Cheesy Mashed Potato Casserole Recipe

Cheesy Mashed Potato Casserole reminds you of the beautiful, melty goodness of a twice-baked potato. A truly comforting side.

If you follow my blog at Kitchen Gidget, you know that I often talk about the culinary influencers in my life growing up. From a young age I was lucky to be surrounded by a slew of great home cooks. Their styles weren’t fancy, but boy was it some good food.

This cheesy mashed potato casserole is based on a signature dish one of my cousins always made for gatherings. She used to joke that she would have to make double or triple if I was coming to the party. I was just a tiny little slip of a girl, but I could eat like an elephant!

This is in no way health food. It contains cream cheese, butter and tons of cheese! This is total comfort food at its best, and definitely worth it. Besides the usual butter, fluffy mashed potatoes get the special addition of cream cheese which makes them extra rich and tangy.

Then they’re layered in a dish with freshly shredded cheddar cheese, more potatoes and more cheese. After baking, the cheese becomes melted and bubbly, seeping down into the layers and turning this casserole into a golden masterpiece. It’s just like the filling for twice baked potatoes, which everyone knows is the best part!

I believe my cousin prefers sour cream instead of cream cheese in this recipe, but cream cheese is my favorite. I’d bet my bottom dollar mascarpone or even ricotta would be an incredible substitute as well. This recipe would also work well with leftover plain mashed potatoes!

I served these spuds with grilled pepperoncini beef and a side of broccoli. Round out the meal with our favorite no-bake Oreo cake!