Cheesy Potatoes from a Lovely Friend

Introduction:

This recipe comes from my dear friend Mel, so I planned to post this one on International Mel Day (aka her birthday! Happy Birthday Mel!)  This one is SUPER EASY.  The first time I had cheesy potatoes is when my friends threw a going away party for me.  We had a potato party, where we ate like 5+ different types of potatoes. It was amazing.  In that party, we had these cheesy potatoes, which mesmerized me.  The other good memory of this dish is learning how to make it when I was hanging out a week in New York with my friends Mel and Rachel.  Mel showed me how to make the dish and I was in awe about how easy it was.

I've personally always had mixed feelings about mixing cheese with potatoes. It ends up being pretty heavy and sometimes I enjoy it and sometimes not. After this dish though, I fell in love with cheese and potatoes.  This cheesy potato dish is like if you mixed mac and cheese with breakfast potatoes.  They're amazing and easy to cook!

Food Items:

This is double the ingredients. You don't need double if you cook for one.
It made SO MANY potatoes. Potatoes for YEARS. (or like 2 weeks.)
  • 2 lb bag of frozen hash browns
    • You could make fresh potatoes, but this is easier, especially if you make this for a party and want to double the recipe.
  • 8 oz shredded cheese of your choice.
    • Mel suggests sharp cheddar and monterey jack. 
  • 8 oz sour cream
  • 2 cans of Potato Soup (20 oz.)
    • Potato Soup is a bitch to find, so if you do find it I suggest stockpiling!
  • 1/4 cup sliced butter.
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, prob grated.

Utensils Needed:

  • A giant mixing bowl
  • Something to stir with
  • A casserole dish
  • Your friendly neighborhood oven, preheated to 350 degrees.

Directions:

  • Butter your large casserole dish like your slathering on sunscreen to avoid the summer heat.
  • Mix the first 5 ingredients in the large bowl.
    • For those keeping track, that's the hash browns, shredded cheese, sour cream, potato soup, and butter. But save some butter for the top too!

SEE. Those are two GIANT bowls. I was overwhelmed.
  • Mix mix mix! You will gain some arm muscles doing this!
Seriously! This thing takes some arm work!
  • Transfer all that into your slathered up casserole dish.


This was like one of 3 or 4 dishes I ended up having to fill. 

  • Put them butter slices on top.
  • Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.
  • Put that sucker in the oven and cook it for ~50 minutes, or until you feel its done to your liking (depending on how crispy you like things.)
That's not mac and cheese! It's potatoes. In a huge casserole dish.  

Perks:

This makes THE BEST Main Dish side dish.  It's super delicious and SUPER EASY.  I love these potatoes to death and it really solidifies friendships.  It's easy enough to do for fun events or household get togethers.  This stuff is also excellent to put in the fridge or freezer to save for later.

Variations:

I'd say the biggest variation is within the types of cheese you put in this sucker.  I'm sure you could also sneak some veggies in there. Or switch the sour cream out with some plain yogurt (which is indeed sour by the way.)  You can also triple or double or 1/2 this recipe as you see fit.  

Final Thoughts:

I love this dish a lot. Like a lot a lot.  I've talked about making a potato blog for a long time and I got special permission from my friend Mel to put this in the blog.  I told her it was FOR SURE going in there and probably highlighted often.  10 out of 5 HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. I know I say that for like every post, but come on! Lemme know if you enjoyed it as much as I certainly did. 

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