Crack Potatoes – the ORIGINAL recipe!! Potato casserole made with sour cream, cheddar cheese, real bacon bits, ranch dip mix, frozen shredded hash brown potatoes. Can make ahead and freeze for later. Everyone RAVES about these yummy potatoes! SO good!! Make them tonight!
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Pin This RecipeOne of our favorite dips is Cheddar Bacon Ranch dip, or what I refer to as “Crack“. I usually only make it during football season because it is HIGHLY addictive. I only made this once this football season and I forgot to take it to the tailgate. I left it in my parent’s refrigerator! I was devastated!
I took the dip back home and started thinking about what to do with it – other than eat it all by myself. I decided to mix the dip into a big bag of frozen hash browns. The result? A fantastic potato casserole! We absolutely love this! Chicken Legs requests this all the time. I divided the potatoes up into 3 disposable foil pans and froze them so we always have potatoes when we need them. We just finished off the last pan, so I guess I need to add this to my grocery list this week.
Crack Potatoes
Ingredients:
- 2 (16-oz) containers sour cream
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1½ cups cooked chopped bacon (about 1½ pounds bacon)
- 2 (1-oz) packages Ranch Dressing mix
- 1 (32-oz) bag frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 400ºF. Lightly spray a 9×13-inch pan with cooking spray.
- Combine sour cream, cheese, cooked bacon and ranch mix. Stir in hash browns and mix well. Pour into prepared pan.
- Bake uncovered for 45 to 60 minutes.
Notes:
Steph
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Can this recipe be made in a slowcooker?
Sure
I’ve made this recipe for years, and it used to call for bacon bits. Now, it says 1 1/2 cups bacon. Could you please remind me how much bacon bits was called for, originally? Thanks!
It originally called for 2 (3-oz) packages of Oscar Mayer real bacon bits.
Have a question. Can this be assembled, placed in fridge and cooked the next day?
Absolutely
How long can these be refrigerated before cooking? should they be covered? How much longer should they be cooked after overnight refrigeration?
Can you substitute shredded fresh potatoes for frozen? Would that change the cooking time? Thanks!
I’m sure you could, but I don’t know how that would change the cooking time.
Should the potatoes be thawed or kept frozen?
doesn’t matter
I am cutting carbs and wondered what veggie I could use instead of potatoes. If so, how much? Should I cut down on any other ingredients?
Maybe try a different recipe. Here are all of our low-carb recipes: https://www.plainchicken.com/category/recipes/low-carb/
I hope this comment is allowed, especially considering I have been using Plain Chicken’s Crack Potatoes recipe for every single holiday for the last 8 years or so &multiple of their other recipes have saved me countless of times for dinner .. but I recently tried a cauliflower based recipe that is essentially the same as this one, but keto! It is fantastic, please try it. if you ever decide to have a cheat day try Plain Chicken’s Crack Potatoes! I have found myself eating them in the middle of the night by the spoonful straight from the fridge — cold &all. I even make a vegetarian version for myself with Bacos &it’s a DREAM. I have passed this recipe on to so many guests who eat it at my home. Good luck!
I’m sure Cauliflower can be easily substituted for potatoes. There are many more recipes on Pinterest for something with Cauliflower and Cheese. I too am cutting back on carbs. I’m sure you will love this.
Do I thaw the potatoes before mixing in?
You don’t have to thaw the potatoes before mixing.
Could you use ranch dip instead of sour cream and ranch dressing mix?
You can try it. Sounds like it would work.
I’m making them tonight for dinner
Enjoy!