This loaded mashed potato casserole with bacon and caramelized onions just might steal the show on feast day! It's fantastic for as a Sunday dinner side dish, too. 141 calories and 4 Weight Watchers SP. Thank you to The Little Potato Company for helping me share this recipe with you.
As much as we love a center stage entrée on the holiday table, such as Prosciutto Wrapped Stuffed Turkey Breast with Rosemary Potatoes, sometimes the side dishes successfully steal the spotlight. Loaded mashed potato casserole…enter stage right. This casserole will change the opinion of even the most ardent mashed potato purist. Bacon and caramelized onions will do that to anyone.
These lightened-up - but immensely satisfying - mashed potatoes can stand alone as a side dish, but are even better with a hearty drizzle of your favorite turkey gravy. Make the casserole on the big day, or scratch one item off of your cooking list by making it the day ahead.
What you need for this loaded mashed potato casserole:
These are the main components need for this recipe (affiliate links included)…
- Little potatoes: These are the perfect potatoes for this recipe! Flavor, nutrition and convenience reign supreme and the Creamer potatoes from The Little Potato Company always deliver.
- Milk & butter: A few tablespoons of butter are all you need. And I opt for skim milk to keep things light, particularly when bacon (and gravy!) are involved. Feel free to sub in 2% milk if you want a richer flavor.
- Cream cheese: Mixing in light cream cheese is one of my tricks for providing creaminess without going overboard on the fat and calories.
- Bacon: Center cut bacon is the way to go! There's a higher meat to fat ratio, which means that it's a lighter option than regular bacon.
- Caramelized onions: If everything is better with bacon, that is even truer when caramelized onions are added. You just can't beat the sweet and savory flavor. Check out my post on caramelized onions for more tips and tricks.
- Cheese: A handful of grated Parmesan cheese is sprinkled on top.
Why use Little potatoes for this casserole?
Two big reasons to go little - taste and convenience.
Let's start with taste. I often find that flavor of russet potatoes can be rather bland and require extra doctoring. By contrast, Little potatoes have a wonderful naturally sweet flavor, which pairs really well with the salty bacon and savory caramelized onions. And their creamy texture works exceptionally well in mashed potatoes.
The convenience factor is huge, particularly when you're cooking a bazillion dishes to fill up the holiday table. If I had to pick my least favorite holiday meal task, it would be peeling potatoes. No peeling required for the Little potatoes! Just boil, then mash with the skins on, which not only provides texture and color, but also extra nutrients. It's a win-win. Any of the Creamer varietals work in this recipe - I happened to use the Terrific Trio Little Potatoes.
Can mashed potato casserole be made ahead?
Yes! And that is one of the beauties of this recipe when you're already swamped with preparing the roast turkey and the other Thanksgiving sides.
Both the bacon and caramelized onions can be made 2 to 3 days in advance. This is a huge time saver on the big day.
The trick to make ahead mashed potatoes is making sure that the potatoes don't dry out when refrigerated. So, if you're making the casserole ahead of time, I suggest adding milk when mashing the potatoes. The texture should be a bit "sloppier" than what is desired. The potatoes will absorb the extra liquid while refrigerated.
Once the potatoes are mashed and transferred to the baking dish, allow them to cool, then cover well and refrigerate. Take the casserole out of the fridge an hour before reheating to bring it to room temperature.
Top with the Parmesan cheese, cover with foil and reheat in a 350 degree F oven for 45 to 50 minutes. Remove the foil for the last 10 minutes to allow the cheese to melt and brown slightly.
Tips for making this loaded mashed potato casserole:
Near the end of the boiling time, scoop out about ¼ cup of the cooking liquid and set aside. Use the water to loosen up the potato mixture if it's too stiff once all of the milk, butter and cream cheese are added. Go easy - add the water just a tablespoon at a time.
Rather than slicing the onion into longer pieces like you would typically do for caramelized onions, chop the onions before cooking. The smaller pieces of onion will spread throughout the potatoes more easily and your guests won't be surprised by any bites with long, stringy pieces of onion.
I like to mix the bacon and caramelized onions into the mashed potatoes rather than sprinkling over top. Doing this ensures that you're rewarded with a taste of bacon and onions in every bite.
How to lighten up mashed potatoes:
The first step is to reduce the amount of butter. While butter adds a wonderful richness, I promise you won't miss the extras.
Replace the extra butter with light cream cheese. The cream cheese adds a surprising amount of creaminess to the potatoes, with a fraction of the fat compared to mashed potatoes with butter.
Rather than using cream or full fat milk, use nonfat or 2% milk.
Other Creamer potato recipes:
Prosciutto Wrapped Stuffed Turkey Breast with Rosemary Potatoes {Cookin' Canuck}
Leftover Turkey (or Chicken) & Potato Pizza {Cookin' Canuck}
Vegetable Pot Pie with Scalloped Potato Crust {Delish Knowledge}
Sheet Pan Turkey & Potatoes {My Kitchen Love}
Printable Recipe
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Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole with Bacon & Caramelized Onions
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- ½ medium yellow onion chopped
- Warm water as needed
- 3 pounds Creamer potatoes by The
Little Potato Company (I used the Terrific Trio
varietal) cut in half - 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons light cream cheese softened
- ½ cup nonfat milk (or more for make ahead –
see instructions) - ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- 2 strips center cut bacon cooked & crumbled
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- Minced parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a medium nonstick skillet. Add the onions, cover the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are deep golden brown. During the cooking, add water as necessary to stop the onions from burning and drying out. Be sure that all of the water is absorbed before removing form the heat.
- Place the potato halves in a large saucepan and cover with cold water, 1 inch above the potatoes. Salt the water well. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork, 20 to 25 minutes. Drain well and transfer to a large bowl.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat an 8- by 8- glass or ceramic baking dish with cooking spray.
- With a potato masher, mash the potatoes until the mixture is a smooth as possible (it won’t be completely smooth because of the skins). Add the butter, cream cheese and milk, and continue to mash until combined. Season with salt and pepper.
- Stir in the caramelized onions, crumbled bacon and rosemary.
- Transfer the potatoes to the prepared baking dish, smoothing the top with a spatula.
- Sprinkle the cheese over top. Bake until the casserole is warmed through and the cheese is melted, about 25 minutes.
Make ahead directions:
- Follow the directions above, through step 6. However, be sure to add additional milk, about ¼ cup. The mashed potatoes should have a looser texture than desired because the potatoes will absorb the extra liquid while refrigerated.
- Allow to cool completely, cover well with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
- Remove the casserole from the refrigerator 1 hour before baking. Remove the plastic wrap, sprinkle the cheese on top of the casserole and cover with foil.
- Reheat the casserole in a 350 degree oven until the casserole is heated through, 45 to 50 minutes. Remove the foil for the last 10 minutes to allow the cheese to melt and brown slightly.
Notes
Nutrition
Disclosure: This post was sponsored by The Little Potato Company. All opinions are my own. I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Leslie
Loved this recipe! Made it for my cousin, who had broken her right clavicle and was in a sling, as well as her left hand in a cast. She needed something she could easily scoop up and get food to her mouth without dropping! This was delicious AND perfect for someone with limited physical/hand capabilities! I bolstered the recipe with broccoli, fresh corn (off the cob), and celery, so as to increase fiber intake. Excellent and easy!