Easy Cheesy Potatoes are sure to become a favorite side dish in your house. Tender potatoes in a short-cut cheese sauce are baked until golden and bubbly!
This potato casserole will elevate any meal into a feast. Serve this rich, savory side dish with glazed ham, baked chicken legs or roasted pork tenderloin.
Cheesy Potato Ingredients
While the obvious ingredient is potatoes we add lots of cheddar cheese, sour cream, butter, soup, and green onions finish out this easy dish.
You can vary these ingredients to suit your taste or use what you have on hand.
- Cheese: I find that cheddar cheese produces the best sauce with the most flavor, especially if you use extra-sharp but a nice swiss or your fave cheese will work just fine!
- Potatoes: Almost any kind of potatoes will work for this recipe.
- In a hurry? Use country style hash browned potatoes in place of boiling your own potatoes.
- Choose thin skinned potatoes (like Yukon gold or red potatoes) and skip the peeling
- Canned Soup: Use any kind of condensed “cream of” canned soup in this recipe. I love using homemade condensed mushroom soup to control the salt.
If you want to make your cheesy potato bake more of a one-pot meal, then go ahead and add a cup or two of diced ham or some poached chicken breasts (or leftover roast chicken). Even ground beef would be great in this casserole!
How to Make Cheesy Potatoes (with real potatoes)
This casserole recipe is a simple variation of scalloped potatoes, but with diced potatoes and requires less prep thanks to an easy-to-make sauce. Here’s how easy it is to make cheesy potatoes in the oven:
- Boil the diced potatoes until tender.
- Melt the butter and mix in the remaining ingredients. Save some cheese to sprinkle on top.
- Combine all the ingredients together, including the cooked potatoes, and transfer to a greased casserole dish.
- Top with the remainder of the cheese and bake until bubbling and browned.
Don’t cover these cheesy potatoes while baking. You want the top to get golden brown.
Not ready to bake it yet? Cheesy potatoes will keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 days before baking. So make this dish extra easy by taking care of all the prep work the day before! Just pop them in the oven following the recipe and you are ready to enjoy.
Can You Freeze Cheesy Potato Casserole?
Cheesy potatoes come out of the oven tender and delicious! You can make and bake this casserole ahead of time and freeze it as well. Or, freeze the leftovers, if there are any!
Let this dish thaw before baking at 400F for about an hour, or until piping hot and the cheese is nicely browned.
Our Fave Potato Sides
- The BEST Mashed Potatoes – Perfection. Buttery, creamy and delicious!
- Twice Baked Potato Casserole – Fully loaded with bacon, cheese and green onions.
- Easy Oven Roasted Potatoes – Quick prep, the perfect side for any meal.
- Perfect Baked Potatoes – Great for topping with your favorites!
- Potatoes Au Gratin – Creamy, cheesy and delicious… everything a potato should be!
Easy Cheesy Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3 pounds diced potatoes or 30 ounces country style hash browns
- ¼ cup butter melted
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup cream of chicken soup or cream of cheddar
- ¼ cup green onion chopped
- 2 cup cheddar cheese divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375˚F and grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
- If using fresh potatoes, place in a saucepan with cold water. Simmer 12-14 minutes or until fork tender. Drain and allow to cool slightly.
- Melt butter, add sour cream, soup, onion and 1 ½ cups cheese.
- Toss in the potatoes (or frozen hash brown potatoes) and combine. Spread into a prepared baking dish.
- Top with remaining cheese and bake for 28-30 minutes or until browned and bubbly.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Side Dish
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This recipe was fabulous. I added Fresh cilantro And I didn’t have but a tablespoon of sour cream so I used cottage cheese. Had ham in the oven at 275 so cooked it at that temperature for almost 2 hours. I would serve this With ham and broccoli and then the next day make a casserole. This was delicious I had it for breakfast lunch and dinner. Thank you. This will become a family favorite
Can this be made in an electric roaster instead of oven?
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure Maria. I am not sure how the cook time would be affected but I think it should work just fine!
Can this be made ahead and frozen? How would I warm it?
Hi Erica, this can be made ahead and frozen. Bake at 400F for about an hour, or until piping hot and the cheese is nicely browned.
Thank for this recipe and all your recipes. I love literally everything you make. i have made this several times now and everyone loves it. I do add an extra can of cream of chicken soup and a tad extra cheese and it is soo spot on with the green onions..YUM! Thank you!
Can I use cheddar soup instead of cram of cheddar for the Cheesy potato casserole
Yes you can use this as a substitute. Enjoy Misty!
OMG! This recipe is DaBomb.com. I have a strong dairy intolerance to most dairy, so I substituted the butter for plant based and the sour cream for dairy free version and kept sharp cheddar as is…hubby could NOT tell the difference and could NOT stop eating it. EASY to make and soo YUM!
I love that you were able to enjoy this recipe, Shelly! So happy it turned out so great for you!
If I want to prep the night before, will that effect the final product since the frozen potatoes will thaw out?
Hi Anna, if making ahead I would recommend fully preparing these potatoes including cooking! Then you can refrigerate or freeze it and reheat it when ready to enjoy. Hope that helps.
Can I use cream of broccoli instead of chicken
Sure you can!
I made the cheesy potatoes my family loved them. Thank you!!! ❤️
You’re so very welcome Laurie!
I made the cheesy potatoes turned out great. My family loved them . Thank you!!!
I made this recipe my family loved it
Do you have to thaw the frozen potatoes before making and whatever topping you want always mix with melted butter, like potato chips or panko?
Hi Cathy, for the topping I would add melted butter to those mixtures to help them mix together. For the potatoes, if using frozen hashbrowns we toss them in just like that (frozen!). Not thawing necessary.
Is soup a must in this recipe? I don’t have or ever buy canned soups. What about using a homemade bechemel sauce instead?
Hi Jody, we have this scalloped potatoes recipe that would make the perfect replacement sauce. You will have to let us know how it turns out for you!
Holly, as always, you have the best recipes…this one isjustwhat I was looking for to serve our guest at dinner tomorrow with a rotisserie chicken that they made and are bringing…I’m providing all the sides and potatoes are a must…I have been looking for a nice creamy recipe and naturally I found it right here…thanks for sharing such a yummy recipe!…
Can I make this the day before and just bake the next day if using frozen potatoes? I noticed you said you could where you were talking about regular potatoes, but in your reply to someone you said not to for frozen. I’m confused.
Hi Kim! You can make this ahead using frozen potatoes. If making ahead I would recommend fully preparing these potatoes including cooking! Then you can refrigerate or freeze it and reheat it when ready to enjoy. Hope that helps.
I have not made the recipe yet. I am making to take over to a family whose Mom is in the hospital. There are 3 teenage boys plus a dad. I am going to make these potatoes along with a meatloaf or sloppy joes (teenagers) Can I top with potato chips?
Sure you can! That’d be delicious.
I just made this with 6 different cheeses left over from a cheese board! So, do not limit yourself to cheddar. Also, cut the recipe in half. 3lbs of potato’s is a lot.
Very good recipe!
Oh boy! That sounds amazing, Kathryn!
Hello, I was wondering if there’s anything I can use in place of the sour cream? Would heavy whipping cream and half and half work? Also I want to add ham to it so do I just cut up the ham and add it to all the ingredients then put it all in the pan?
Hi Tayler, we have only made this recipe as listed but have heard of other readers using cream cheese or even plain greek yogurt. We would love to hear how it turns out for you! If using ham I would chop it up and toss it in when you add the potatoes in step 4.
I skipped the sour cream and it was still delicious.
Hi, Can/how can you make this a day ahead with the frozen hash brown potatoes? Or does it not matter? Probably a dumb question but I’m a new home cook!
Hi Mary, if making ahead I would recommend fully preparing these potatoes including cooking! Then you can refrigerate or freeze it and reheat it when ready to enjoy. Hope that helps.
I’ve been using this receipe for about a year, it’s amazing! I add ground beef in the mixture and panko breadcrumbs to top the dish. Serve with veggies for a delicious dinner!
Panko bread crumbs sound great!…thanks for the suggestion…I’m making this tomorrow night for dinner guests and wanted something other than chips on it, Panko will be great!…
Liked them so much I’m making them again.
They were delicious. Had leftovers with eggs for breakfast.
Yum with eggs! Great thinking!