Twice Baked Loaded Potato Casserole

What does twice-baked refer to?

Twice baked is a cooking technique that requires you to bake a food item twice to achieve the dish’s preferred texture, flavor, and assembly.

For potatoes and many starchy vegetables, the first round of baking is often done to tenderize the ingredient, making it easier to scoop out. Then, the second bake serves as the final cooking step for you to incorporate the mashed vegetable with additional ingredients.

However, for food items like bread and croissants, the second bake is intended to create a crunchy outer layer and not necessarily to make them more tender.

❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe

The combination of baked potatoes, velvety creams, butter, and gooey cheese already brings a heavenly taste, but there are still other reasons why you will love the recipe.

• It offers an irresistible comfort. This recipe defines what ultimate comfort food is with its savory, creamy, and tangy flavors that will wrap around you and satisfy your taste buds!
• This casserole dish is a crowd-pleasing delight! Being loaded with cheese and bacon, the classics everyone loves, this recipe is undoubtedly a crowd favorite and steals the show on any occasion.
• It is an adaptable recipe. Give this classic dish your touch by exploring the different types of cheese and toppings you like. Add other ingredients like green onions, cream cheese, and even garlic powder. 

Casserole recipes are show-stealer dishes that will comfort your taste buds, so you should also try making this instant pot cheesy hamburger potato casserole, another recipe that will surely satisfy everyone!

🥘 Ingredients

This recipe only calls for a list of ingredients you can easily find in any grocery store, so make sure to have them in your cart on your next grocery trip.

• Russet potatoes: Large and starchy russet potatoes will be the rich, healthy, and hearty base of the casserole. They’re perfect for baking and quickly absorb the flavors of the butter, creams, and other seasonings.
• Heavy cream: Its luscious texture wraps up the potatoes, and its velvety creaminess enriches the dish’s overall flavor.
• Salted butter: The butter binds the other ingredients, and its unique buttery flavor adds richness and depth to the casserole.
• Sour cream: Its creamy, yet tangy flavor, balances the casserole and offers a delightful contrast with the other ingredients that keep up your excitement in every bite. 
• Salt and black pepper: These two classic seasonings are crucial to the recipe; salt helps to bring out the ingredients’ natural flavors, while the black pepper adds warmth and complexity to the dish.
• Dried parsley: Its mild herbal freshness complements the richness of the other flavors of the casserole and also enhances the dish’s appearance by adding a dash of vibrant green to it. 
• Shredded cheddar cheese: Shredded cheese is the highlight of this dish’s toppings. It creates a golden layer of melted cheddar and covers the entire casserole with its cheesy goodness.
• Bacon: This ingredient adds a salty crunch that contrasts the starchy potatoes, and it introduces a savory flavor to the casserole that enhances the taste profile of the dish.

See recipe card for complete list of ingredients and quantities.

🔀 Substitutions

Russet potatoes: You can use Yukon gold potatoes or red potatoes as substitutes. Yukon gold potatoes have a similar texture, but they’re slightly waxy compared to russet potatoes. In comparison, red potatoes have a different texture but a creamier consistency. 

Salted butter: Unsalted butter can be used as an alternative to salted butter if you prefer to have less sodium in your diet.

Sour cream: Greek yogurt can be an alternative to sour cream as it offers a similar tangy flavor. You can also use buttermilk as a substitute to retain the tanginess, but just know that it’ll add creaminess to the casserole.

🌈 Variations / Options / Add-Ins

Make this loaded baked potato casserole recipe even more delightful for your taste by adding other fun ingredients and trying different variations!

• Vegan Delight: You can transform this into a vegan-friendly recipe using coconut cream and olive oil instead of heavy cream and butter. Then, use vegan cheddar cheese and vegan bacon bits for the potato toppings.
• Buffalo Blue Cheese Twist: Make this dish more exciting by adding shredded chicken covered with buffalo sauce between the layers of the potato mixture. Then, for a bigger upgrade, top it off with crumbled blue cheese before baking the casserole.
• Italian Herb Infusion: Add a taste of Italian-inspired flavor by incorporating dried Italian herbs like basil, oregano, and thyme into the potato mix.

Aside from this delightful twice-baked potato casserole, other side dish recipes, like this Instant Pot Cheesy Potatoes, can also be versatile and fit your preference.

🥄 Equipment Needed / Helpful Tools

To make this recipe a bit easier, you will need a few tools to help you. 

• Baking sheet: You’ll need this to bake the russet potatoes evenly.
• Baking dish: This will be the main vessel you will use to assemble and bake the casserole.
• Large mixing bowl: You’ll need this to mix the ingredients properly.

🔪 How to Make Loaded Potato Casserole

This dish only requires simple steps, so grab your casserole dish and make a new family favorite recipe that will bring festivity to your dining table! 

Step 1: Prepare the oven and the potatoes

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Then, clean the potatoes, wash them thoroughly, and poke a few holes around the outside of each potato using a fork.

Step 2: Bake the potatoes

After preparing them, put the potatoes on a baking sheet and bake them in the oven for 1 hour. Once the potatoes are cooked through, remove them from the oven, and set the potatoes aside until they’re cool enough to touch.

Step 3: Slice the potatoes

Slice each potato in half and remove the cooked potato from the inside. Place the skinless potatoes in a large bowl, then proceed to the next step.

Step 4: Prepare the potato mixture

Pour the heavy cream, butter, and sour cream in the large bowl. Then add the parsley, salt, and pepper, and stir them with the potatoes until all the ingredients are well combined. You may use a hand mixer to make this step easier.

Step 5: Add the cheese and bacon

Add ¾ cups of shredded cheese and the bacon you’ve chopped (you can set aside a tablespoon of bacon for garnish), into the potato mixture. After that, stir until the cheese and bacon are well combined with the other ingredients.

Step 6: Assemble the potato casserole

Spread the potato mixture in the casserole dish, then place the remaining cheese and chopped bacon on top as garnish.

Step 7: Bake the potato casserole

Place the casserole in the oven and bake it for 20 to 30 minutes, until the cheese is melted.

Step 8: Serve and enjoy!

Grab your plates and enjoy this twice-baked potato casserole’s delicious and comforting flavors!

👩‍🍳 Pro Tips

• Make sure that the potatoes are tender once they’re out of the oven from the first bake to make them easier to mix with other ingredients. 
• Be creative with the toppings. Incorporate other types of cheese or add some extra garnish, such as cooked bacon or green onions.

❓ Recipe FAQs

🙏 Pairing

These are my favorite dishes to serve with twice baked loaded potato casserole: