A couple of weeks ago, I made a classic comforting homemade dinner, which consisted of Salisbury Steak with onions and mushrooms, broccoli, and cornbread. Then I struggled when it came to making a starch. Typically, a Salisbury Steak dinner consist of the steak itself, mashed potatoes, and green peas. Well I also think that meal combination is what senior citizens eat at nursing homes and I didn’t want to dig myself into an early grave. The meal combination put me in the mind of the movie “Look Whose Talking Too” when John Travolta’s father was in the nursing home and he couldn’t eat his mashed potatoes or peas and there was food residue all around his mouth. Therefore, I decided to jazz it up a bit.
My cornbread was nice and buttery; the Salisbury Steak was delicious and tender; and the broccoli wasn’t over cooked. it was a great meal combination. But I still had these darn potatoes! Sure I could have made garlic mashed potatoes and called it a day, but I wanted to try something different. I looked in my refrigerator and on my shelves to find some inspiration. I felt that divine intervention was taking place because I found a packet of ranch dressing, turkey bacon bits, I had some chives, sour cream, and cheese. It was meant to be. I didn’t know how it was going to come out, honestly. I was really winging it ( that is usually when I come up with my best dishes, however). Anyway, I added all of those ingredients and added some butter and garlic for more flavor, baked them with some cheese on top and there you have it folks! Baked Loaded Mashed Potatoes. This is really easy to make and your family and friends will enjoy it. You don’t have to put them in the oven if you don’t want to, but it is really good that way. The crispiness of that cheddar cheese, the butter, the flavor….MOTABELLA TUTTI FRUTTI!
Baked Loaded Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Red Potatoes, Halved
- ½ ounces, weight Packet Of Dry Ranch Dressing Mix
- 1 package Bacon Pieces, 3.5 Ounce Package
- 2 cloves Garlic, Grated
- 1 cup Chives, Chopped
- 1 cup Sour Cream
- 1 cup Milk
- 1 stick Butter, Divided
- 3 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese, Divided
Instructions
- Add red potatoes to a large pot and fill the pot with water until the potatoes are completely covered. Bring to a boil then boil for 25 minutes or until tender. Then remove pot from heat and drain off the water.
- Mash the potatoes (I didn’t mash them down too much because I wanted some of the lumps in there—but it’s up to you). Then add the packet of ranch dressing, bacon pieces, garlic, chives, sour cream, milk, 4 tablespoons of butter and 2 cups of cheese. Stir until well mixed.
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Spoon the mashed potatoes into large ramekins (16 oz. ramekins), take the remaining butter and cut it into small pieces and place the pieces on top of the mashed potatoes. Sprinkle with the remaining cup of cheese. Place the ramekins on top of a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.
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