Potato Casserole Recipe

Our large family has several recipes that we always look for when we get together for special occasions. We have a lot of men in our family and they like the hot, hearty, stick to your ribs type meals. One recipe that we always include is a dish we simply call potato casserole.

My mother found the recipe in a magazine and began making it many years ago, but I have tweaked it a bit so that I rarely have to go to the store to buy the ingredients. I usually just use what's in my pantry to make this dish. It's one of those recipes where you don't really have measurements, but I will try to give you approximate amounts, then you can adjust it according to your own tastes. Basically, you just mix up what you would use to load a baked potato:

Take at least six large russet potatoes, peel and wash them, cut them into about four pieces each, and put them in a pot of boiling water. While the potatoes are boiling, melt a stick (1/2 cup) of real butter into another pot, and then chop up about a cup of onions and sauté them in the melted butter. When the onions are tender, I mix in (depending on what I have) a large jar of Cheese Whiz, a box of Velveeta Cheese, or a couple of cups of shredded cheddar cheese. Add salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. When the cheese is melted, I take it off the heat and add a cup or so of sour cream. I might also add three strips of cooked bacon, chopped up. Chives would be good too, but my family doesn't care for those, so I leave them out.

Mash the boiled potatoes, but not too much, leave some large chunks. Then add the cheese mixture to the potatoes and mix well. Pour it into a well greased, large casserole dish, and then sprinkle the top with parmesan cheese and bread crumbs (sometimes I use oatmeal instead) or more shredded cheddar cheese and bake for twenty minutes at 350 degrees.

You can also cook this in the crock pot for a church potluck. It always gets eaten completely up, and people ask for the recipe.

This potato casserole will become a family favorite, I can almost guarantee!! We have it at every family gathering, and we never get tired of it.