Cheesy Potatoes Or Loaded Potatoes

This is one of our family's favorite side dishes.   We have always been a potato salad family and that would be the choice to have my daughter make for the any family gathering.  Let's be honest, we love a good potato salad that has just enough crunch from the chopped vegetables and just the right flavor from the hard boiled eggs and salad dressing that is used.  There are many types of potato salad to choose from and each family has their own favorite recipe.

Leftovers from 13x9" casserole

We were first treated to this recipe when my daughter was asked to bring Cheesy Potatoes to a birthday party.  She followed this up by bringing it to Our Christmas Eve dinner.

On Christmas Eve, our family tends to not eat meat from a tradition that my late husband started with my children when we married many years ago.  My first husband's family is Polish and they do not refrain from eating meat on Christmas Eve.  In fact, I remember gathering at his grandparent's home on Christmas Eve where there was a fully baked ham on the table ready to slice for sandwhiches.

Two years ago we were treated to meat balls and my daughter was asked to bring Cheesy Potatoes.  She normally bakes off a pound of bacon to go into these potatoes; but for some reason, she is the only one of my children who clings to the Italian tradition of no meat on Christmas Eve.  Christmas Eve we ate Cheesy Potatoes without Bacon added to the recipe.

This year we are gathering at my daughter's home for Christmas Eve and I'm hoping that she has these potatoes on the table but she did a traditional Polish with Kolbassy as one of the main dishes.

That brings up another subject.  These potatoes can be made from scratch if you want to peel and grate 2 pounds of potatoes and you want to bake off the pound of bacon.

Grating Potatoes

I'm sure the finished product would come out with the same wonderful flavors.  However, I purchased my potatoes already grated country style potatoes from the frozen food section of the store and Hormel natural bacon pieces from the dressing aisle at the supermarket.  This recipe calls for finely chopped onions but I did not use them in mine.  In retrospect, I could have bought the O'Brien style hash brown potatoes and achieved a more flavorful casserole.

The recipe calls for canned cream of chicken soup, sour cream, grated cheddar cheese and melted margarine.  When you use all of these and add them to the O'Brien style potatoes you will achieve what we refer to as a loaded potato casserole.

This recipe is a great way to welcome in the colder days of Fall to go along with a meatloaf or any other entree.  In any case, I hope you try these and enjoy this home style cooking side dish that has become such a favorite in our family.