Our favorite side dish. No special family meal is complete without this delicious old-fashioned cheese potato casserole.
This has been a standard on holiday table for 35 plus years and is a recipe everyone must have. It is that good. Ultra tasty, everyday simple but company good. A great side dish for BBQ, ham or almost anything else.
Recipe note: this is a re-edit and re-publish of an under-appreciated recipe from October 5, 2013. I have re-edited the photos, buffed up the writing. This recipe was in my top 10 recipes of 2013. I have repeated this dish hundreds of times. Please enjoy one of our favorite dishes.
Just boil some potatoes. Shred. Mix with sour cream, cheddar cheese, chopped green onion, salt, and pepper. Bake. Sometimes the simple ones are the best.
My Rating:
My wife has declared this as part of her absolute favorite meal. Combined with my Easiest Oven Baked Kansas City BBQ Beef Brisket and you have her in heaven….
Recipe Notes for cheesy potato casserole:
Similar recipes go by other names: crack potatoes, funeral potatoes, and several others. Almost all of them use use frozen potatoes. Please, please, please don’t do that. Cooking your own potatoes will take this reicpe from good to fight over the leftovers great. Just try it please. If you want to be lazy try my crockpot edition that uses raw potatoes. Crock Pot Cheesy Potatoes from Raw Potatoes
You can try to make it a bit healthier by using lower fat ingredients. There is little change with the lower fat sour cream but low fat cheese just does not cut it here. I do have a lower carb version with cauliflower replacing the potatoes if you want. Cheesy Cauliflower Casserole
In a large pot, add enough water to cover the potatoes and bring to boil over high heat.
Scrub 6 medium potatoes. I always use Russet, but others should do. Poke each potato a few times with a fork. This will help them not “explode” in the pot. They may still split some but not as bad.
Add potatoes to the boiling water. Turn the heat down to low so you don’t boil all the water off and cover. Cook until fork tender. That is when you can stick them with a large fork, and it will go all the way through. About 40 minutes. Time may vary some due to the potatoes.
Remove from the water and place in refrigerator to cool for a couple of hours. Peel the potatoes. After they have cooled, the skin comes off easily with scrapping. Shred the potatoes. Here I’m hand shredding, but a food processor would be fine. I’m too lazy to get it out and clean it.
Clean and slice six green onions. To the potatoes add 2 cups sour cream, 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese shredded, one teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and the green onions.
Mix well. Spray a larger baking pan with PAM and add the mixture. Smooth top. At this point, you can cook or cover and refrigerate for a day before cooking.
Preheat oven to 350 convection (375 conventional). Bake until golden brown. 35-40 minutes. A little more if cold from the refrigerator or a little less if a half recipe or a thinner pan.
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 8 serving | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time | Passive Time |
| 40 minutes | 2 hours |
|
|
| Our favorite side dish. Super delicious old-fashion cheese potato casserole is a recipe everyone must have. It is that good. Ultra tasty. Everyday simple but company good. A great side dish for BBQ, ham or almost anything else.
|
- 6 potatoes Medium
- 2 cups sour cream
- 6 green onions
- 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- In a large pot, add enough water to cover the potatoes and bring to boil over high heat.
- Scrub 6 medium potatoes. I always use Russet, but others should do. Poke each potato a few times with a fork. This will help them not “explode” in the pot. They may still split some but not as bad.
- Add potatoes to the boiling water. Turn the heat down to low-medium so you don’t boil all the water off and cover.
- Cook until fork tender. That is when you can stick them with a large fork, and it will go all the way through. About 40 minutes. Time may vary some due to the potatoes. Remove from the water and place in refrigerator to cool for a couple of hours.
- Peel the potatoes. After they have cooled, the skin comes off easily with scrapping. Shred the potatoes.
- Clean and slice six green onions. To the potatoes add 2 cups sour cream, 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese shredded, one t salt, 1/2 t pepper and the green onions.
- Mix well. Spray a larger baking pan with PAM and add the mixture. Smooth top. At this point, you can cook or cover and refrigerate for a day before cooking.
- Preheat oven to 350 convection (375 conventional). Bake until golden brown. 35-40 minutes. A little more if cold from the refrigerator or a little less if a half recipe or a thinner pan.
Add bacon to make a crack potato / rebaked potato casserole.
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All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.
If you like this recipe or find it useful, the pleasure of a nice 4 or 5 rating would be greatly appreciated. Rating is done by clicking on the stars above.
Updated
April 11, 2017
Hi All, I'm DrDan and welcome to 101 Cooking for Two. We present some of the best recipes with easy to follow step by step photo instructions to make your everyday cooking needs easier. 
Chris
I’m going to try something risky with this one. I don’t have two cups of sour cream but I do have 2 cups of sour cream based chipotle cream sauce leftover from our fajitas. I think that will taste good used in this recipe but might be too strong.
Apu
Goodness!! Can’t stop looking at this dish!!
Dan Mikesell
I wish I had “taste-o-vision” since the picture does not do justice to the taste…
Mellissa
We run our potatoes thru a ricer. Would this be an ok texture for this dish? Or would shredded work better? Thanks!
DrDan
Ricer should be fine… I want one and will put it on my Christmas list…
Dan
steve roth
My oh my. I’m headed to the store!
DrDan
Thank for the note and rating. This is just so good.
DrDan
Suzanne
I loved this casserole! The taste is wonderful, but my favorite thing is the flexibility. I have physical issues so being able to wait a day to bake is awesome. This recipe is actually almost identical to one I grew up on, but my mom’s doesn’t have the step which chills the potatoes. It makes a big difference since potatoes shred neatly. Hers tastes wonderful, but the texture is more chunky. I like this one better.
DrDan
Hi Suzanne,
This continues to be a go-to recipe at our house featured at many family holidays. As you know there is some work to this recipe and I have a smaller easier crockpot version you may like. https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/crock-pot-cheesy-potatoes/
Thanks for the note
Dan
Lara
I have a small smoked ham on the dinner menu and this would pair perfectly. Can’t wait to give this a try!
DrDan
Hi Lara,
We are planning this for Easter Sunday with our ham.
Thanks for the note
Dan
Mark
No time tonight to do it but it looks good. I’ll save it to do with chicken.
DrDan
Hi Mark,
I’m doing this for the weekend with our ham. We almost always do this with ham.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Laurajay
Dr Dan, yummmmmm. These are a better version of a cheesy potato recipe my family has made for years, that we always called party potatoes. I can’t to try your version.
Arlene Bartolino
I can’t wait to try this recipe. I find your recipes are straight-forward, simple and always giving great tips. I am not a very good cook, and forever looking for help.
Thanks, DrDan. I did the oven baked drummies tonight and they were so good. Couldn’t find a link for a reply, so I am replying along in this message.
Keep ’em coming!
Arlene