Twice Baked Potato Casserole

This twice-baked potato casserole is a decadent side dish recipe for Thanksgiving or any special occasion. Silky-smooth mashed potatoes are topped with gooey, sharp cheddar cheese and crispy bacon.

If you love the flavor of a traditional twice-baked potato but don’t have time for all that work, try the twice-baked potato casserole instead. It’s just as delicious and so much easier!

For more terrific side dish recipes, try my Easy Corn Pudding Casserole, Cornbread with Sausage Stuffing, Smashed Sweet Potatoes with Sage, or my Cauliflower Leek Gratin.

Ingredients:

• Potatoes: The best potatoes for mashed potatoes, in my opinion, are Russet Potatoes, since they are starchy and make fluffy mashed potatoes. But here in France, I can’t get those! So I use large Yukon Golds instead, which are still pretty good!
• Butter: You can use unsalted butter and control the salt, or use salted butter and add less salt at the end when it’s time to season the casserole.
• Milk: Use whole milk for creamy mashed potatoes.
• Sour Cream: Will provide a lovely tang to this casserole.
• Kosher Salt and Freshly Cracked Pepper: You’ll salt the water before boiling your potatoes so they’re flavored from the inside out, and you’ll also salt after the casserole is mixed.
• Sharp Cheddar Cheese: The sharper the better in my opinion! Sharp cheddar adds a wonderful extra layer of flavor that complements the potatoes and bacon beautifully.
• Bacon: Applewood-smoked bacon is my favorite for this recipe. Cook it in a skillet to ensure it becomes nice and crispy.
• Fresh Chives: For garnishing at the end, these chives add a freshness to the richness of this casserole. You can also use green onions instead.

Step#1: Prep the Potatoes

• Peel the potatoes and then slice them into quarters or halves. Be sure to cut them small enough to fit into the ricer.
• Ricing the potatoes after boiling is the secret to silky mashed potatoes, and in my opinion, is worth all the effort! They have a much better texture this way because you won’t have any lumps like you can experience when mashing them.
• If you don’t have a ricer, you can use a potato masher, but just be sure the potatoes are cooked long enough to become very fork-tender. The more tender they are, the less lumps you will have.
• Cutting the potatoes will also help them cook quickly.
• Be sure they are all the same size so they cook at the same rate.

Step#2: Boil the Potatoes

• Place the potatoes in cold water first, then turn the heat to medium-high to boil.
• Starting the potatoes in cold water yields fluffier mashed potatoes.
• Also, be sure to salt the water well. This will flavor the potatoes from the inside out and reduce the need to salt too much at the end, once the potato mixture is mixed.

Step#3: Rice the Potatoes

• Place the butter in a large bowl. You’ll rice the potatoes directly into the bowl, which will mix with the butter.
• Remove the potatoes with a slotted spoon, one or two at a time, and transfer to the ricer.
• Process the potatoes through the ricer into the bowl, scraping the “riced potatoes” into the bowl with a knife.

What is the Point of Ricing Potatoes?

I know it seems like a pesky task! But it’s science! Starchy potatoes have “starch cells”. Passing the potatoes through a ricer only mashes these cells once, keeping their cell walls intact. This yields fluffier, creamier mashed potatoes. Whereas a potato masher can mash a potato several times, breaking apart the cells, this results in less fluffy potatoes that can sometimes turn gluey. And let’s face it, using a ricer is also fun! It’s weirdly satisfying to see these long-grain potato pieces come out of the ricer.

Step#4: Assemble the Casserole

• You’ll add milk, sour cream, salt, and pepper to the riced potatoes. At this stage the potatoes will be so fluffy, you can whisk these ingredients in with a wire wisk or wooden spoon, no need to drag out the electric mixer.
• Transfer the potato mixture to a casserole dish.
• Top with the cheddar cheese, bake the potatoes at 350°F, covered, until warm through and the cheese has melted.
• Then add the cooked bacon on top and increase the heat to 400°F, and bake for 10 minutes more, until bacon is crispy and cheese is melted futher.

Subsitutions and Variations

• Switch of the cheese and topping for different flavor profiles.
• For an Italian version try Italian Blend cheese and crumbled cooked Italian Sausage.
• For a French version try Gruyere cheese and fried Frenchs’ Onions. This also works as a vegetaian option too.
• You could also use two versions, splitting the casserole in half (like a Pizza!) with different topping combinations on each side to suit a variety of palettes.

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