We may earn a commission when you click on the affiliate links in this post.
Learn how to make loaded mashed potatoes with cheese, bacon, and ranch for the perfect comfort food side dish. Ideal for using up leftover potatoes!
A Delicious Twist on Leftover Mashed Potatoes
Loaded mashed potatoes are a terrific way to use your leftover mashed potatoes and take them to the next level! This recipe completely changes the flavor of regular mashed potatoes, and it can be served alongside ham, chicken, steak, fish – just about anything!
These loaded mashed potatoes are a delicious and indulgent variation of traditional mashed potatoes. They typically include additional ingredients and toppings to make them even more flavorful. This is total comfort food, and can be customized in so many ways. All together these potatoes are creamy, cheesy, and full of flavor!
Ingredients for the Best Loaded Mashed Potatoes
Loaded mashed potatoes are a fantastic side dish for special occasions, or when you’re craving some home-cooked warm and savory comfort food. They are rich, creamy, and packed with flavor thanks to the cheese, bacon, and green onions. Feel free to customize the toppings to suit your taste preferences.
- Mashed potatoes – Make the mashed potatoes ahead of time or use your leftover potatoes from the night before.
- Sour cream – This plays a huge role in making the mashed potatoes creamy and flavorful.
- Ranch salad dressing mix – The big secret to these loaded mashed potatoes is adding a Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning packet. This infuses a ton of savory flavor into the dish.
- Cheddar cheese – These wouldn’t be proper loaded potatoes without cheese! Freshly grated cheddar cheese is my favorite.
- Bacon – Cooked and chopped-up. Chop the bacon into small pieces before cooking. This speeds up the cooking process and saves the hassle of chopping or crumbling the bacon later.
- Onions – Slice the onions into small pieces.
How to Make Perfect Mashed Potatoes
To start off, you are going to need some good mashed potatoes. Try our perfect mashed potatoes recipe for the creamiest fluffiest mashed potatoes ever. Usually, we make this recipe for Sunday dinner, then turn the leftovers into Loaded Mashed Potatoes during the week. Follow these steps to have perfect and fluffy mashed potatoes every time!
- Boil potatoes – Dice your potatoes into bite-size pieces all about the same size. This will ensure they boil evenly. You can use either russet potatoes or Yukon gold potatoes for these perfect mashed potatoes. Once the potatoes are fork-tender they are ready to simmer.
- Simmer – Place potatoes in cold water in a large pot, then simmer on medium heat to high heat until they are tender.
- Mash potatoes – Drain potatoes, then mash using a potato masher or a hand mixer. I season them with a little salt, pepper, and butter.
Tips for Making the Best Loaded Mashed Potatoes
These loaded mashed potatoes are the ultimate comfort food! Everyone loves them, and they are one of my family’s favorite side dishes. This recipe jazzes up traditional mashed potatoes with a burst of flavor, texture, and visual appeal. If you are looking to add a little pizazz to your potatoes, this is the way! Here are a few tips to optimize this recipe for the best results:
- Casserole dish – Place the loaded mashed potato casserole in a 9×13-inch baking dish. Smooth it out in the pan and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes.
- Have extras – Make sure to have plenty of bacon, cheese, and green onions on hand for this recipe.
- Cheeses – I love using extra sharp cheddar cheese in this recipe for a tangy flavor, but you can use any cheese you like. Monterrey Jack, Mexican Blend, or even Pepper Jack cheese are delicious alternatives.
- Green onion tip – If you are worried about the green onion flavor being too overpowering, soak them in water for a few minutes before dicing and adding to the potatoes. Soaking green onions takes down the flavor just a bit. You can do that with red and white onions as well! Just make sure to dry off the onions really well with a paper towel before adding them to the potatoes.
“I didn’t have leftover mashed potatoes so I made fresh. My family loved it! Definitely making these again. Looking forward to trying your other recipes!”
-Ned
Frequently Asked Questions
There are several different variations and options to make loaded mashed potatoes. For this recipe, we use chopped onions, cooked bacon, sour cream, grated cheese, and a ranch mix.
Adding the butter first helps coat the mashed potato’s starch molecules. This gives the mashed potatoes a more creamy and smooth texture rather than a gluey texture. Once the butter is melted and mixed in the potatoes, then stir in the milk or water for an added creamy and smooth texture.
Typically, yes. This loaded mashed potatoes recipe is gluten-free. It’s a good idea to check seasonings for gluten, but fortunately, Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning (which is used in this recipe) is gluten-free.
The best tip is to avoid overworking the mashed potatoes. Once the potatoes are properly mashed and there are no longer lumps or hard bumps within the potatoes, you do not need to continue to mash any longer. If you have over-mashed the potatoes and they seem sticky, add in more milk or water.
Storing Homemade Loaded Mashed Potatoes
Store leftovers in an airtight container for four to five days in the refrigerator. When ready to reheat, place in the microwave or oven until it is warmed through. Enjoy!
More Tasty Potato Recipes
Much of our family resides in Idaho, so we know and love our potatoes! Here are a few of our most cherished potato recipes. Try them all and find your favorites!
Perfect Baked Potato
Homemade Mashed Potatoes
Cheesy Potato Casserole
Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Dutch Oven potatoes
Swiss Rosti
Twice Baked Potatoes
How to Make Loaded Mashed Potatoes
Loaded Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 6 cups prepared mashed potatoes I prepare with butter and milk
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix unprepared (I use Hidden Valley brand)
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese divided
- 6 slices cooked bacon chopped
- 6 green onions thinly sliced (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine mashed potatoes, sour cream, ranch dressing mix, 1 cup of cheese, bacon, and onions.
- Spread into a large casserole dish. Bake for 25 minutes or until heated.
- Remove from oven and sprinkle top with remaining 1 cup cheese. Return to oven and bake for an additional 5 minutes, or until the cheese on top is melted.
- Garnish if desired with extra bacon and green onions.
OMG! Tastes great! Cooked this today and as I’m only 1 person I halved the recipe. I have leftovers which I will enjoy this week. I’m going to add this to our Easter menu. Since I’m preparing Mom’s Potato Salad I’ll use the already prepared Bob Evan’s mashed potatoes to make it this cheesy potato recipe easier. The bacon will definitely be appreciated by my guests. Who doesn’t like bacon? The flavors of the cheese, onion, and bacon will also increase its appeal. Can’t wait to serve it.
These potatoes were to die for!!!!! I wish I hadn’t seen the recipe because I was going to start my diet. They were so much better with the bacon and spring onion, plus I added some grated mozzarella. Will be making these on a regular basis. Goodbye to my diet, hello more fat clothes.
Can left overs be frozen? And how for how long?
By the way, they were absolutely DELICIOUS!!!!!!
Yes, you can freeze the leftovers! They freeze well for about a month. Thanks for asking!
I didn’t have leftover mashed potatoes so I made fresh. My family loved it! Definitely making these again. Looking forward to trying your other recipes!
Load it up and get in my belly!! This is one of my favorites.
This was really amazing!! I can’t wait to make it again!
We have to have these at least once a week! Thank you!
Best potatoes ever. Paired perfectly with my mom’s meatloaf recipe!
Delicious – my family loved it!
When it says prepared mashed potatoes does that mean boil then add milk/butter and have it 6 cups as mashed or 6 cups in potato cubes?
It means to have the potatoes already mashed with milk and butter. Thanks for asking!
How many potatoes should you cook for 6 cups
It depends on the size of potato. I usually eye-ball it. A cup is about the size of your fist. If you can find six potatoes about that size, six will work. If the potatoes are smaller, I would use 8-10 to get 6 cups of mashed potatoes.
My family makes a similar dish that’s wonderful as well. Can u make the night before and bake in the morning the next day?
You probably could but after it cools down that much you will probably have to bake it for at least 40 minutes so it gets hot all the way through. That is a total guess though– we haven’t done t that way before so I can’t tell you for sure.
Can you make a video while making this recipe?
We may be doing some videos in the future, thanks for asking!
I made this today for Christmas Dinner with a ham. The potatoes were a hit. The addition of the ranch dressing mix is what makes these loaded mashed potatoes.
Just made these with a marinated flank steak with creamed corn and lima beans. They were delicious.
Everything looks so yummy. Looking forward to trying the recipes.
Sound delicious for this recipe! It’s make me so hungry! i can’t wait to eat this 🙂 Thanks a lot for sharing with us.