Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole with bacon lardons, cheddar cheese and spring onions, an overly comforting side dish for your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. It can be made ahead and refrigerated, then baked before serving, so it's bubbling hot and delicious. Quick and easy to make, and a guaranteed success with everyone at the table.
Thanksgiving is fast approaching, and Christmas is following closely in its footsteps, so the hunt for special dishes is on.
Plus, the cold weather has proper settled in now, rich and comforting dishes are your best bet on such freezing days, and a bubbling hot casserole just hits the spot every single time.
Now, I absolutely love mashed potatoes, creamy, so satisfying and wonderfully heart-warming. But if you want to the take it the very next level and impress all your guests, this loaded mashed potato casserole is such a joy!
Imagine this: creamy and smooth mashed potatoes, delicious bacon lardons, sharp cheddar cheese and spring onions, all nicely baked to perfection, doesn't it sound amazing?!
It's a great side dish to serve at special occasions, but also all year round, especially if you are a fan of Sunday roast and are looking for new recipes that are family friendly.
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Ingredients used & easy swaps
- potatoes - floury potatoes like Maris Piper give you a nice and creamy mash, but you can also use whatever you have around
- bacon lardons - chopped up and ready to use, a great time-saver, but regular bacon chopped up nicely can also do
- cheddar cheese - it's nice and sharp, and balances well the creaminess of the mash, you can swap it for any other sharp cheese
- spring onions - they bring a touch of colour as well as a great taste, you can also go for fried caramelised onions if you wish
- butter - added to the mashed potatoes makes it so creamy and rich, I highly recommend using it
- milk - I always go for full-fat milk when I make mash for extra creaminess, you can also add heavy cream / double cream if you wish to make it even more indulgent
- salt - I added some when I boiled the potatoes but also to the mash
Step-by-step photos and instructions
- peel and rinse the potatoes in cold water
- slice the potatoes, the cut lengthwise into fries
- add them to a large pan, and cover them with water
- add a pinch of salt and boil them on a medium heat until fork tender
- drain the water, and the butter and use a potato masher to mash them up
- add salt and milk, and mash again until creamy
- transfer the mash to an ovenproof dish
- in a frying pan set over a medium heat, fry the bacon lardons until golden brown and crispy
- chop the spring onions
- top the mash with the fried lardons, spring onions and scatter over the cheddar cheese
- bake at 200 degrees Celsius (390 Fahrenheit) for 15 minutes or until golden and bubbling hot
Expert tips
This potato casserole is extremely versatile, you can literally use whatever else you have around, especially if you are preparing this dish after a feast and you have leftovers like turkey, chicken, ham, beef and so on.
You can also add chopped up leftover vegetables to the dish and serve it with leftover gravy for a fantastic brand new dish, it's so easy to make this dish your own!
If you happen to have some mash casserole left over, why not turn it into mashed potato balls? They will surely work a treat.
Other potato side dishes
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Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole
Ingredients
- 6 medium potatoes
- ½ cup full-fat milk (125 ml, 4 oz)
- ½ cup grated cheddar cheese
- 2 spring onions
- 1 cup bacon lardons ( 200 g, 7 oz)
- 30 g butter ( 2 tbsp)
- 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
Instructions
- Start by making the mash.
- Peel and rinse the potatoes in cold water.
- Slice the potatoes, then cut them lengthwise into fries.
- Add them to a large pan, cover with water and add half a teaspoon of salt.
- Boil the potatoes on a medium heat until they are fork tender.
- Meanwhile add the bacon lardons to a frying pan set over a medium heat, and fry them until brown and crispy.
- Wash and chop the spring onions.
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (390 Fahrenheit).
- Drain the water from the potatoes, add the butter and salt, and use a potato masher to mash them well.
- Add the milk and mash again until creamy.
- Transfer the mash to an ovenproof dish.
- Top the mash with the bacon lardons, chopped spring onions and scatter over the grated cheese.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until golden and bubbling hot.
Video
Notes
- This potato casserole is extremely versatile, you can literally use whatever else you have around, especially if you are preparing this dish after a feast and you have leftovers like turkey, chicken, ham, beef and so on.
- You can also add chopped up leftover vegetables to the dish and serve it with leftover gravy for a fantastic brand new dish, it's so easy to make this dish your own!
- If you happen to have some mash casserole left over, why not turn it into mashed potato balls? They will surely work a treat.
Nutrition
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