The following is a post from SnoWhite.
One of my favorite side dishes of all times is a spinach and bacon stuffed twice baked potato. What I don’t love about it, however, is the time required to re-stuff the potatoes. Sometimes I just don’t have those extra 10 minutes for dinner prep. Please tell me you experience that too!
This recipe uses my favorite twice baked potato base, but rather than stuff the potato shells, the filling is placed in a baking dish.
The result is a creamy, delicious twice-baked potato casserole.
Twice Baked Potato Casserole
Servings: 12 -15 servings
Ingredients
- 6-8 large russet potatoes
- 3 T butter
- 1/3 cup milk
- 3 cup spinach fresh or frozen
- 1/4 cup bacon crumbles {nitrate-free recommended}
- 1 1/2 cup shredded Colby Jack Cheese
- Sea salt to taste
- Black Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Begin by scrubbing the potatoes. Then, pat them dry.
- Lightly spray your crockpot with cooking spray. Arrange your potatoes in the crockpot. Sprinkle the potatoes with sea salt.
- Cover and cook the potatoes on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours, until potatoes are tender.*
- Remove from the crockpot and carefully slice the potatoes open to cool.
- When potatoes are cool enough to handle, scrape the potato out of the center and into a large bowl. At this point, go ahead and pre-heat your oven to 350.
- Mash the potatoes with a potato masher or a fork a few times.
- Add in 3 T butter, 1/3 C milk.
- Using a hand held mixer, whip the potatoes until they start to become creamy and smooth. Add milk 1 T at a time to achieve desired consistency.
- Add in 3 C spinach (if using frozen, thaw & drain before adding), 1/4 C bacon crumbles, and 1 C shredded Colby Jack Cheese. Stir until well blended.
- Season with sea salt & pepper, to taste.
- Lightly grease a 9x13 glass baking dish. Pour the potato mixture into the baking dish. Garnish with remaining 1/2 C cheese.
- Bake the potatoes at 350 for 25-30 minutes until warmed throughout and the cheese is melted.
- *Alternatively, you can bake the potatoes in an oven heated to 400 degrees for 1 hour.
Notes
This recipe may be prepared ahead of time and either refrigerated or frozen until ready to serve. If refrigerating, increase cooking time to 1 hour at 350 degrees, or until center is hot. If freezing, thaw in the refrigerator, and follow the refrigerated baking directions.
You might enjoy these other Potato dishes:
Wendy says
I’m going to try this but add the skins to the bottom of the pan for crispiness and the vitamins that are in the skins. Thanks for the great suggestion, this sounds so yummy!
Jackie Brown says
I like the bacon addition. I’m going to try this with cold, shredded potatoes, thnx for recipe!
SnoWhite @ Finding Joy in My Kitchen says
@Wendy – what a great idea! I love the skins too… just not stuffing them!
Cotton says
I wonder if you could use canned spinach? I know it would need to be drained very well, any ideas?
SnoWhite @ Finding Joy in My Kitchen says
Canned spinach should work just fine – just drain it first. And, I’d recommend pulling the spinach apart a bit as you add it. If you just dump the can in, I would imagine the spinach staying all together in one clump.
Beth says
Im trying this with leftover mashed potatoes, no bacon, and adding garlic. Thank you for a great idea!
Linda L. says
We love twice-baked potatoes. This looks like a really great alternative – and I like the suggestion Wendy made too. I’m bookmarking this so I can find it again. I wonder how pepperjack would be in these? Love pepperjack!!