish.
If making homemade mashed potatoes, boil washed, peeled, and cubed potatoes in water. You can also use Easy Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes or Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
Step 2 | Loading the Mashed Potato Mix
Mix the mashed potatoes with heavy cream, sour cream, butter, garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper, and one cup of shredded cheese.
Step 3 | Ready for the Oven
Pour the potatoes into a casserole dish, smooth, and top with remaining cheese and bacon. Bake for 20 minutes covered and 10 to 15 minutes uncovered.
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Step 4 | Garnish and Serve
Finally, remove from the oven, top with green onions, and serve!
Tips
- Garlic and Onion add mild flavor, for more garlic double the amount.
- Use whatever potatoes you like. You can buy refrigerated pre-made mashed potatoes, leftovers, or make them homemade.
- To spice this dish up, you can add some yummy jalapenos to the garnish!
Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole is easily adapted to any meal that is being served. For a traditional baked ham dinner, keep to the recipe here. For a Mexican twist, add jalapenos and a Mexican Fruit Salad on the side. Want an all-in-one dish? Top the easy casserole with pulled pork and a touch of BBQ sauce! YUM!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yukon Gold or Russet is the potato I recommend. The starch in these mixes up so fluffy, whereas red potatoes are waxier, but will work if that is what you have on hand.
The recipe on its own feeds 8 to 10. But if you have several starchy side dishes on the table, it can feed even more. Served with corn casserole and dinner rolls, the recipe stretches much further. And you can easily double and even triple the recipe!
Single Recipe: 8 – 10 people
Double: 20-25 people
Triple: 30-40
Why yes, it is. When choosing the correct brand of ingredients, this can be a gluten-free side dish for them. All you need to do is use sour cream and bacon pieces that are GF, be sure the spices are all GF, and shred the cheese from a block.
Variations and Substitutions:
Make Ahead, Storage and Reheating Instructions:
Make Ahead:
The loaded mashed potato casserole can be made up to 2 days ahead of time.
- Make and spread into a baking dish.
- Cover with plastic wrap and foil and place in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
- Remove from the refridgerator about 30 minutes before baking. Then remove plastic wrap, cover with foil and bake as directed. Depending on how cold it is when it goes in the oven you may need a few extra minutes of cook time.
Storage:
Cover with foil or plastic wrap or place in an air-tight container and store in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.
Freeze:
For casseroles, Completely cool and then I recommend covering with plastic wrap first, then foil. Then it can be stored in the freezer for up to 4 months.
If frozen, thaw completely in the fridge overnight. Reheat in the microwave, or remove plastic wrap and then cover with foil and heat in the oven at 350 degrees until warmed through.
Reheat:
To reheat individual servings, place desired amount on a microwave-safe dish and reheat. Start with 1 minute and stir. Then add 30-second intervals until heated to your liking.
What to serve with Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole
This easy potato casserole is the best side dish for any meal. Want another green? You can serve them with Southern Green Beans. For the holiday table, you can’t go wrong serving them on the side of a platter of Coke and Jelly Ham, and Black Eyed Peas.
More Delicious Side Dish Recipes:
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Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole
Ingredients
- 7 to 8 cups mashed potatoes
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2 to 4 tablespoons butter, softened or melted
- ½ cup sour cream
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
- ½ cup crumbled cooked bacon
- ¼ cup finely cut green onion, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Prepare a 9-inch pan or 2-quart casserole dish by lightly spraying with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl or in the casserole dish, mix together mashed potatoes, heavy cream, sour cream, butter, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and 1 cup of cheddar cheese.
- Pour mixture into prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle the remaining cheese and crumbled bacon onto the top of mashed potatoes. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and potatoes are heated through.
- Sprinkle with green onions for garnish.
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Notes
- 3.5 to 4 pounds of russet potatoes, washed, peeled, and cut into 1 ½ inch pieces.
- ¾ to 1 cup heavy cream or milk
- 4 tablespoons butter
- salt to taste
-
Place the potatoes in a large pot, cover with water to inch over the potatoes, and add 2 teaspoons of salt (or to taste).
-
Bring to a boil, and boil for 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
- Drain the potatoes.
- Add in the cream or milk, and butter. Then mash the potatoes with a potato masher or mixer. You can also run the potatoes through the ricer and transfer them back to the pot.
- Then proceed with the recipe.
Nutrition Information
Nutritional Disclaimer
Soulfully Made is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
©️Soulfully Made
Awesome and so easy. Husband loves it and also great as a leftover. This will be a keeper for sure. Thank you
Thank you, Ellen!
This is really good! Wasn’t expecting it to be so good. Will be making many more times.
We had leftover mashed potatoes so I decided to give this a try. And I am so glad I did! It was amazing! If you didn’t think mashed potatoes could get any better, check this out! We love it so much, I think we will be making more mashed potatoes just to have leftovers to make this in the future!
Thank you, Mindy! I agree, mashed potatoes made better (who knew you could do that)! So easy for a weeknight meal too!
Drooling over this mashed potato casserole. So delicious. Thanks for sharing.
I just had the best compliment about your potato casserole at the dinner table (of course, I gave you all the credit :D). Super delicious and decadent recipe! You cannot beat a combo of potatoes, bacon and sour cream, right? But with all that cheese and seasoning – it’s on a whole new level! The best!
Best compliment ever! And they don’t even have to know how simple this can be! Thank you so much for sharing!
This potato casserole went perfect alongside my roast. My kids loved these potatoes and they tasted even better as left overs the next day.
Thank you, Mackenzie! Knowing your family was happy is the best compliment of all!
This casserole is so comforting and delicious!! I’ll definitely be making it again for the holidays!
YUM! What a wonderful combination of flavors here in this casserole. We didn’t have hardly any leftovers, either, so you KNOW it went over well with our family!
I absolutely loved this casserole. It went great with our meatloaf dinner!
Thank you! I agree mashed potatoes are always delish with meatloaf!
So delicious! Everyone loved it! Will be making it again!
Thank you, Min! It’s perfect because it is so simple and quick to put together!
Made this the other day for a potluck! People were scraping the dish, it was so creamy and delicious! Thank you for a great recipe!
This recipe is so good! I am adding it to my list of ideas for parties — it will be such a great side dish for all kinds of family events and holidays!