Make Ahead Twice-Baked Potato Casserole

Make Ahead Twice-Baked Potato Casserole has all the ingredients of a loaded baked potato with the added convenience of being able to be prepared a day early. It’s the absolute perfect side dish to make for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter or just your regular ol’ gathering. Your guests will be begging for the recipe after one single bite of this gooey cheese, bacon and potato masterpiece!

What meal item can you not live without on Thanksgiving? I just recently asked this question of my friends and family the other day and got a ton of amazing answers. Everything from stuffing to sweet potatoes to collard greens made it on their favorite list. What’s my favorite? Hands down mashed potatoes! And this Make-Ahead Twice-Baked Potato Casserole takes mashed potatoes to a whole new level.

Last week I had the opportunity to host my very first Friendsgiving! It was a blast! The food was great and the company was even better.  Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and hosting Friendsgiving gives me the excuse to have two Thanksgivings this year. How lucky can one girl be? I was also excited because hosting Friendsgiving gave me an opportunity to test out some of the recipes I plan on cooking at Thanksgiving in a couple of weeks. It was a win/win situation all the way around 💜

I should probably start by confessing my love of potatoes to you. I’m not particularly picky, at all, when it comes to potatoes! I like potatoes of all shapes and sizes. I enjoy a sweet potato with cinnamon just as much as red potatoes roasted in the oven with some garlic, salt and pepper. Traditionally, we have plain old mashed potatoes with gravy on Thanksgiving. Cooked Yukon Gold potatoes mashed up with TONS of butter, salt and pepper are simple and loved by everyone in our family. Every once in awhile though, I like to change things up and add a little something special to the Thanksgiving menu.  

Make Ahead Twice-Baked Potato Casserole has all the ingredients of a loaded baked potato with the added convenience of being able to prepare it a day early. I don’t know about you, but anytime I can make something early and scratch it off my list a day ahead of time I’m a happy camper. I feel this way even more so on a holiday like Thanksgiving when there is so much to get done for this special meal. All you have to do to finish these potatoes off is pop them in the oven to cook the next day and in the last five minutes add bacon and shredded cheddar cheese on top to melt. Yum!

So what do I need to prepare Make Ahead Twice-Baked Potato Casserole?

4 lbs of potatoes (I used Yukon Gold), 8 oz. cream cheese (softened), 1 stick butter (softened), 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, 1 pint sour cream, 2 tsps garlic powder, 1 ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp pepper, 6 slices of bacon (cooked & crumbled), ¼ cup green onions for garnish (optional)

Note: This casserole serves 10 to 12 people. Since we only had 7 people including the kids on Friendsgiving I opted to half this recipe. I wanted you to be aware of this since my pictures show fewer amounts of each ingredient.

Begin by peeling and chopping up your potatoes into bite-sized pieces. I always go for Yukon Gold potatoes because I find them to be creamier when mashed. Regular Idaho baked potatoes will work just as well here.

Place the chopped potatoes into a pot and cover with cold water.

Bring to a boil over high heat and then lower heat to medium/medium-low and allow potatoes to cook gently until tender. This should take about 15 minutes.

You can test if the potatoes are done by piercing them with a fork. If the fork easily goes into the potato you’re set!

Once the potatoes are done, place them in a colander and drain out all the water.

Put the potatoes back in the pot and add the softened cream cheese and butter. Begin mashing the potatoes and incorporating in the butter and cream cheese. I like to add this now because the potatoes are smoking hot and the cream cheese and butter mix easier into the potatoes.

Next, add one cup of shredded cheddar cheese and continue mixing until the cheese is melted. Side note: Reserve the other cup of shredded cheese for the topping.

The next step is to add your pint of sour cream and mix that into the potato mixture.

Finally, you’ll want to add your garlic powder, salt, and pepper and give it one final stir.

Spray a 9 x 13 casserole dish and pour in the potato mixture. You can then cover the casserole with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook it the next day. I personally like to pull out the casserole about a half-hour to an hour before I want to cook it so it has some time to get to room temperature.

When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the casserole in the oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until the outside edges are bubbling.

After 30 – 35 minutes, carefully add the reserved cup of shredded cheddar cheese to the top of the casserole along with the bacon.

Put the casserole back in the oven and continue cooking about 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted. Pull the casserole out of the oven and add ¼ cup of green onions as garnish if you so choose. I did not add them today. 

Are you drooling yet?! I know I am. Seriously, this Make Ahead Twice-Baked Potato Casserole is a keeper. I mean really, how can you go wrong with cheese, bacon, and potatoes? I can guarantee that your family and friends will not be disappointed on Thanksgiving if they see this bad boy on the table. Hope you enjoy it!

Want to remember this? Post this recipe for Make Ahead Twice-Baked Potato Casserole to your favorite Pinterest board!