It’s a Potato and Bacon Casserole. Life is good.
This is so easy we can hardly call it a recipe. I’m pretty sure my family will be having this every other week for the rest of our lives for the following reasons:
- Bacon. Of course. And also, cheese.
- We can slather it with Spicy Ranch Dressing, which tastes so good I believe I shall become addicted to it.
- I can make several of these casseroles at once and freeze them for later, making this easy meal even easier.
This “casserole” is basically baked potatoes cut up in a dish with bacon and cheese all over it. I’m sorry that I can’t make it more complicated for all of you who would rather spend many more minutes sauteing, braising, and broiling. This time, you’ll have to get your steeping and zesting fix elsewhere.
Everyone else: I lovingly suggest that you go scrub some potatoes. You’re having this for dinner tonight.
Baked Potato and Bacon Casserole
- 8 medium-sized potatoes (any variety)
- 1 pound bacon
- 2 cups shredded cheddar or colby jack cheese
- Sour cream, chives, and/or Spicy Ranch Dressing for topping
- Scrub and bake potatoes by putting them into a covered dish in a 350° oven for 1½ hours.
- In the meantime, cut bacon into bite-sized pieces and cook thoroughly on the stove-top.
- Cut baked potatoes into chunks, spreading them out into a 9x13" baking dish.
- Sprinkle cooked bacon over the potatoes.
- Top with shredded cheese.
- Bake in a 350° oven for about 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
Offer sour cream, chives, and/or Spicy Ranch Dressing to complete this main course. Serve with a salad and another fruit or veggie. It is too easy. Makes 6-8 servings.
To Freeze This Dish:
Make it as directed above. Allow it to cool completely. Cover and label. Put it in the freezer.
To Reheat and Serve This Dish:
This is my favorite trick. Get the casserole out of the freezer. Cover the frozen dish with foil (somebody needs to invent a 9×13 glass cover for my pyrex dishes). Put the frozen casserole into a COLD oven. Turn the oven on to 250° allowing it to heat up along with the casserole. After one hour, turn the oven up to 350° and bake for one more hour or until the casserole is thawed, heated through, and looks like wonderful cheesy deliciousness.
Let us all add this recipe to our “Reasons to Make Extra Baked Potatoes When We’re Making Baked Potatoes Anyway” list.
Switch out the bacon in this casserole for other cooked meats. Switch out the regular potatoes for sweet potatoes. Just whatever you do, try it with the Spicy Ranch Dressing. Ah-mazing.
Just a tip that is even less complicated than this recipe, if you can believe that! Instead of foil just turn a cookie sheet upside down over your 9×13. No need for foil and it is still covered. I have a few smaller sheets that work perfect for this and it makes me happy since there is no waste and I don’t usually have to wash the sheet either! Something that can help until they invent glass covers :)
OH MY GOODNESS – that is too perfect. And obvious. How have I not thought of this??? I hate using foil. Well, you win today’s prize. YayyY!
Pampered Chef makes a silicon cover you can use in the fridge for storage AND the oven – and it doubles as a trivet to protect your counter top too. Let me know if you want to try mine out!
Thanks Emily for this info, will check it out..as I also hate using foil….seems such a waste…..
Looks good and sounds great….who can go wrong with bacon ? I know what I am having for dinner….don’t have bacon, but have Real bacon bits…..that should do….
Thanks Laura, for an easy recipe….this is my kind of cooking :)
That sounds so good! I need to add potatoes to the grocery list. I’ll definitely freeze a couple of small casseroles, what a perfect homeschool lunch! As a bonus (as a mom with littles) I love that most of the toppings are already on the potatoes!
This recipe will make a visit to our house too! And I love the idea to use a baking sheet as a cover!
If you add some cooked chicken to this, you have a full meal! I make something similar to this quite often with cubed chicken that I pan saute in butter–always a hit!
Oops–what I meant was if you have a husband like mine that doesn’t call it a meal unless it has either chicken or beef in it, you could add chicken.
This is wonderful topped a little with sour cream! We didn’t have enough cheddar cheese, so we added a few slices of white american cheese on top too. MMMMM! This is such an easy recipe.
On a side note: I make bacon in the oven & store it in the freezer, so that would cut down on a step to make this recipe even easier!
Made this for dinner last night, and all 10 of the people in this house ate it. Willingly!
Great recipe. And though I was skeptical about the spicy ranch on top, I tried it. And like it!
I was just at my friends house and thought of you. She was opening her Norwex order and had an ovenproof silicone lid to fit a 9×13 dish. I’m seeing other options people shared (love the cookie sheet idea!) but wanted to share this, too.
We make this with chicken and bacon all the time – a family favorite. Taco meat and toppings are good too.
Hello! I need a winning potato dish for a pot luck tonight. What would you think of adding in some sweet potatoes along with the regular potatoes?
Great idea!