Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole
The Ultimate Make Ahead Party Food
If you have run out of new food ideas for hosting a party, have I got the dish for you! This Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole can be made ahead, heated when ready, and served with delicious toppings your guests can choose from.
I actually created this recipe at the very beginning of The Tipsy Housewife in a partnership with NFL. I was tasked with coming up with a football Sunday style recipe using potatoes. I made this for a party in order to be able to document it for the campaign and my friends and family went crazy for it.
At the time, the campaign was for Instagram and I didn’t even have this handy recipe site yet, so it never migrated here to The Tipsy Housewife. Recently, in an attempt to be more organized for our big upcoming move, I was motivated to start digitally organizing my 175,000 photos on my phone and came across this gem from 2017.
I created a printable and pin-able recipe card for this recipe below. That way this dreamy, creamy mashed potato meal can be enjoyed by all!
Make Ahead Is Best
I have no idea why, but making the mashed potatoes at the last minute can seem like the most stressful part of hosting a meal. I have one of the best Mashed Potato Recipes out there that is also very easy, but when push comes to shove they can be a pain to make in the last minutes before eating.
I wanted to come up with a make ahead version that can be refrigerated and baked or reheated easily. This recipe fits all the make ahead needs.
Baked Not Boiled
You will see in this recipe that the potatoes are actually baked and not boiled. This is a very good method for make ahead mashed because the less water in a make ahead mashed potato, the better.
We used to make bulk mashed potatoes at a diner I worked in by baking the potatoes. It was a lot less hot and humid without 100 pounds of potatoes boiling up in the prep kitchen.
You will see that baking the potatoes makes for a creamy mashed that reheats very easily in a variety of ways. The texture does not separate when reheated as it would if you boiled the potatoes.
Make Ahead Candied Bacon
Now for this recipe you can easily just make regular old crispy bacon. I use this oven method from The Kitchn when I make bacon.
If you wanted to kick things up a notch, however, I have this decadent recipe for Make Ahead Candied Bacon that would be amazing as a topper for these mashed potatoes.
All The Toppings
The toppings I suggest on the recipe card are just the beginning. Let your imagination go wild!
I used different cheeses, bacon, green onions, and sour cream but there are endless ideas for the topping choices. French fried onions would be great, as would caramelized onions, sautéed mushrooms and more.
Get creative and build an epic mashed potato buffet!
Many Mashed Potato Ideas
I sort of consider myself the queen of mashed potatoes. They are probably one of my top five favorite foods.
I will never forget a magical mashed potato moment I once had in Seattle, Washington. We were there for a Chicago White Sox game and I had over indulged in some ballpark beer the night before.
I called room service and asked if there was any way they could just send up some mashed potatoes and gravy for me. Let me tell you, they did, along with some icy cold cokes.
It was the best hangover cure of my life. I modeled my mashed potato recipe after that experience.
Party Time
These potatoes, along with all the toppings, are the perfect party food in my opinion. If you were looking for more delicious foods to serve with this mashed potato buffet, I will share a list below of some other great recipes that will be perfect with these taters:
Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole Recipe
Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole is a hostess's dream. Make ahead and bake later then build a board with all your favorite toppings and let guests serve themselves for a great game day snack.
Ingredients
- 5 lb. bag of Russet Potatoes
- 3 tablespoons of Olive Oil (approximately)
- 2 tablespoons of Coarse Salt *for baking
- 1 tablespoon of Coarse Salt *for mashing **or to taste
- 8 tablespoons of Butter
- 1/2 cup of Whole Milk
- 1/2 cup of Heavy Cream
- 4 ounces of Cream Cheese
- 1/2 cup of shredded Cheddar Cheese
- 2 tablespoons of Sour Cream
- 1/2 tablespoon of Dried Parsley
- Black Pepper to taste
- For The Toppings:
- 1 cup of Sour Cream
- 1 cup of Green Onions, sliced
- 1 cup each of a variety of Shredded Cheeses (Cheddar, Swiss, Pepper Jack)
- 1 cup of Blue Cheese Crumbles
- 1 to 2 cups of crispy, Cooked Bacon, chopped
Instructions
- Scrub your potatoes clean and dry off with paper towels. Heat your oven to 375 degrees.
- Rub the potatoes all over with the olive oil and salt the skin generously.
- Place on a baking sheet and bake one hour or until the potatoes are tender enough to stick a fork into.
- In a small sauce pan, heat your milk, cream, and butter and add a couple of pinches of salt and pepper, parsley, and any dried herbs you are using. Keep on low and keep warm until potatoes are ready to mash.
- Remove the potatoes from the oven and let cool slightly, but you still want to have them warm when you work with them.
- I use paper towel on my hands to be comfortable, or you can use a clean dishcloth. Slice the potatoes in half and scoop the inside of the potatoes into a bowl, or you can squeeze the potato skins over the bowl so that the inside squeezes out. Be careful when doing this so you don't burn your hands.
- Use a hand masher, or hand mixer, and add the cream and butter mixture while it's warm, a little at a time, and mash as you go. I end up using all the cream and butter mixture. Fold in the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and sour cream.
- Taste your potatoes and see if they need more salt. Be sure to add the salt a little at a time, mix, and wait a few moments to taste and add more if needed as it takes the salt a few moments to dissolve into the potatoes.
- Place in a covered bowl and refrigerate up to two days.
- To reheat, you can place the potatoes in a slow cooker on warm, you can heat in a pot on the stove on low and stir occasionally, or you can microwave and stir as they heat up.
- You can also put these in a cold oven, in a covered baking dish and let them heat up with the oven to 375 degrees. Uncover the last 10 minutes of baking.
- Serve with some fresh butter on top, a sprinkle of pepper and dried parsley, and alongside all your toppings and let people customize their servings.