Cheesy Mashed Potato Casserole

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American, Southern

Keyword cheesy-mashed-potato-casserole, easy-potato-recipes, make-ahead-mashed-potatoes

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 45

Chilling time 8

Total Time 9 5

Servings servings

Calories 429kcal

Author Melissa Sperka

Butter the bottom and sides of a 13x9-inch casserole dish with 1 tablespoon softened butter. Set aside.
Cube the potatoes and place into a large pot or saucepan. Cover with cold water, adding 1 teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil and cook the potatoes in the salted water until fork tender. Around 15 minutes. Drain well.
In a small saucepan melt together the half and half and 1/2 cup butter over medium heat, just until the butter has melted, don't boil. Remove from the heat.
To the drained potatoes add the cream cheese, garlic salt and black pepper. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, whip just to blend, they will be lumpy at this point.
Gradually add the half and half-butter mixture on medium speed, Continue to whip until smooth. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper to your taste. (The potatoes should feel soft, and will firm as they chill.)
Stir in 2 cups shredded white cheddar cheese by hand until evenly distributed.
Pour mashed potato mixture into the buttered casserole dish. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese. Dot the top with remaining 2 Tbsp butter. (Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge, when making in advance.)
Bake: Remove from the fridge and bring to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake for 40-45 minutes until heated through and the top is golden brown.
Serve immediately.
Cook's Note: If baking from cold, increase the baking time by 10-15 minutes.

Potatoes - You can make mashed potatoes using any variety of potatoes i.e. Yukon gold potatoes or similar. When doing so, keep in mind they all have different levels of starch content and will cook differently. Check for tenderness and boil them just until fork tender.

Cream Cheese - This cheesy mashed potato casserole can easily be customized to your taste, changing up the flavor of the cream cheese. You can use plain cream cheese in place of the garlic herb variety of cream cheese.

Cube Potatoes for Even Cooking - When cubing the potatoes make a special effort to slice the potatoes into similar size cubes for even cooking. Salting the water is imperative to impart flavor while they cook. One teaspoon is usually ample.

Cheese - I use a sharp white cheddar cheese to make these mashed potatoes in keeping with the white color of the potatoes. You can use a different variety of cheese, a classic sharp cheddar cheese or medium cheddar, swiss cheese, gruyere cheese or even pepper jack cheese for a spicy flavor. You could even sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese on top for a slightly crispy crust.

Fresh Herbs - You can add fresh chives, rosemary, thyme or parsley to change the flavor profile. You could also garnish with green onions.