Let’s be honest—add enough butter, cheese, and bacon, and you could make cardboard taste like a celebration. But when you start with creamy mashed potatoes? Now you’ve got comfort food royalty.
This loaded mashed potato casserole is rich, decadent, and always the first dish to vanish at potlucks or holiday spreads. It’s a side that steals the show—and the compliments.
Serve it with pan-seared chops or solo with a spoon (no judgment). It keeps beautifully in a slow cooker for buffet-style glory, and yes, if it’s Tuesday and you’re beat, go ahead and microwave that bacon. Fast or fancy, it always hits the spot.
Because let’s face it: any mashed potatoes are good. These? They’re downright dangerous.
What are loaded mashed potatoes?
Loaded mashed potatoes are buttery, creamy mashed potatoes that have loads of cheddar cheese, sour cream, bacon pieces and green onions (or chives) folded in.
Sometimes they also get topped with crunchy toasted garlic, black pepper, and more of everything good. Who doesn’t want MORE BACON?
Should you peel the potatoes?
Whether to peel the potatoes or not peel the potatoes when making the best loaded mashed potatoes is a hot topic at my house. I lean towards not peeling the potatoes but I do love skin-on mashed potatoes for an authentic “loaded” recipe.
Ingredients in loaded mashed potatoes
Russet potatoes – Yes, you can use Yukon golds or red potatoes but I believe that russet potatoes are best for this loaded mashed potatoes recipe.
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Butter – This would be a good time to break out the good butter. I feel like a high quality butter adds so much flavor and richness to any delicious side dish. Andi says butter is one of the best parts of a loaded baked potato.
Milk – When making mashed potatoes I do generally use whole milk but you can use whatever kind of milk you prefer. If all you have is heavy cream or half and half, cut the heavy cream and use half and half sparingly because this is already mixing in a lot of rich, heavy ingredients.
Cheddar cheese – Buy a big block of cheddar cheese and shred it yourself. It will melt better that way. Pre-shredded cheese has cellulose in the bag to help keep the shreds from sticking together, but it also makes it harder to melt.
Bacon bits – Cook the bacon in the oven and let it get a bit crispy. That will make breaking it into small pieces easier. Use the microwave here if you need a time-saving step.
Sour cream – Sour cream will get folded in at the end, not blended with the butter and milk. Want to try making your own? Here’s my recipe for homemade sour cream.
Chives – I love chives so much that we started keeping a container of dried chives in the fridge at all times. You could substitute green onions for the chives if you would like. If you are looking for a substitute for chives we got you covered.
Optional: Toasted garlic – Peel and chop garlic cloves (about one whole head per potato if you’re a garlic lover like me). Toss into a DRY, nonstick frying pan on medium heat. Use a spatula to toss the garlic pieces. Watch carefully so they don’t burn. Stir on low until all of the garlic is brown and toasty. Offer as a topping on the plated mashed potatoes.
Loaded Mashed Potatoes
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Ingredients
- 6 medium russet potatoes
- 1/4 c softened butter one whole stick
- 1/4 c milk
- 1/2 c sour cream
- 1 c cheddar cheese
- 8 pieces of bacon fully cooked
- 2 T dried chives or chopped green onions
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Optional: Garlic peeled, sliced and toasted
Instructions
- Measure out and bring the milk and sour cream to room temp, about 30 mins prior to cooking the potatoes. Set out the butter to soften. Mashed potatoes cool quickly, so we want to use room temp ingredients where possible.
- Cook the bacon in a frying pan on low until it is crispy, drain on a paper towel, break into small pieces and set aside.
- Scissor or cut green onions, if using. Set aside. Shred the cheddar cheese and set aside.
- Wash and dry the potatoes. If choosing to peel the raw potatoes, do it before boiling.
- Cut potatoes in halves, then quartered.
- Place potatoes into a large pot and cover potatoes with cold water. Add 1 t. of salt to water.
- Over medium-high heat, bring to a boil and cook until fork tender, around 15 minutes.
- Drain cooked potatoes. Return potatoes to a large bowl.
- On low, use a hand mixer to start mashing the potatoes. As they break apart, begin adding the 1/4 c milk gradually, then the butter.
- Beat just long enough to incorporate or the potatoes can become gummy.
- Fold in sour cream, chives, bacon and cheese at once and stir gently with a wooden spoon. If very thick, incorporate a couple more T of milk.
- Serve warm immediately, or transfer to a preheated crock kept warm or on low.
Notes
Nutrition
The bottom line
By the way, I know that sometimes people experiment with adding cream cheese to this recipe but that takes this recipe from perfect to too rich for me.
Want that rich cream cheese anyway? Try our Cheesy Mashed Potatoes recipe instead. However, feel free to experiment with it. Thumbs up? Thumbs down?
Just can’t finish it all? Here’s our article with tips on how to freeze mashed potatoes.
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