Crack Potatoes are an easy, cheesy, creamy way to enjoy a flavor-packed potato side quickly made into a casserole. This recipe is a simple combination of pantry staples mixed with frozen hash brown, bacon, and ranch that are quickly stirred together and baked until hot and bubbly.
Can’t Stop Eating These Creamy Crack Potatoes
This highly addictive Crack Potatoes recipe rightfully has a claim to the slang word in its name–when food is referred to as “crack,” it means that it tastes so good you can’t stop eating it. And that’s just what this delicious dish is, full of amazing flavors that make me want to make this side my entire meal.
It is so quick and easy to prepare this simple potato dish because once you’ve gathered your ingredients, all you have to do is mix them together and bake them into an elevated comfort food casserole.
The dry ranch dressing is the key to creating the most flavorful seasoning that mixes with creamy soup and sour cream to create a sauce that coats these hash browns. Stir in some cheese and crumbled bacon and then sprinkle on some more, and you have the perfect potato casserole to serve your crowd–so good you may skip the main meal!
Why We Love This Crack Potatoes Recipe
- Quick and easy to prepare using simple ingredients.
- Creamy, cheesy, and utterly addictive!
- Short-cut method uses frozen potatoes smothered in a ranch sauce with bacon and cheese.
- Great to bring to potluck gatherings, parties, and holiday meals.
- Perfect side dish for Christmas morning, or an anytime breakfast, brunch or dinner.
More "Crack" Dishes
Ingredients
- Can cream of chicken soup
- Sour cream: Feel free to substitute unflavored greek yogurt for the sour cream.
- Package dry ranch dressing mix
- Onion powder
- Fresh cracked black pepper
- Kosher salt
- Bag frozen hash browns
- Bacon, cooked and crumbled
- Shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- Chopped parsley (optional garnish)
Substitutions and Additions
- Choose Your Cheese: Feel free to substitute Colby Jack cheese for the shredded cheddar. You can also use any cheese you have on hand. Havarti, Gouda, and Monterrey are very good options.
- Tasty Toppings: You can top this dish with french fried onions, buttered bread crumbs, or even prepared stuffing mix just before baking for an extra bit of crunch.
- More Meat: This dish can be prepared with chopped ham, turkey, cooked chicken, or you can even make it meatless!
- Green Garnishes: Green garnishes, such as green onion, scallion, or chopped parsley can add extra flavor and color to your casserole.
Recommended Tools to Make this Recipe
- 9×13 baking dish
- Mixing bowl
- Measuring tools
- Whisk
- Large wooden spoon
How to Make the Crack Potatoes
It is so easy to make this addictively delicious Crack Potatoes recipe. A simple combination of frozen hash browns, bacon, and ranch-flavored sauce bake into a creamy, cheesy casserole that you won’t be able to stop consuming!
- Mix together cream of chicken soup, sour cream, dry ranch dressing mix, onion powder, cracked black pepper and kosher salt until smooth.
Pro-Tip: Don’t use ranch dressing in the bottle! This recipe is made with dry ranch dressing mix. - Stir in hash browns, bacon, and cheese and mix until completely combined.
Pro-Tip: If you don’t have time to cook your own bacon, you can use store-bought, pre-cooked bacon bits. - Pour mixture into a 9X13 baking dish.
- Sprinkle cheese and bacon on top.
- Bake at 400 degrees Farenheight for 50 minutes.
- Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and serve while hot. Enjoy!
Storage Tips
- To Store: Store any leftovers in an airtight container, in the refrigerator, for up to 3 days.
- To Freeze: You can freeze the unbaked crack potatoes for up to 2 months in an airtight, freezer-safe container. Allow the crack potatoes to completely thaw before baking according to my directions.
Other Easy Potato Recipes
- Twice Baked Potatoes
- Cheesy Potato Casserole
- Loaded Mashed Potatoes
- Scalloped Potatoes
- Twice Baked Potato Casserole
- Sweet Potato Casserole
- Oven Roasted Potatoes
- Taco Bell Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes
- Crispy Smashed Potatoes
Crack Potatoes
Video
Ingredients
- 26 ounce can cream of chicken soup undiluted
- 2 cups sour cream
- 2 ounce (2 – 1 ounce package) dry ranch dressing mix
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 30 ounce bag frozen hash browns
- 1½ cups cooked, crumbled bacon (divided 1 cup and ½ cup)
- 4 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (divided 3 cups and 1 cup)
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley (optional garnish)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400*. Generously spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick spray. Set it aside.
- Using a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cream of chicken soup, sour cream, dry ranch dressing mix, onion powder, cracked black pepper and kosher salt, until smooth.
- Using a large wooden spoon, stir in the hashbrowns, 1 cup crumbled bacon and 3 cups of shredded cheese. Stir well until completely combined.
- Pour into the prepared baking dish.
- Evenly sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of shredded cheese and ½ cup crumbled bacon.
- Bake for 50 minutes. Evenly sprinkle with the chopped parsley. Serve while hot.
Jenn’s Notes
- To Store: Store any leftovers in an airtight container, in the refrigerator, for up to 3 days.
- To Freeze: You can freeze the unbaked crack potatoes for up to 2 months in an airtight, freezer-safe container. Allow the crack potatoes to completely thaw before baking according to my directions.
- Don’t use ranch dressing in the bottle! This recipe is made with dry ranch dressing mix.
- If you don’t have time to cook your own bacon, you can use store-bought, pre-cooked bacon bits.
Did anyone else find this to be extremely salty? I did not add the salt as listed in the recipe, and I still could not eat it. I wish I could figure out what to add after cooking to dilute the salt!